These young ladies are all advanced ballerinas who are looking at turning their chosen sport into a full-time career. So you may wonder just what interest these girls could have in a workshop in contemporary dance.

The first thing that you have to realise is that this is not so much about being a contemporary dance workshop, but a workshop with Natalie Ayton.  Ask any of the dancers and they all agree that it is Natalie that draws them from as far a field as Invercargill to the village of Waipawa in the middle of their summer break.

These ladies worked from 10 am to 4.30pm as Natalie tried to give them an understanding of what life as a professional dancer would be like. “I wanted them to learn what it was like building the bricks to becoming a ballet company” Although the day’s routine comprised of warm-ups, contemporary classes and creating their own choreography the theme running through each day was about being a part of a group and learning to trust in that group as well as trust in yourself.

“The workshop this year was really about catching and falling and trust” explains Natalie. “To really learn to trust your own body and other people you have to put that trust to the test. So we have learned about really letting go and knowing that either we can catch ourselves at the last minute or that other people in the group will do it for us”.

The relationship within a group of dancers, whether they be a professional company or a casual class, is so important.

Dancers need to be instinctively aware of where they are in the room, but also where other dancers are and what they are doing. Although this makes it a far safer environment it is this connection with each other that creates the group essence and magic for dancers and spectators alike.

There is no-one better to teach these dancers these essential intricacies of working in a company than Natalie. After more than 10 years touring with dance companies (including the outstanding Gecko Theatre company), working with pop stars and being involved in Opera performances and Olympic ceremonies Natalie has become one of the most sought after contemporary dance teachers for those just starting out and professional dancers alike.

When I asked her advanced group what made her so special they all replied at once with massive grins on their faces “she is fun!”  Other comments started flowing from the dancers but it was evident to all that these students were completely entranced by the passion, intensity and pure joy that Natalie has for her craft. Through this passion she makes her students want to push through and go further.

Natalie works with her students and becomes a part of their team, guiding without overtly instructing. With Natalie-isms like ‘seaweed shoulders’ scattered throughout the classes and using phrases like ‘sausage and mash’ to verbalize a rhythm Natalie certainly got her company relaxed and focused. They visibly transformed from young, elegant, tightly framed ballerinas, who still liked to talk about the latest Twilight instalment between sessions – into contemporary dancers telling their story and doing incredible things with their frames.

Which is another of the reasons that Natalie’s contemporary workshops are so popular.

Classical Ballet is performed in such a tight and limited framework that achieving the extremes of movement while also expressing the depth of emotion is really hard to achieve when you just focus on the classical ballet curriculum. By learning contemporary dancers can push through physical and psychological barriers and reach those classical limits.

They were all the animals used to enthral a captive audience during the end of the 4-7 year old Children’s Creative Dance Class summer school with Natalie Ayton.

Now for most people the thought of dealing with a dozen young children on a hot Hawkes Bay day would be challenging to say the least, but Natalie is the consummate teacher. Her methods of teaching involve letting the children’s imaginations run wild and then channelling their ideas into movement. Not only does this stimulate the imagination of the children, but it also provides wonderful entertainment for those watching from the sidelines!

We watched as the children listened to stories about different animals and discovered quirky truths about them. They did not just learn about the anatomy of the animal, (we all know that a deer has pointy ears and eight legs!) but the animal was bought to life as Natalie described a small detail or peculiarity of their life or behaviour. A baby deer became a small animal learning how to stand for the first time, a spider was stealthily crawling toward its prey …….

The imagination of the children was set on fire as they transformed themselves from young ballerinas into wobbly jellyfish, graceful Flamingos, snarling cheetahs, sneaky spiders, ungainly baby deer and even light footed elves!

Through this way of teaching the children learned to not only pretend to be another animal, they connected with the role that they were playing and literally became the animal.

The children also designed their own choreography to go with their name and it was wonderful to see the personality that they all bought to the exercise. From the shy girl whose chosen movement was to simply point her toe when her name was called, to the more assertive student who jumped into the centre of the circle in a surfers pose at the mention of his name. Even at this age they were able to take this exercise and transform something as simple as their names into a very special dance.

The music that Natalie had chosen for the classes was also spectacular and incredibly varied, ranging from the sounds of the rain forest (of course) to classical music. At the end of the workshop there was also a segment where they showcased a short contemporary routine and the older students in particular felt the groove of the popular music playing.

The one thing that really stood out was the love of the dance that each student had.

Whether it was the 4 year old who was struggling to maintain their one legged Flamingo pose or the 7 year old who was more interested in doing their own thing to the popular music, they all loved to move and the smiles at the end of the week long workshop spoke volumes about the effect that Natalie had had on them.

This was a very special workshop and one that will be remembered in the hearts of both the children and their parents for a long time to come.

If that sounds confusing, then you are completely forgiven.

Natalie spent 5 years training with Esther Juon Veitch in the UK before deciding to specialise in contemporary, taking her speciality to the global stage and performing with a huge array of international stars.

When asked to describe the difference between ballet and contemporary dance in four words or less Natalie’s answer was “crikey, that’s too hard”.  Granted it was four words, but they weren’t the four words that you’d expect from someone whose passion for all things dance is so tangible you can feel it when she walks into the room.

Both ballet and contemporary tell a story, they both need the same energy and level of expressiveness, but while ballet is very much a strict discipline and curriculum that the dancer must strive toward, contemporary allows the dancer the freedom to choose how they express their story.

While watching a ballet performance is like watching a garden or snow globe – it is beautiful, exciting and wondrous. It is performed by elite athletes who are masters at their craft. Watching a contemporary performance is like watching a play the difference is that the actors do not speak.

Dancing ballet is a precise and disciplined process, where your aim is to master your body and attain the level of discipline needed to perform amazing feats of movement and balance. Contemporary is acting with your whole body. You feel the role that you play and every sense is used to create your dance. It is a fluid and limitless process.

On the face of it the two disciplines would seem to collide, but dig a little deeper and you see why they actually complement each other extremely well.

Because ballet gives you the discipline and self awareness to be able to place your body parts at the exact point that you need to perform a movement it makes performing contemporary exercises far more simple. Natalie describes ballet as the essential foundation for all dance because “you need to know what your legs are doing before you can learn to fall off them”.

So why would these ladies who have been doing ballet for several years decide to do an intensive workshop in contemporary dance?

Because just as ballet gives them the physical discipline, contemporary gives them the connection with their body, allows them to fully immerse themselves in their movement and adds heart to their performance.

Quite simply, they have become more aware of the essence of movement and are better dancers as a result.

How about a magical story of princesses, princes, dragons, war, Candy-land, aliens and….. tadpoles???

Welcome to the technique and choreography workshop designed and taught by international dancer, teacher and choreographer Natalie Ayton for dancers working at Grade 2 to Grade 5 level of dance.

At this level the dancers have enough skill and maturity to cope with the demands of the classes, but with Natalie the workshop is hardly ever about hard work – she describes it as more of a series of ‘task-based exercises’ that take the dancer and casual observer on a journey into the depths of their soul.

Using her ‘magic ball’ and a large roll of brown paper, Natalie and her students created a rolling tale whose storyline ended up resembling a unique blend of the ‘Nutcracker’ meets ‘Lost’ with a few extra dragons and frogs thrown in for good measure. Under Natalie’s guidance her students then choreographed a short performance depicting all the chapters of the epic tale.

The sheer commitment and obvious pride that her students had in their performance were testimony not just to Natalie’s teaching, but to the connection that the dancers had with the story. Each element had a personal meaning to the students. This was their piece, created entirely by them.

From the time that Natalie gave them their final instructions “bright smiles, heaps of energy, open eyes and open hearts” we were entranced.

Each dancer had a uniquely personal response to each movement and the emotions that the story evoked from them. They transformed from dancers to seasoned actors before our eyes as they moved from the warm up exercises into their story. They were not just playing a part, they were also feeling it and as an audience we were privileged to be a part of the story as well.

These young adults achieved this over the course of Natalie’s 5 day workshop and however they spend the rest of their summer, the week with Natalie will be etched in their minds for a long time to come – or at least until next years summer school!