Dancing from here to there

Tower Season of From Here to There.
Royal New Zealand Ballet
Opens Dunedin February 25th
Then Invercargill, Christchurch, Hastings, Hamilton, Auckland and Wellington

From being a backup dancer for violinist Andre Rieu to creating his own ballets – the last two years have been a huge journey for Andrew Simmons.

The Christchurch dancer and choreographer returns to New Zealand this month to create a new work for the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s Tower Season of From Here to There.

A former RNZB dancer himself, Simmons says he was honoured to be asked to choreograph his third work for the company.

“I idolised the company as a young boy and it was their productions that really ignited my passion to dance,” he says. “To come back and create a work for the RNZB and to have the opportunity to work with my friends who are still dancing there is fantastic.”

The work, A Song in the Dark, will feature eight male and eight female dancers in flowing green and black costumes designed by another former RNZB dancer, Kate Venables.

Simmons set the work to the music of legendary American composer Philip Glass. “I wanted to find something that had energy and was dynamic without being a heavy orchestral number.”

A Song in the Dark will premiere alongside another new commission, Silhouette (formerly known as Poulenc Variations), by UK-based choreographer Christopher Hampson who created Romeo & Juliet and Cinderella for the RNZB. The third work in From Here to There will be an encore performance of David Dawson’s breathtaking A Million Kisses to my Skin – a work which attracted critical acclaim when the RNZB first performed it in 2005.

From Here to There offers something for everyone, says RNZB artistic director Gary Harris. “It’s a unique opportunity to see a selection of work from choreographers who each have a different vision. This is an exciting programme and provides a platform for our dancers to really extend themselves.”