Canada’s sweep

After spending two weeks on my couch and gaining two kilograms, I am very pleased to say, “I loved the 2014 Sochi  Olympics”

The Athletes showed true sportsmanship in acts of kindness and real competitiveness. Our athletes made us proud,as they competed with grace and determination.

As usual their is always the naysayers, however both the opening and closing ceremonies were  beautiful to watch and even contained a little humor,and we even gained some new Russia pets which athletes brought back with them along with their medals, bruised bodies and the odd broken piece of equipment.

We came in 3rd with our medal count (10 Gold, 10 Silver and 5 Bronze), however we came home Champions of Woman’s Hockey, Men’s Hockey, Woman’s Curing and Men’s curling. WOW, we really rock and it’s something that has never been accomplished before!

and Talking of some unusual accomplishments, our team was lucky enough to have a Canadian passport only beer fridge!

So GO Canada GO , well done and congratulations!

Dane Hurst in Sounddance. Photo by Chris Nash.

Port Elizabeth’s Dane Hurst was voted the best male dancer in the UK at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards this week.

Beating other nominees from The Royal Ballet, Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet and English National Ballet, Hurst is part of the Rambert Dance Company, the oldest ballet company in Britain.

“It’s such a privilege to win this award. I’ve been dancing professionally for 10 years and it’s a great reward for being away from home for so long. It has always been my dream to be a dancer in London and that has now been fulfilled by receiving this prestigious accolade,” says Hurst, 29, who has been with the London company since 2004.

He started dancing at the Toynbee Ballet School in Port Elizabeth while moving between Gelvandale, Booysen Park, Salsoneville and Salt Lake, the rough, neglected areas of the city.

“When I was a kid I used to lie under the table and watch feet dancing all day while my grandmother made costumes for a small dance studio in my neighbourhood. I did break-dancing and all kinds of sport like football then I heard about the Toynbee Studio, which was situated on the outskirts of a very hostile suburb in a disused municipal building,” he recalls.

“When I walked into the studio I didn’t know what I was doing. I was transfixed by this beautiful chaos, the movement, the music, the smell. Then I saw one boy jumping around higher than anybody else. Before seeing him, it had never occurred to me to try dancing myself. That was it.”

One of their students had won the National Society of Dance Teachers (NSDT) bursary award in Johannesburg to train in London. When he heard about that, he decided he wanted to do the same. “It became a blind obsession. Gwen Mary Wells was my very supportive teacher, and never questioned my motives!”

Hurst won the NSDT bursary and received additional funding from the Linbury Trust and Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial trust fund.

Photo by Simon Weir.

He found that life as a dancer in Britain was massively hard work. “When it comes to training, the Rambert School normally trains Mondays to Saturday, for up to 44 hours a week. On tour, which is three quarters of the year, we work from 12pm – 10pm. It’s quite a lot of dancing.”

When he sustained an ankle injury he was forced to turn to choreography and was nominated to create a work for the Place Prize, a prestigious choreographic platform in the UK with a prize fund of £35,000.

“I have since then regularly choreographed for Rambert’s Evening of New Choreography, have received numerous choreographic commissions and have just completed a two year MA Choreography degree with Central School of Ballet. I’m at my physical peak and approaching the end of my dancing career but still have a few years left and hope to travel and dance wherever the momentum takes me, especially in South Africa.

“None of my family members have seen me dance professionally and I hope to one day invite my mother and three sisters over to see me dance here in London. My father passed away six months after I left for London.

“It’s such a crazy world, you never can tell what lies around the corner, so lets just say I’m happy where I am right now and when that changes I will move on.”

Part of Hurst’s future plans include transporting the equipment from the old Rambert Dance Company, which has been modernised and re-housed on London’s South Bank, to Port Elizabeth to start a dance studio there.

“I have the vision of setting up a dance studio or creative base for students and professionals in South Africa. At present I have negotiated the purchase of the old dance floor, some sound equipment and an old ballet barre from the previous studio. It’s all packed into storage and the plan is to arrange a fundraising gala performance to gather some money to transport this equipment, along with dance shoes and clothes to South Africa.

“The project is in its infancy but it has to start somewhere and I hope this recent award will help me to reach out to some influential sponsors who could help make this dream a reality.”

www.danejeremyhurst.com

by Marianne Gray

Canadanewbies is now on Twitter! We are trying to get more people to join the conversations and become more socially active and involved in your Canadian community as well as connect with your fellow South African Ex pat. We need you to participate, share, laugh, inform and encourage both new and OLD bies. Come join us on twitter @canadanewbies and let’s get the “skinner” started.

CanadaNewbies is not just about connecting New immigrants, but also about “Old immigrants” who have so much to share, so much insight into were, when and how. Our “oldbies” are our Guru’s, the people who we look to for advise, shoulders to cry on and are often the rock we need to help anchor our newly broken hearts.

5 things to do when you arrive in your new country.

Moving to a new country is not easy and is often the most difficult and life altering decision you ever make. It will certainly have the most far reaching consequence, not only on your life, but your families and your friends. Do note though, that like all major events, some of the detail will fade with time and change is ultimately easier in practice than in thought, especially when tackled with the right attitude and an ability to grasp what you are told is true and for you to “adopt” rather than “refute”.

Unfortunately like children, moving does not come with a manual and each move is different, however, there are definitely some things that can and will make the move a little less traumatic for all.

Rule 1:
Do learn language. Without learning to speak the local language, you will continue to be an outsider, and although your accent is an advantage, your inability to make yourself understood will always hold you back.

Rule 2:
Listen to those that have “got the T shirt”, be humble enough to actually really listen to their advice, idea’s and suggestions.  What you don’t know when you arrive, is not a reflection of your investigative skills.

Rule 3:
Make friends with people of your new culture and your old. Participate and adopt your new culture, it does not mean that you have lost your previous identify, it simply means that you are fortunate to have experience in both. Embrace your diversity, without smacking your new country in the face with your old traditions.

Rule 4:
Know your interest and hobbies. Find out where to participate in them and join in. It is common ground that will ensure new relationships.

Rule 5:
The sooner you can get back to “normal” and feel like you are contributing and “living” like you did in the past, the sooner you will settle. Do not think that because the country you live in has changed, that you have- what made you happy in the past, will make you happy in the future- understand what this is and seek it out.