Dancing Chace

It’s a captivating moment: All the dancers on stage chugging in a precise manner to Tankura, as they all merge into a perfect pyramid formation. They move their hips and bodies creating a visually stunning effect, you can literally see the music come to life. And it all happens in Chace Dance Company’s new production “Humanity.” 

Feeling molded to the music is one of the biggest perks of dancing a work choreographed by Tamra Chace. Her repertoire ranges from tutus and flowers, to body socks, and off-body positions with innovative concepts.

The Girl Behind The Moves

Born in Orlando, Florida, United States of America, Chace studied at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She trained and performed many works before moving to South Africa and focusing more on teaching and choreography. Six months after graduating with her BFA in Ballet and Dance Education, Chace moved to South Africa and opened Chace Dance Studio, a training facility and program for young aspiring dancers, and Chace Dance Company, a platform for all professional contemporary dancers from different places to come together and perform in productions and corporate entertainment.

Chace often spends many hours just listening to the music she is about to choreograph to, so by time it comes to set the piece, she knows the musics DNA. It is so important to try and shape the sound the audience is hearing. Chace creates her work very quickly, and quietly-never yelling, just focusing on the work. She always comes prepared to make sure the rehearsals flow seamlessly.

The Style

Chace has brought a new distinct technical style to South Africa, she stresses emphasized phrasing and syncopation in his classes. Similar to Balanchine, in her classes a fondu doesn’t have the same timing on the way down as on the way up, it goes down slower with the accent on coming up.

Chace wants dancers to move drastically along the space, wants longer lines, and deeper lunges. She also disguises all of her preparations, having a leap and pirouette come from an element of surprise. Chace wants to make the in between stuff just as fantastic as all of the leaps and tricks, there are no boundaries with her technique, everything must be stretched to the max!

How To Dance It 

Speed and musicality are the hardest elements to master when working with Chace. Being in time together and on time are the most important thing. There is no time for her dancers to keep their weight in their heels, they must be forward on their toes, ready to transfer weight in an instant.

Grasping the style of Chace Dance Company’s dancers and the choreography from Tamra Chace takes time, and constant training. It is a process, you have to develop the specific muscle groups that her technique requires. Most importantly, don’t forget to listen, as every step has a purpose in the musicality, if you dive into the music, the dance will just flow naturally through your veins.

Train with Tamra this weekend at Collaboration! 

Info & Registration:  https://fs30.formsite.com/TamraLChace/form6/index.html

Collaboration Circuit

Workshop teaching 101...

At a workshop, you have the chance to share your knowledge and what you believe about being an artist with hundreds of kids in a single weekend. There is no other platform like Chace Dance Company’s “Collaboration” in South Africa. Still there is no mistaking teaching workshops for an easy teaching gig. Studios are filled to max capacity  with students of varying age, and skill, all kicking and pushing for space.

Despite oncoming challenges of workshop teaching, it is a definite resume booster to have a well-known workshop or convention written on it. And although many workshop students may only attend one event a year (which limits the teachers reach to the student), the Collaboration Workshop scene is growing. There are two Collaborations per year, with the hope of adding one more touring to a new location in SA.

PLANNING THE LESSON 

To make use of the short class time frames, workshop classes have to be streamlined. In a studio setting you can work with dancers on a daily or regular basis to improve technique and musicality, at a workshop it is more about inspiring the dancers to want to be better, focus more on giving them the tools to take home and work on. Workshop teachers have to focus on the big picture, they can’t give specific feedback to each dancer, rather feed the energy to all those participating.

Most workshops will offer a group warm up before the classes to get all of the bodies moving and warm, that way teachers can jump right into choreography during their class times. If the workshop you are attending does not offer such, make sure you arrive early enough to warm up to prevent injury. As a teacher you also want to tailor each lesson according to the majority age group. For minis (ages 7-10) focus on counting and coordination, for juniors (ages 11-12) maybe work on direction and weight change, while seniors and professionals you can challenge them with long combinations to train and prepare the brain for professional work.

MANAGING THE CLASSROOM

Learning how to maintain order without sacrificing the student excitement takes a lot of practice. New teachers should find a mentor in their genre and spend time watching or shadowing them in classes, that way you can see what works and what doesn’t. As a teacher you want to set goals for every single class you teach, and refer to them throughout the class.

Bare in mind, keeping control of the classroom doesn’t mean yelling, it is about what you demand from the students. You have to constantly be creative and engage in an interaction with the students. Keep their energy up, and never let the students mark, how are they supposed to pick of choreography quickly if they don’t do it full-out?

When it comes to disciplining students, it is sometimes best to wait until after class to say something to the individuals, unless they are doing something un safe and can bring harm to others. You actually don’t want to give more  attention to the dancer acting out, because in actuality that is what that dancer or student is looking for… attention. Being a workshop teacher comes with a lot of responsibility, what you say to a student can really impact them in a positive or negative way, and the teacher needs to know that balance.

INSPIRING YOUNG ARTISTS

Before your class think about what inspired you when you were just a young dancer in training, maybe it was hearing that music pumping, or a positive attitude towards everyone? In order to inspire students and be a great teacher, the teacher themselves needs to have had a professional career. How else will you bridge the gap between training classes and the real world for those students? A good workshop class allows dancers to dream big and to feel like their dreams are attainable.

While workshops may help advance dancers find a job in the professional world, it also gives them a chance to explore new movement styles with an open mind. Collaboration does just that, it pushes dancers into unfamiliar territory from a stylistic perspective, but also on a technical level.

We all want our students to develop ambition as artist. Dancer’s can’t wait for the inspiration to be handed to them, you have to go out there and take it! The level of skill or talent in a room will never be equal, but your how much effort you put into it is completely up to you.  Regardless if students professional dancers or not, it is up to the teacher to effect and touch each student in the room through their motivating words.

EXPERIENCE THE MOMENT 

Keep your eyes peeled for Chace Dance Company’s next upcoming Collaboration Workshop in Johannesburg, in October 2016! Spots are going to fill up very very quickly this year, and it is an experience like no other in SA!

A Working Class Dancer- When should you dance for free?

For a dancer anywhere in the world, there are certain places and opportunities that come along in your career that may sound like a dream come true, only to find out there is little or no compensation. It is dramatically important to ask the choreographer or director contacting you about the compensation before committing to a project. Not balancing your dancers happiness to work with you will lead to resentment, and  them feeling like their time is not respected.

Fair or not, most dancers, like many other artists will inevitable work for free or very little pay in their careers. When you are first starting out, an unpaid apprenticeship or placement in a company with a distinguished choreographer can give you valuable experience and knowledge that could lead you to other jobs; projects with friends that can offer a rehearsal cup of coffee could lead you to creative fulfillment; a voluntary gig at a well-known venue could enhance your resume. All of these are still great gains to your career, the key word to keep in mind is balance, because we all still have bills to pay at the end of the day.

All of the Chace Dance Company dancers have other work outlets where they receive their main income, usually through teaching or managing their own dance studios. This gives all of them a window of a regular salary, and still an oppertunity to be creatively challenged through  company rehearsals. Since this company is still so young and in its planting phase, CDC offers a rotating rehearsal stipend between dancers, a long with endorsements of clothing from TamTam Dancewear, and free classes and workshops. “South Africa is a country with so many more important issues to deal with, there is just no funding available for arts.. Or they invest it in youth dance programs, but where do these dancers go for work there after? Leading company’s to fend for themselves.” It is extremely hard to survive as a dance company in a third world country. Dancers have to work all day every day just to make enough money to survive, and we can’t help but love what we do and only want to do it more. It’s hard to find people with that obsession and passion for their craft, and all dancers have that intanse drive in them.

Having a side job whether it is teaching, waitressing, or secretary work, gives dancers the chance to work on projects and come together as artists. But always make sure when doing so, that the project benefits you as a dancer and a person in some other amazing way as mentioned above. You end up building such great relationships when working together in a creative environment.

If you are interested in becoming a company donor to help keep our talented dance company alive in South Africa. Please see our donations tab on the website on how you can donate. Or simply contact the artist director at TamraLChace@gmail.com

Tamra Chace: on her impassioned vision for CDC in 2015

After an American based career as a professional dancer and choreographer, Tamra Chace has finally been welcomed into the South African dance world as Artistic Director of Chace Dance Company. 

You seem to be changing your career path from more performance work to choreographic work. Yes, I have been performing for years, and my priorities in life are changing.. I’m prepared for taking the next step in my career; I have learned what to do and what not to do.

How do you approach directing? I’m very hands-on, and I really enjoy this job, even the difficult parts. I like the strategy, the planning, and working with dancers. I am a super organized worker and planner, I need to know exactly what I am doing before entering the room.

How would you define Chace Dance Company’s identity? Every dance company in South Africa has its place, and our remit is to always do something innovative. We always have to be looking ahead for the new ideas and trends. I do want to show more stylized influence from Ronen Koresh’s work with Koresh Dance Company. We are the first contemporary company to do a full-length contemporary production!

Where do you want to take the company’s repertoire? My first priority is to expand it exponentially throughout Gauteng and North West Provinces. Chace Dance Company has a strong focus on narrative contemporary, and I really want to further that.

How did the project/idea of  “Secrets of a Family Portrait” come about? I feel like it is time to show my real colors in this country. It is my goal to present the audience as many different voices as possible within the story line. There is so much happening all at once, a lot of mini stories that make up one big motive. No one really shares what happens behind closed doors; and we are about to do just that.

Who should the audience look out for in this production? I’m very excited to bring someone out like Fayme Hattingh. She has such wonderful work ethic and is very honest in her dancing, I’ve had my eye on her for a while now. Also keep an eye out for the up and coming Tamsyn Dexter, at just 15 years of age her mature movement is unpredictable and her progression has been consistent. But really each dancer brings something amazing to the table in this show!

Mandy Moore

MANDY MOORE- CONTEMPORARY

“Known for her high energy convention classes and choreography for So You Think You Can Dance.”

“Mandy Moore recommends that contemporary is best left to more advance dancers because it requires  solid foundation of ballet technique. Instructors should take a strong position, she says, in guiding their dancers’ development. “Too many teachers today have given up their power to say No, you are not ready to do this…

On leading convention classes: “I have a short amount of time to get them excited about a little bit of vocabulary. Everyone in the class may not execute the choreography perfectly, but everybody could come from the same place of hearing the music or tapping into emotion.”

-Katie Rolnick (DT, Dec 2009)

 

Tamra Chace: secrets of a family portrait’s upcoming debut

As a choreographer; and a conversationalist Tamra Chace likes to show the bottom of the iceberg when it comes to her work. In this interview she shares some of her thoughts on dancemaking, and lets us in on Chace Dance Company’s new work “Moments of Impact: Secrets of a Family Portrait,” debuting end of 2014 around Guateng and Northwest Provinces. 

Tell us about the different approaches you took to making Secrets of a Family Portrait. 

First I started by creating the characters and casting dancers into the roles.  While actually setting the dance on the company I have left the beginnings and endings of sections open… creating all the movement phrases and dance breaks first, then well go back to build the connections and piece the story line together.

For this production at the moment I have generated all the movement on my own. In the future I would like to call in on some improvisation work, pull from movement that is more raw and organic versus planned and constructed. Improving is still a rather new skill in this area, so I’m introducing it more slowly when choreographing.

 

Just explain to us what is “Moments of Impact: Secrets of a Family Portrait” exactly?

When you look at a  family portrait, you always see smiles, nice clothes, and predictable body language. But you wonder, is that family really that happy? What really goes on behind that photo surrounded by those walls? We all know every family has its drama and it’s imperfections. This show exposes just that, what really goes on in families that we don’t always share with our friends or the general public.

When we were brainstorming for the show I brought pens and paper to the first rehearsal and had all the dancers write down as many answers as possible to the following question, “What has been the biggest impact in your life?” Didn’t have to be family related at the time, because we can make it family related in the story. They came up with a lot of good scenarios in which are being used to write the show this year.

 

Should the audience expect anything in particular when coming to this show?

The audience should expect to see contemporary at its absolute best! This show is filled with both athletic and sensual movements, the audience will be emotionally on edge at the end of this performance. There are a lot of dark stories to tell, but also a lot of happiness as well, so it’s a bit of an emotional rollercoaster!

 

So where will we be able to catch wind of this amazing new production?

Theatres and dates have not been booked but we are planning to hit Pretoria East, Hartbeespoort Dam, and Roodepoort for 2014. Keep your eyes open for dates and tickets to be released soon!

A Choreographer’s Dream Dancer

When creating a dance, work of art, routine, or production; choreographer’s have a very specific picture in their minds. Most imagine so distinctly to the final details of performance space, costumes, hair and makeup, dance style, and interpretations. But most importantly, the outcome of such events narrow down to one variable. It is up to them whether or not that vision comes to life, AKA: The Dancers…

So what is it that choreographers want? Who are the chosen ones painted in that priceless picture? I was lucky enough to interview a few local South African and International choreographers to help raise your awareness, on how to become every choreographers dream dancer!

Nicola Brosnihan is the choreographer for the Vodacom Bulls Babes at Loftus, and has recently choreographed for the Men’s Health Fashion Show and Cover Boy Launch at Melrose Arch.

Tamra Chace is the Artistic Director of Chace Dance Company choreographing contemporary productions, has choreographed at The University of the Arts, and an astounding competition choreographer.

Leighanna Kennett is the assistant choreographer with Paul David (LA Based) with the most recent project of Sarah Silverman’s new video release.

As a professional dancer before going on an audition or honing in on a project always be sure to research the choreographer, how they work, and what they stand for. This will be your first step into passing that audition and booking future work. Each teacher and choreographer works in a completely different way. Some choreographer’s such as Kennett searches for what the song means to her before beginning her movement phrases. “Throughout being a choreographer I have learned when I let the music take my body where it feels naturally it always has the best results visually” says Kennett. Where as others such as Chace prefers to “planning and researching the theme or story of a piece to create movement that is interpreted from my notes and text.”

The most important part after the time consuming task of googling the choreographer you are either auditioning for or following, is of course the dreaded auditioning process! So what is it that these dance professionals look for in their audition process?

Kennett: “I look for passion. You can always teach someone the steps, but if there isn’t a connection with the dance, it won’t come across on stage. I love expressive dancers!”

Brosnihan: “After I have had my meeting with the client and they have expressed what their event will be, I then cast my dancers accordingly.” 

Chace: “I want the X-Factor, the dancer who has something but no one knows how to describe it. I also look for someone who can mimic my style well, and pick up choreography quickly. Also I make sure to try and find out about the people I bring into my company, I am looking to hire a person… not always just the dancer. If they have an amazing talent but an arrogant personality, I’ll just say Thank you for your time.” 

Overall a choreographer’s dream dancer is the whole package, versatile and well rounded in numerous genres of both dance and personality. Brosnihan’s ideal dancer is “committed, professional, reliable, passionate, confident, humble, and respectful.” This just shows again how choreographers are looking to hire people, not necessarily the one with the highest leg line!  Kennett’s dream dancer is “someone whose worked on their craft, whose technique is already there allowing them to focus on their interpretation of the piece.” So someone who has a bit more experience as a dancer so the expressions can really shine through while they dance. As for Chace’s dream dancer, “someone you just can’t take your eyes off, someone who can own the stage in a solo but pull together and dance in group as well. Also super versatile, must be adaptable to all styles now a days.”

Before ending this article the choreographers were asked one last question; What advice would you like to give to the younger upcoming future professional dancers?

Chace: “Just be yourself, if you didn’t get the job or the part you wanted right away don’t get discouraged. The right work will come along for you. As cheesy as it is, one door closes and another one opens. Work hard in your classes and training and you will get what you put into the universe.” 

Kennett: “Never stay limited to your dance knowledge. Take as much as you can from every dancer and choreographer you interact with. Meet as many people as you can, take class, never give up on broadening your dance vocabulary. In every class take atleast one thing home to work on and it will be worth your time. Push past every obstacle, remain humble, and work hard!” 

Brosnihan: “Be professional in and out of a job contract or performance, how you behave outside will determine how you behave when hired.  You will get to experience, meet, greet, and travel the world. Do it with dignity, humility, and a smile!!”

-CDC