Dane Hurst Weblog

Allow me to introduce myself:

I am South African and have been in the U.K for 5 years now. I started out at The Rambert School in 2003, and went on to join The Rambert Dance Company in 2004. I left Rambert and joined Phoenix Dance Theatre in Nov 2007.
What I've learnt in my brief career so far is that dance or more importantly the dance industry is not always as rosy and beautiful as is usually assumed. I've seen dancers used, neglected, abused(creatively that is), sucked dry and spit-out.On the other hand, I have seen the rebirth of personalities within the industry, an awakening of the senses towards the reality of the arts and an acceptance of a more humanistic side to the performer/artist. I won't go on preaching about the philosophy behind the arts and its place within society but something has recently come to my attention that I think needs debating.
I filled out a questionnaire the other day questioning the similarities between dance and sport and whether or not dance could be included into the olympic arena and be judged accordingly. The big worry for me was what type of image people are recieving to even propose such a ridiculous notion.I am very much aware of the virtuoso athletic tendencies of dance today, but can we really judge dance according to athleticism and technique. As I filled out the questionnaire I reflected on what I'm usually aware of when I sit in the auditorium, and the truth is that today a lot of emphasis goes into the physicality of dance and very little else into what the driving force behind the movement is.All you're left with is the memory of how good the dancers were and nothing much after that.There are very few exceptions in contrast to this. Going back to dance in competition. This is an already flourishing institution for young dancers trying to put their foot into the professional door of the dance world and in most cases is fundamental in securing the livelihood and employment of this generation. This survives within a closed circuit and is understood for it's purpose. If we open up this circuit to the world I can see only the negative effect it would have on the industry. People would go to the theatre and judge the contents of the show according to how they've been educated through seeing dance in the Olympic Games. Will it happen, who knows. All I know is that I'm against it.
So what else has been going on? We've just come back from our tour to Cremona, Italy, performed to a packed auditourium and two standing ovations later returned to Leeds. Thats one of the perks of this job, you get to escape reality a bit, eat some fabulous food, get lost in translation, enjoy some amazing sunshine and then come back to the North..... It was pissing down with rain when we returned,not far from the norm I guess. Oh the sacrifices we make heh! What next - we have about a week left until we premier our brand new full length work, I have to confess, this is unlike anything I've done before. Just today I found myself in a sound recording studio singing the lyrics to our different movements in the piece. Thats right- singing. We've collaborated with Richard Thomas and are having a ball with the opera singers. It's called "Cattle Call" and it's got everything in it.Any more news on that issue I'm afraid I cannot give.
Aside from that we're also rehearsing current repetoire for our normal touring season which we perform almost directly after our Cattle Call opening week, so it might seem like a walk in the park, being a dancer and all, on the flipside, it's exhausting stuff. Not just physically, mentally it's a nightmare. It's hard to maintain sanity after a while. No wonder we turn to alcohol and nicotine for some sort of mental break. Lame excuse, probably, The truth, most certainly.It's the only effective sedative that prevents nervous breakdown without the need of prescription.....

Other than that we're 3 months closer to summer(bring on the heat) and Robert Mugabe has finally been kicked the hell out! Well almost, it seems more likely than not. I still can't believe that he's been left alone after all those years of corruption and stupidity.I mean, Saddam Hussein got hanged in the blink of an eye, well that is also questionable but this is probably not the best time or place to get into foreign affairs.
Speaking of foreign affairs, one thing that recently put a smile on my face was the success of the first ever international dance competition in South Africa. It's quite a step forward I think, considering the weight of dance and where it stands on the political agenda of the country.Five stars to the organisers, money is hard to come by these days, as we know how recently a large percentage of arts funding was diverted to aid the Olympics and similarly in S.A towards the Soccer World Cup. It seems everybody is fighting for funding these days and that not much has changed over the years. The bitter-sweet truth still lays bare the fact that dancers and all present on the canvas are still ,"The hardest working and most underpaid in the Arts".