Bursting out of backyard

By BERNADETTE RAE

It is Urban Youth Movement showtime again, and this year the rookie underground branch of the Black Grace dance company rocks the Concert Chamber stage with a new theme.

This Life begins in that backyard jungle space all Kiwi kids remember - the tree hut, the rope swing and freedom from the usual constraints of the adult world, with just a touch of menace. Think Orwell's Animal Farm and Golding's Lord of the Flies.

Working on stage - and behind it - this year are two Urban Youth Movement veterans, Abby Crowther and Desiree Westerlund, both 19. They are keen to experience the administrative and creative aspects of presenting a dance show, as well as pass on their experience of performing to those new to the Urban Youth Movement experience.

Crowther first danced in Escape in 2002, Westerlund winning her place - through a gruelling audition process - for Escape Again last year. Crowther also danced in Neil Ieremia's homage to family and the Samoan tradition of tattoo, Surface, in 2003.

This year they have been appointed Black Grace trainees, heralding the continued evolution of the previously all-male company.

Both made the pilgrimage to Massachusetts for the exclusive Jacob's Pillow dance festival in August this year, where the New Zealanders were a hit among the best of contemporary dance the world has to offer. The girls, along with Dolina Wehipeihana, performed in Human Language, the first Black Grace work for male and female dancers.

The landmark festival is set in rustic conditions in the Berkshire Mountains, a three-hour bus journey from Boston.

Crowther and Westerlund still cannot quite believe the experience. Jacob's Pillow is where every aspiring contemporary dancer wants to go.

"The whole atmosphere of the place was amazing," says Crowther. "There is a big archive room with a photo gallery of all the famous people who have ever danced there. And we rehearsed on the famous outdoor stage, where people like Martha Graham and Paul Taylor have performed. I just couldn't believe it - that I was 19 years old and dancing there."

Rain cancelled Black Grace's outdoor performance, traditionally given free, and they were moved inside to a smaller stage, with an audience capacity of 200. Three hundred others crowded outside.

Black Grace was one of the most popular shows, one of the few that sold out, and had an extra show scheduled.

"We got our names in the New York Times," grins Crowther. "I bought five copies."

But now they are back to long days and hard work as Black Grace apprentices; days that begin at 8am - making sure the studio is ready for when the other company members arrive - and include classes in ballet, Limone technique, dance history and yoga. They make coffee and tea, do the lunch runs and some cleaning, just as the male apprentices have done before them.

But when it comes to rehearsals, everyone does the same amount of work, says Crowther.

"And it is nice to be treated as an equal. We get to try everything. There is not such a big difference made between the men and us - we even get to lift them as well. It is all just about the work. And I think that is probably quite rare."

With rehearsals for This Life added to their routine, the day is not finished until 9.30pm or later.

"Neil is preparing a whole soundscape for This Life," says Crowther, "and some evenings we are working with him on that too, making sure the music fits the movement."

In true UYM tradition, that movement comes fast and furious as bodies whip and whirl through space, thump, bash and blitz their way through their original youth's eye view of the world.

"It is all really fast. I don't think there is anything less than 100 beats a minute."

Performance

*What: This Life, by Urban Youth Movement

*Where and when: Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber, Nov 13-21 (Sun-Mon 6pm; Wed-Sat 8pm; Sun Nov 21 6pm)