14.11.2006
Kick-Start, the university's all male dance company has just returned from a month's tour of New Zealand. The company, comprising eight physical education teacher trainees and two members of staff, performed and led workshops and attended lectures with students from Auckland University of Technology, Christchurch College of Education and Otago University.
They also visited a number of primary and secondary schools around the country where they taught and performed in assemblies and workshops. The first port of call was a day's work in Muritai Primary School in Eastbourne on the North Island. The teachers described the company as 'inspiring, powerful and elegant' whilst the pupils in Year 6 stated they were 'athletic, awesome and amazing.'
Everywhere the group went, they were hosted by New Zealand students allowing them an authentic cultural experience. Every time they visited a school or university they were greeted with a traditional Maori reception which included singing and dancing.
The company was founded in 1999 to encourage male PE teachers to take
up the challenge of performing and teaching dance to change the stereotypes
surrounding male dancers. It seeks to literally 'kick-start' boy's and
men's interest and enthusiasm in performing and teaching dance.
The New Zealand tour was organised by Fiona Smith, artistic director of Kick-Start and principal lecturer at the university. After taking a programme of work specifically for boys into schools locally and nationally, she felt that it was about time to take the work of the company to an international audience.
"New Zealand was chosen as its curriculum and school are very similar to the UK's in many ways which enabled us to test our ethos to the limit," she said.
The tour culminated in a performance at the TAPAC Theatre in Auckland as part of the TEMPO Dance Festival – New Zealand's annual national dance celebration.
Contact: Marketing and Communications, University of Brighton, 01273 643022
