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exploring dance     creating dance     extension activity

Exploring Dance   with Neil Ieremia

When Neil was growing up in Porirua, he began dancing with his local church's youth group. His budding talent was spotted, and he was offered work choreographing dance pieces for World Vision. After completing formal dance training at the Auckland Performing Arts School, Neil danced with some of New Zealand's top dance companies, including the Douglas Wright Dance Company and Michael Parmenter's Commotion Company. Neil's desire to create dance for and about Pacific Islands and Māori males encouraged him to set up his own dance company, Black Grace, in 1995.

There are dancers who just want to be dancers, and they do it really well. And then there are people who dance, and who have the desire to make dance; they make other people move. I just have this urge inside me to make things, to create things.
Neil Ieremia

There are two parts to the Creative Explorer dance activity. One is about investigating what makes up dance and how we can watch, study, and appreciate dance more. The second part of this activity is finding a starting point for students to create their own dance. Here are instructions on how the Creative Explorer dance activity works.

Explore the features of the Drama screen by moving your mouse over the various parts of the images below.

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