Workshop with the Rambert Dance Company

Year 9 and 10 GCSE Dance students from Pipers had the amazing opportunity to participate in an exhilarating workshop with the Rambert Dance Company after seeing their unique production of “A Linha Curva” by Itzik Galili, at the Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury.

The work is a set study within the new AQA GCSE Dance specification and Rambert have transformed it into a riot of energy and colour. The production was nominated for the 2010 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production and the company also won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance in that year, for its programme of new works. As Britain’s oldest dance company, Rambert aims to take world-class dance to the widest possible audience through its unique productions and its extensive school and community-based work.

After watching the performance, the students worked intensively on the stage with members of the dance company. The workshop began with various contemporary warm-up exercises, a dance style used within “A Linha Curva”. The girls then developed their understanding of the use of the spine and contraction in this dance genre. A set motif phrase from the dance work was shared with the girls enabling them to experience the speed and precision required to perform the movements as well as embodying the samba style and sense of fun behind the phrase. There was also time for the girls to test out their choreographic skills by working in small groups - the results were dramatic and impressive.

Head of Dance, Miss Snellgrove said, “Everyone worked extremely hard, and it was a pleasure to see the genuine enthusiasm and energy generated by our dance students. It was a truly memorable experience for the girls and a wonderful way for them to develop their knowledge of the dance work and its choreography first-hand”.