hi

Life can get crazy busy. But having one healthy distraction can make all the difference.

Introducing Zinnia. A rad little ball of energy who’s frequently giggling and most recently found in bridge backbends throughout class. Aside from this, Zinnia is an architect student who spends every other minute intently dedicated to the cause. Sometimes barely sleeping. Then, after uni and dance, buses just under an hour home to Titirangi. Committed. How she finds the time, no one knows.

Zinnia has wanted to get back into dancing for years, originally putting it off in 2014 due to lack of time with Uni. Ironically though, she made the spontaneous decision to join ADC this year, her busiest year yet, “because I just need a distraction from it all!”.

“I study Architecture so I have no spare time, ever. Not even to breathe. Despite this I still go to dance because it's an outlet where I can relieve my stress and just forget about all the madness that's brewing back at uni.”

Before her first class Zinnia confides that she was really nervous. Anxious she might struggle to keep up with everyone and feel like she “sucked”. Within the first five minutes though, she tells me, her nerves completely dissipated, knowing she’d made the right choice. And she must have! Because moments later, when asked on her feelings towards class now, she shares “Class feels like family now. We all get along so well and the feeling of awkwardness is non-existent.” Just a bit cute! I smile and agree.

Zinnia dances lyrical and recently added Hip hop to the timetable. “I love Lyrical because it's a mixture of everything! Despite being way out of my comfort zone. Hip hop is growing on me too - but I feel like I'm not cool enough to pull that off” She laughs then adds, “just kidding, love you, hip hop.”

Dance has really helped Zinnia find normality in the busy life of a student “It's a really good way to make myself feel less like a robotic zombie and more human.” Sometimes life moves incredibly fast and we have no time to be playful. Yet a healthy outlet can be all we need. Something to slow us down. Bring us into the present and reconnect ourselves with simple enjoyment. Things which are necessary to sustaining our busy lives.

If Zinnia can find the time, so can you. And her words of advice to anyone considering taking up dance “If you're like me and find yourself constantly second guessing yourself - stop doing that and give it a go because I'm highly optimistic that you'll love it.”

Thank you, Zinnia! You’re a machine.

Ciao Team xx

Links

We have found ourselves drowning in a digital ocean, struggling to keep our head above water.

#ThePressure - Auckland Dance Company's 2015 sold out mid-year cabaret show, rose out of this realisation.

We are constantly on edge - time-poor - in a race against that "seen" badge. Consistently reminded that we need to Be More. More beautiful, more wealthy, more healthy, more present, more popular, more extroverted, better, stronger, more loved.

Art, music, and expression is universal. And our premise is simple. Dance is a powerful tool, allowing us to engage our audience on a deeper level, and create an open and interactive awareness for our growing and ever-hungry student base. It is not just an education or a hobby - it's a religion. Expressing a choreography can be a cathartic experience for our performers... And for the audience, it can be a heart-wrenching, beautiful, and even enlightening one.

The show featured songs and choreography which embodied different stories within #ThePressure theme, inspired in part by the personal stories of our cast. "Chandalier" by Sia, the title track "The Pressure" by Jhene Aiko, and Womanizer - an iconic Britney track - all created with the intention to transform the collective societal pressures that were weighing us all down, into works of Art.

To see our beautiful dancers perform "Chandalier", click here.

The show, and each piece, allowed our dancers to band together as a cast, and experience these stories together.. To know that we weren't alone in the fight.

And it also served as a timely reminder.

A reminder to keep the digital enslaught at bay. To hold it at arms length.

Reiterating that it is Us that is in control, not the other way round.

Each year ADC holds two annual shows for all of our students - beginners, professionals, and hobbyists alike. Join us, and become part of the movement.

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