Dance festival set to swing
Snappy steps and swivelling hips will get the party started when a popular dance event returns.
The Dunedin Swing Festival is staging its 11th edition over King's Birthday weekend, offering big band energy, syncopated beats and buoyant revelry.
Festival director Sibby Dillon said the event's core styles traced back to innovators of the 1920s-'40s swing era.
"African-American communities in different parts of America were responding to the music of the time in different ways."
Swing was freer than more structured forms of dance.
"There's so much more personality, your own personality that you bring to the dance, and that makes it incredibly fulfilling.
"It means that when you are dancing with someone else, you are actually bringing your personality to that dance and they are bringing their personality to the dance."
The festival caters to a range of skill levels, from absolute beginners through to advanced classes.
Age groups are also covered, starting with a free under-5s dance class.
"A lot of us now have little people and we like to involve them in our community as well," Dillon said.
Teaching co-ordinator Kieran Ford said although swing was popular in its own era, the dances had stayed in demand.
"It is the same whakapapa that goes all the way through to hip-hop and disco and house music.
"It is the same story, part of the same culture, one just led from one to the next."
Six experienced tutors will lead 10 hours of workshops — John and Julia Wharington, Miya Miyazaki, Evan Hughes and Jessie Gordon, of Australia, will be joined by Lindy hop star Ramona Staffeld, of the United States.
"She has won multiple awards at the International Lindy Hop Championships," Ford said.
Social events include a blues dance night at Errick's featuring the Whirling Eddys band and the Josephine Ball at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum, featuring Jessie Gordon and her Rinky Tinky Jingle Jangle Jazz Club — comprising local musicians.
Gordon was a multiple Fringe World Music and Cabaret Award-winning singer, Dillon said.
The festival draws enthusiastic dancers from Dunedin and beyond.
Dedicated festival-goers can look forward to seeing familiar faces from previous years.
"I think that community of people is a really special group that comes together once a year here.
"It is definitely very much a party and a celebration," Ford said.
The Dunedin Swing Festival is a supporter of LGBTQI+ nonprofit organisation the Safe Space Alliance.
Funding from the Otago Community Trust helps ensure the event takes place.
• The Dunedin Swing Festival will take place from May 29 to June 2.
Visit dunedinswingfestival.co.nz for timetables, tickets and registration.
sam.henderson@thestar.co.nz
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Time for a singalong
Local performers Harriet Moir (left) and Arlie McCormick will host monthly Bangers & Brews — Pub Singalong sessions from next Thursday at Errick's. Photo: supplied Pub singalongs have become something of a global sensation over the past few years and local performers Harriet Moir and Arlie McCormick thought it was high time Dunedin got in on the trend. From next Thursday night, the pair will host monthly Bangers & Brews — Pub Singalong sessions from 7pm at local venue Errick's. Doors will open at 6pm for refreshments, then Moir will provide a warm up, before McCormick takes over teaching the crowd two or three songs in harmony, from 7pm-8.30pm. You did not have to be a "good" singer to come along, you just had to want to sing. More said, in a statement, the song choices would range from numbers by Elton John, Adele, Guns N' Roses, Queen, The Eagles and Beyonce, to Kiwi classics, pop ballads and rock anthems. "There will be lots of variety and something for everyone," she said. Heading into the winter months, Bangers & Brews — Pub Singalong sessions could be a good opportunity to do something to lift your mood and release endorphins. The act of singing is scientifically proven to be a mood enhancer. "Bangers & Brews will give you the chance to find your inner singer and discover the benefits of singing and how it is so good for the soul. Think of it as massage for your voice and your mental health," Moir said. McCormick is a skilled performer, voice specialist and award-winning actress and is a lecturer in Contemporary Voice at the University of Otago. Dunedin audiences might have seen her in her stand out performance with the DSO at their ABBA concert last year. "There's nothing quite like the sense of community that singing can create," McCormick said. "There's so much stress in our lives, we need to find the joy," she said. Moir said she had done group singing with McCormick before "and she is just so positive and wonderful". "I am convinced that you will come out the other side feeling energised, refreshed, and like a bit of a rock star." Moir is a local entertainer, MC, comedian, celebrant actor and singer and she is looking forward to welcoming everyone and bringing the hype. Moir and McCormick are planning for Bangers & Brews — Pub Singalong to be a monthly event in Dunedin, and have scheduled the next two sessions for July 24 and August 28. Tickets are available via — APL
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- NZ Herald
Herald NOW: Daily News Update: June 4 2025
King's Birthday Honours: NZME Radio announcer Brian Kelly Brian Kelly has spent 55 years on the airwaves, and is New Zealand's voice of motorsport. Now he's been made a member of the NZ Order of Merit in the King's Birthday honours.
The Spinoff
4 days ago
- The Spinoff
Jacinda Ardern steps back into the global spotlight
As the former PM's memoir hits shelves, Penguin is hoping her enduring star power can turn A Different Kind of Power into a bestseller, writes Catherine McGregor in today's extract from The Bulletin. A different kind of memoir Jacinda Ardern's long-anticipated autobiography, A Different Kind of Power, is officially released today. Framed as a deeply personal account rather than a political exposé, the memoir chronicles Ardern's rise from small-town Morrinsville to global leadership – and her abrupt, self-authored exit from the world stage. The book's launch has been accompanied by a major international publicity push. Ardern has appeared on CBS's Sunday Morning show, sat down for a reflective interview with The Guardian, and featured on the mega-popular The Rest is Politics podcast. At home, she's been interviewed by Seven Sharp's Hilary Barry and the NZ Herald's Kim Knight, among others. The media blitz is not just about selling copies, but reinforcing Ardern's core message: that kindness, empathy and even self-doubt have a place in leadership. More personal warmth than political revelation Early reviews suggest that A Different Kind of Power offers plenty of feeling but not a lot of drama. Frances Stead Sellers of The Washington Post (paywalled) praises the memoir as a 'clear and compelling case for compassion' that suffers at times from 'its author's earnestness', while The Post's editor Tracy Watkins describes the book as emotionally resonant but light on backroom revelations – especially when it comes to a post-mortem on pandemic decision-making. 'If, like me, you're looking for fresh insights, or signs of regret over some of the decisions her government made, you may be disappointed,' Watkins writes. Newsroom's Steve Braunias, in the most deeply read and incisive review so far, is more generous. Like other reviewers, he comments on Ardern's sometimes cloying focus on empathy throughout the book – but also highlights a 'pitiless' nine-page section on a certain New Zealand politician. 'Ardern introduces him to an American public who had hitherto never heard of the vainglorious sap and parades him as the villain of A Different Kind of Power,' he writes. Today is probably a very bad day to be former Labour leader David Cunliffe. A big bet for Penguin Commercially, A Different Kind of Power is a major gamble. According to a fascinating story, again by Steve Braunias at Newsroom, Penguin is rumoured to have paid Ardern an advance of $1.5 million, meaning the book will need to sell at least 140,000 copies globally to break even. Publishing experts believe it's possible, particularly with Australian rights in play and a high-profile North American book tour scheduled. Braunias speaks to writer and book editor Paula Morris, who points out that the advance may also include Ardern's upcoming children's book, Mum's Busy Work, due out in September, which will make earning it back a far easier task. Comparisons are already being drawn to Spare by Prince Harry, which reportedly required 500,000 print sales to recover its costs. As with Harry, Ardern is a polarising figure, and that may well help drive both publicity and sales. (As an aside, Newsroom is the place to be for Ardern-book completists this week, with not one but three reviews scheduled, from Braunias, Janet Wilson and Tim Murphy.) Not the first Ardern book, and not the last word This isn't the first time Ardern's life has been turned into reading material. Jacinda Ardern: A New Kind of Leader by The Spinoff's own Madeleine Chapman was a bestseller, as was Michelle Duff's Jacinda Ardern: The Story Behind An Extraordinary Leader, which in 2019 inspired the bizarre #TurnArdern campaign. The Covid-era tome Jacinda Ardern: Leading with Empathy earned a withering review from Toby Manhire, who said that 'it was written by two authors trying hard to tell the story of a country without visiting it'. At the time, Ardern said it was 'awkward' to have her life story told via unauthorised biography – perhaps she was thinking about her own authorised version even then. Ardern's book won't be the last word, either. Her story has also been told in Prime Minister, a feature documentary about Ardern's time in office, co-directed by Michelle Walshe and Lindsey Utz. While no NZ release date has been confirmed, it will play in this year's NZ International Film Festival. Outside of the NZIFF programmers, few people here have yet seen the film, but a close reading of the trailer by The Spinoff's Alex Casey reveals mic drop, teary moments, and many obligatory Aotearoa-landscape drone shots.
