The People’s Dance Party

Immersive theatre could not get more smile-inducing than The People’s Dance Party by Bring a Plate inclusive dance company. Their show is just over an hour of pure fun for all ages. The format is straightforward: the audience stand in the round and do a pre-show warm-up with DJ/MC and dance instructors. Then six dance artists demonstrate their individual styles from different cultures and eras in a showcase performance, and then invite the crowd to join them in copying and showing off their moves. This is a great way to expose an audience to dance culture – from Indigenous Islander traditions to urban street moves to the drama of drag. It’s such a fun way to learn about different cultures and inclusion, it should be on the school curriculum. In fact, Bring a Plate do work with educational establishments and communities to spread their positive love of all things dance.

The artists on show at this Dance Party were amazing. First we saw an energetic traditional Polynesian dance from Lelani Tahiata from the Heilani Polynesian School of Arts. Then Sugar displayed a Samoan dance featuring balancing drinking glasses. Her superb balance and swirling moves reminded me of some Spanish dancing, and I would have sworn that the glass of liquid was velcroed to her hair, if it wasn’t for a minor mishap proving me wrong. Denzel Van Uitregt livened up the audience even more with his Michael Jackson inspired body popping routine. Kids in the crowd absolutely loved trying their hand at copying Denzel’s moves. As Therese from the Kanasuc Sega Dancers started her routine showing us the traditional dance of Mauritius, she was joined on the floor by an older dancer, way too confident in the steps to be a punter from the crowd. Sure enough, it transpired that this lively dance partner was none other than Therese’s Dad! What a joy it was to see these two perform together. The dance steps are vibrant and you can see how they have influenced funk and disco. The African-influenced beats of the next performer, Yasim Coronado Veranes, a professional dancer and circus performer from Cuba’s Escuela Nacional De Arte, were infectious and everyone wanted to join his dance crew afterwards. The final act was a G-rated drag tribute by the gorgeous and vivacious Miss Martoya, thriving in a high-powered pop and Diva dance routine in red sequins and high-heel boots. The encore was an all-inclusive Conga line with the whole audience joining all the performers in a final celebration of dance.

The early afternoon session I attended was for an inclusive audience and so the lighting and sound were dialled down to relaxed mode for those people who might react to noise or photosensitivity. After the show, I spoke to Lighting Designer, Michael Richardson, and he said that, for a relaxed version of the show he still uses lights to achieve the performance’s creative intension, but he adjusts the lighting vibrancy: “In the evening performance, I use lighting that has much more impact. With the relaxed performance, I add practical light to the space, so that people can communicate with their carers and it’s safe for children, so they aren’t in the dark.” It was great to see people dancing with their carers, and I loved seeing people of all ages, shapes and sizes moving on the dance floor, grandparents dancing with their grandkids. It was amazing to see toddlers who were cranky and misbehaving suddenly get into the groove and lose themselves in the music, and adults who were a bit shy overcome their inhibitions and join the Conga line and greet new friends with a smile.

Bring A Plate inclusive dance company has a mission to bring people together through storytelling and dance and to challenge perceptions of where and how to dance and who can participate. They hold weekly outdoor community dance classes, inclusive dance parties, and flashmob dancing events. I highly recommend seeing their performances and getting involved as soon as you can!

Learn more: https://www.bringaplatedance.com

Beth Keehn

Photographer: Janna Imperial