Keeping students on their toes

KERRY MCBRIDE

For more than 40 years, the School of Dance has been training New Zealand's young dancers to take on the world stage.

Now, with 2012 marking its 45th anniversary, the school has become a family for many of its alumni.

Director Garry Trinder has overseen the school for 15 years, and says the best thing about the school is hearing about the successes of past students as they go out into the world of professional dance.

"As time is ticking by it's wonderful to see how our students are progressing through the ranks of the dance companies they have joined.

"That's what's really gratifying for the directors here because it shows that we are teaching them to an incredibly high standard."

Since opening in 1967, the school has grown in size and expanded its curriculum beyond its classical ballet beginnings.

Many graduates are now represented in dance companies in New Zealand and overseas, with alumni as far afield as the English National Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet.

They are now even seeing some second-generation graduates moving through, Mr Trinder says.

"Because we're quite a small school in a niche market you get a sense that people have a real sense of belonging to the school.

"So when you see people sending their sons and daughters here it's really an endorsement of the experience that they had here."

The school now has about 80 fulltime students across two years, with another 60 younger students in its associate programme.

To celebrate its anniversary, the school will be hosting a gala dinner in June and a large photographic exhibition in November showcasing some of the highlights of its time in the New Zealand dance scene.

But much of 2012 will be business as usual, with regular performances scheduled throughout the academic year.

"It's tough, because the nature of a school is that we have students moving on and students beginning every year, but there has very much been a feeling that people want to be a part of this year's celebrations.

"People want to be involved because it really is a special achievement for us to have reached."

- © Fairfax NZ News