Discovering dance
My intermediate school teacher was also a dance teacher at Les Mills. She taught classes at school, and a bunch of kids (including me) really loved it so she got us teaching other kids for 15 minutes, every morning, for a year. The next year, aged 13, I found myself on stage at Les Mills teaching hip hop, which was rather obscure (being 1993) and somehow I was earning money for it!
BODYJAM basics
BODYJAM is 55 minutes of short and long routines to hip hop, house and salsa music. Dancing is great because it offers you so much in terms of soul- enriching experiences. When you harmoniously fuse together certain movements and music, you get something better than a standard workout – it’s authentic dance and incredible music.
A family affair
My one-year-old, Luckson, is mad artistic – he should have his own show! My eldest, Gio, is seven and loves short, sharp movements. And then I have five-year-old Max, who is the dance star of the house. It’s total experimentation 100 per cent of the time. He needs space to move!
In da clubs
I’m not sure if people really understand how simple a good Step Tap can be in the clubs. If you get your weight bouncing up on the beat, let your arms float around shoulder height, lift on the toes and just bounce – it works with every song. Oh, and flips. Flips are always a good move to pull out.
Everybody dance now
There are so many regulars. I see the same faces week after week, but when the class finishes we all gap it to our next life thing. Then one day, I’ll bump into someone and hear how much they love BODYJAM, how they look forward to it or how it’s affected them in some way. Sometimes I hear they’ve lost 40kg and their life has completely turned around. I’ve also heard a couple of times – three actually – how a person was suffering from depression then they discovered dance and now they have a full life again. I don’t really know how to respond to that. I’m very lucky to do what I do.
We like to move it
Gandalf will be a part of the Tempo Dance Festival, which takes place from October 4-16 in Auckland at three locations: Q Theatre, Aotea Square and Wellesley Studios. For more information, visit www.tempo.co.nz.
