February, 2021
After a successful end to a trying year, a summer break with eased restrictions was most enjoyable. However, summer break cannot last forever and getting back into as much dancing as possible before the year ahead was something that I and I know for sure many of my fellow KADS dancers were really looking forward to.
Each year the teachers at KADS organise a summer school program for all dancers. Running over the course of three days, teachers such as, Yvette Stanford, Dylan Speedy, Kate Robinson, Jordan Herbert, Freya List, Jack May, Jayden Wall and of course KADS very own Amber Orchard, Shea Thomas, Amy Croll and Jodie Robson. All these teachers put their heart and soul into providing both an enjoyable and challenging experience for all. Summer school caters for everybody’s preferred styles with classes focusing on jazz, tap, commercial, acrobatic and contemporary/ lyrical techniques. This year we were lucky enough to have the classes run across both the Knox studio and the Sassafras studio, this gave the students from both campuses the perfect opportunity to meet and bond together through their love of dance. Summer school was a fun time filled with hard work, sweat and lots of smiles!
In January, KADS was also given the unique opportunity to feature a few dancers in a short film! Organised to originally be rehearsed for and filmed in early 2020, the short film titled, ‘Marry Me’ directed by Gary Hegedus, is a concept that explores the events of an over keen male trying to obtain the attention and love of a girl who is very clear in her desire to escape his affection. Gary contacted Miss Amber early last year with this idea and explained how he would love to have a few dancers over the age of 18 to dance backup throughout the film. After delaying the rehearsing and filming for almost an entire year due to COVID restrictions, dancers, Carli - Mai Beary, Amy Croll, Steph Plancke, Courtney Muir, Miss Shea and myself were able to get into the studio and create a couple of routines ready to be filmed on the 30th and 31st of January. Over the course of two days, the myself and my fellow dancers filmed and featured in 5 scenes. These scenes required us to not only dance but also act as background characters in a restaurant, fall in love with one of the main characters, stand strong as police officers and act out an altercation. This experience was described by all of us as something so unique. It was extremely fascinating to see just how much time and concentration is required to complete a film, even one as short as 10 minutes. This experience was one that none of us had endured before and we all cannot wait to see the end product and for it to be shared to the world.
2021 has started off strong, our classes are back in full swing and we are all more than ready for another year full of hard work, performances and more fun opportunities!