Magical Night At The Midsummer Night’s Dream Ballet Performance

Sharing Moments With The Midsummer Night’s Dream Performance Held At The Kenya National Threatre

Midsummer Night’s Dream is a ballet inspired by William Shakespeare’s classic play with the talented Cooper Rust at the helm as Artistic Director took place at the Kenya National Theatre from February 10th to 12th and was an unforgettable magical experience.

Here are some of the moments in the event:

Midsummer Night Dream’s Prologue:

In a mythical period in a remote and romantic city-state, the Duke, Theseus, and his bride-to-be, Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, are entreated to allow Hermia to marry Lysander, her true love, instead of Demetrius, her father’s choice. Hermia begs, but Theseus refuses. He demands that she marry Demetrius or be banished. Lysander also pleads his case and reminds the Duke that Demetrius is deserting his true love, Helena, to marry Hermia. The entreaties are to no avail. The Duke is adamant. Hermia must marry Demetrius.

Lysander and Hermia bewail their sad fate. They are truly star-crossed lovers. They decide to escape the Duke’s jurisdiction and marry outside his realm. They tell Helena of their plans and flee to the enchanted wood. Helena, truly in love with Demetrius, and blinded by the falsity of his love, tells him of Lysander and Hermia’s plans. He rushes to the wood after them. Helena follows, ever hopeful of regaining her love’s affection.

Nick Bottom and his fellow rustics arrive, looking for a place to have a picnic and make plans for the entertainment they will be providing for the Duke’s wedding.

To view the event program Click Here

Dance Center Kenya has been nominated for the 2nd Kenya Theatre Awards

To vote visit: www.kenyatheatreawards.com/voting/

Dance Centre Kenya Is Excited To Venture Out To Wadi Degla On The Weekends To Spread Our Passion For Dance And Movement.

In the Dance Classes for students up to 7 years, we will focus on Ballet. With its long history, ballet has a wide range of movements and repertoire that can be included in the classes. During ballet classes, students get to
work on their posture, flexibility, coordination, balance, and musicality. The ballet classes for the younger students (2-4 years) are aimed at creating interest in dance, movement, and music, through fun exercises based on the imagination and mind of a 2-4-year old. In a playful way, we will work on the (further) development of both gross and fine motor skills.

For students of ages 5 years and up we aim to provide an engaging training program in the basics of the ballet technique. Important elements of focus will be body placement and coordination, musicality, and spatial
awareness. We will include syllabus work from the Pre-Primary Syllabus from the Royal Academy of Dance. If students are motivated and consistent in their training they can apply to join our annual RAD exams at the Dance Centre Kenya studios with an examiner from the Royal Academy of Dance. Besides the syllabus work, the teacher will also introduce other ballet exercises such as stretching and a variety of jumps, leaps, and turns.

In the Dance Classes for students, 8 years and up we will offer an introduction to different dance styles with more emphasis on Hip Hop, Street dance, and African dance. All these styles are highly energetic and helpful in
learning and understanding different types of music and rhythm. In this class students will build strong muscles and stamina, improve body awareness and coordination and most importantly, the classes are a lot of
fun and help in building self-confidence.

Build Your Gymnastics Skills With Our Amazing Gymnastics Coaches

Gymnastics is a fun activity and one of the best activities for overall health and wellness. Participating in gymnastics from a younger age is recommended as it targets all muscle groups for total body strength and flexibility which improves the body’s general motor skills. In gymnastics, we train the mind to communicate faster and better in challenging situations. Studies have shown that gymnastics has a well-defined effect on mental health. It promotes endorphin hormone release which helps in stress and depression management.

The aim of the gymnastics classes at the Wadi Degla will be to get the students interested in gymnastics and movement and to build individual skills such as balance, general body awareness, strength, and flexibility. In the first few weeks, we will be working on getting to know the students and their levels so that we can structure the classes accordingly. Classes will always start with a warm-up to get the blood moving and the muscles activated. From there the students will be introduced to various elements of gymnastics based on their level.

During the gymnastics sessions, students develop friendships in a neutral environment. These friendships develop rapidly as gymnasts learn to encourage one another and cheer each other on. Gymnastics skills take time and repetition to master, therefore the gymnasts learn to be patient, work smart, set goals, and achieve them.

About Dance Centre Kenya

In January 2015, a few families of talented dancers who wished to advance their children’s training came together to establish a new dance school in Nairobi. With very different backgrounds and professions, these
families shared the same vision of providing a world-class level of training to the children of Kenya. Professional American ballerina Cooper Rust was brought on board as Artistic Director and so, Dance Centre
Kenya was born.
Since then Dance Centre Kenya has grown to become Kenya’s pre-eminent dance school with over 500 students taking classes in the three DCK studios (Karen Hardy, Lavington, and Rosslyn) and approximately 1,000 more
taking DCK taught classes in 22 schools throughout Nairobi and the styles of dance classes offered have expanded greatly.

The breadth of support and involvement of artists and ballet lovers both locally and abroad has been humbling. The initial performance on a makeshift stage in the gardens of the Purdy Arms without tutus has now transformed into the spectacular ballets audiences have grown to expect on the stage of the Kenya National Theatre. The Nutcracker at Christmas time has become an annual tradition on the Nairobi social calendar and now includes collaboration with the Nairobi Philharmonic Orchestra and visiting international conductors and guest musicians. The magnificent stage sets and costumes delight time and again with a repertory that includes Cinderella, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and now Romeo and Juliet with returning DCK students who have been training abroad.

Throughout the pandemic, DCK has continued to provide its students with world-class dance and gymnastics training whether through virtual learning or live class in our three studios across Nairobi. All of this culminated with a first-time back-on-stage virtual recital held in June of 2021.

From DCK’s inception, there has been a commitment to reaching into the Kenyan community and finding talented students, irrespective of their ability to pay for training. DCK’s sponsorship program, in conjunction with American charity Artists for Africa, has already affected the lives of many future dancers from disadvantaged backgrounds. We are honored to have both generous local and international sponsors for these talented dancers and for the past five years, a number of our students have traveled to the U.S. to train in South Carolina while others have been accepted in summer intensives in Europe. Some of DCK’s sponsored students are now in full-time dance training programs abroad and others are in colleges and universities using the skills gained from their dance training to pursue their own dreams. Most recently Joel Kioko, one of DCK’s first sponsorship students, has been given a contract to dance with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago for their 2021- 2022 season. With a training program based on the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) Syllabus and annual examinations, as well as multiple performance opportunities, DCK provides aspiring dancers with so much more than just technical training.

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