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Young dancer learns from the best
16:00 (GMT+2), Thu, 31 May 2012

George based dancer Bradley Zeelie has just returned from a two-week choreography residency with Alfred Hinkel.

GEORGE NEWS - Local dancer Bradley Zeelie received a surprising call from the KKNK early in April. They wanted to know if he would be interested in a two-week choreography residency in Okiep, Northen Cape, with choreographer and contemporary dance teacher, Alfred Hinkel.

"Naturally I accepted," says Bradley. "I was excited, as Alfred Hinkel is the guy I had to study in high school and now I might get the opportunity of a lifetime to learn from one of the best," he adds.

Alfred visited George to choreograph a group of learners from George High, where Bradley works as assistant, to prepare them for the Western Cape Education Department's Arts in the Park performance, which took place in Green Point Park, Cape Town.

After Hinkel's visit, Bradley received his official invitation for the residency from Hinkel, and with his travelling expenses funded by the KKNK, Bradley left for Okiep on 5 May. Hinkel is based in this Northern Namaqualand town where he is busy establishing a contemporary dance studio. Hinkel served as Artistic Director of the well-known Jazzart Dance Theatre in Cape Town from 1986 till recently and has seen a number of dancers through their developmental years and onto the international stage.

"In the course I got the opportunity to learn the key notes of what it takes to be a choreographer. We learnt how to look for individual voices in the art of dance [and] also what it takes to get a group together, as we were a very varied group with everyone having a different background," Bradley notes.

"The whole purpose of the residency was to enable young artists to create and develop works and programmes of a professional value/level so that we can create pieces that can be performed on platforms like the dance umbrella," Bradley said upon his return to George.

The learning curve and development for this talented dancer does not stop there. "Me and the group of ten [other dancers who participated] will now be coming together in Okiep over the next three years to gain and exchange more great ideas and knowledge." And in the meantime Bradley continues as a full-time student at the Diana Townsend School of Ballet, where he is preparing for his role as the Prince in Cinderella in the studio's 40th anniversary celebrations on 16 and 17 November.