Jolted, but undeterred
4 November, 2010 It will take more than a 7.1 magnitude earthquake and a barrage of aftershocks to prevent the teenage members of Christchurch’s Jolt Youth integrated dance company appearing in their annual showcase this month.
The earthquake, which left one of their rehearsal spaces “wrecked quite substantially” has, according to director Lyn Cotton, made the young dancers even more determined to go ahead with the performances.
Echo and Bounce is an original devised work inspired by the lives of the dancers. Working in collaboration with renowned Christchurch film maker Rick Harvie, the work integrates film, dance and physical theatre to reflect the unique spirit and energy of the company.
Jolt Youth is made up of 13 dancers with and without disabilities. Created in 2007, the company has already produced three sell-out seasons for the Body Festival, Christchurch’s annual celebration of dance and physical theatre.
Echo and Bounce marks a new and exciting direction for the dancers, says Lyn.
“Until now our shows at the Body Festival have been based on children’s stories. The guys now range in age from 12 to 19, and at the beginning of this year we felt we really wanted to challenge them more. We wanted to create a work that expresses who our dancers are.”
Another significant change this year is the absence of adult performers.
“When we first started, we were quite tentative in our shows, protecting people. Our ratio of people with and without disabilities was almost one-to-one. Of the 13 performers involved in this year’s show, only two are non-disabled, and they are all teenagers.”
The large earthquake that rocked Canterbury on September 4 created further challenges. The company resumed rehearsals two days later, but damage to venues and uncertainty about the availability of others led to the Body Festival being cancelled.
“Then there was a really big aftershock on the Wednesday morning, which threw us even more,” says Lyn.
“People just wanted to hunker down rather than having their kids out and about doing things.”
By the time the decision was made to go ahead, two weeks of rehearsals had been lost and the company faced a new set of challenges – re-arranging rehearsal schedules and performance dates, finding and funding an alternative venue for the show and taking over publicity for the event.
“Luckily Southern Ballet were really lovely and helped us pay for a venue, and the organisers of the Body Festival have continued to support us,” Lyn says.
The members of the company have also been incredibly resilient.
“In a way I think having a couple of weeks off from rehearsals was a good reflection time, which changed the nature of the show. It made us want to take more risks because of the extra work required to put it together.”
She said the teenagers “have really blown us away in terms of what we can challenge them with – the choreography, remembering their cues, what they have to do on stage. They’ve become a pretty professional bunch.
“What it comes down to is giving them an opportunity. They can achieve so much through time and opportunity.”
Visit the Jolt Dance website.