A week of work placement at Echo EchoEntry by Alexandra Boettcher
It was good to refresh the contact with Echo Echo, after almost a year. I missed being part of workshops, classes and performance evenings. Last week, I got to spend some time with Echo Echo on something like a "mini" placement.
Ursula was very welcoming and asked me to join in straight away. Good to be back dancing in this beautiful environment.
My interest is in children's and youth dance at the moment, as I'd like to start teaching myself in the near future. I am impressed with the way Ursula teaches the youth dance group "Daring Feet". The girls not only learn a lot of movement, but are also each seen as individual personalities - this influences their dancing. For me it was tough to learn the sequence in such a short time, but the girls and Ursula were very helpful.
I also got to enjoy some time in the studio by myself and with a friend to create some work, we even had a chance to perform at the "Moving Through" evening, organised by Ayesha, last Friday.
This performance evening was a great idea to bring dancers, choreographers performers and other interested people together and share dance. There was a lot of good and unique work presented, which showed that there are a lot of talented and creative people around. I enjoyed helping to prepare, observe and to be part of the evening.
I stayed on for Saturday, where Ayesha's Kids classes and the youth group Daring Feet got together to do a workshop. I really enjoyed the enthusiasm of all participants. It was great fun to see different age groups dancing together, it was so much fun that Ursula decided to perform this for the parents, which turned out to be a great idea.
The back of the studio was packed. So many parents, grandparents, and other relatives and friends showed up to watch the performances. The "wee-ones" were absolutely fabulous. Ayesha choreographed a lovely piece with them, using props and the children's imagination in the first part and rhythm and memory skills in the second part. Daring feet did a great job performing Ursula's quiet complicated choreography too. It was very nice to see them connect and really work as a group.
I got to experience so much in these few days. All these people working with Echo Echo and the participants, the great atmosphere and dancing environment. A great place to learn, experience, develop and be creative. Many thanks to Ursula, Ayesha, Ailbe, Sarah and all the great people that I met and got to dance with. I hope to return back very soon.
