Freedom of expression in movement is a beautiful thing. To showcase Angie in our League Collective gear was an honour, as she flowed into the most beautiful shapes imaginable.
Trained from a young age in classical ballet before transitioning to the UCT School of Dance in Cape Town, South Africa, where she majored in contemporary and Afro contemporary dance. Angie has what we imagine to be the best mixture of movement conceivable.
To move her body with such grace, yet find a scent of attitude engulfed in heart felt passion, as she constrains then frees her body into movements that look so natural; floating, skipping, swaying across the floors of Pineapple Dance studios on a sunny Sunday morning in December.
Breaking for a coffee after the session, we spoke about the intense and strenuous training that many dancers undertake to improve their dancing ability.
Unlike the usual hours on end of perfecting your ‘demi-pointe’ or ‘full en pointe’, plus the French terminology for all the semi, demi pliés, pirouettes for ballet – Contemporary and Afro contemporary dance brought in a whole new perspective.
With dance training lasting for 5-7 hours a day, Angie told us about a summer programme she had done during her time at the Edna Manly School of Arts…”Training in the midday heat of Kingston, Jamaica, in a room with no air con – instead, slits between the ceiling and walls to let [non existent] wind flow in,” taking lunch breaks not to eat, but “just stand under freezing shower to cool down!” The transformation her body made in that time was incredible. The strength, control and agility from training such long hours in such intense heat is a beautiful gift, earned only by those who work until their souls are on fire… quite literally.
She described how you can really tell when someone is working towards a show. The conditioning and increase in hours of daily training changes the ability of the body and the focus of the dancer so much in such a short space of time.
“That passion and drive as you work toward something is not like anything else”.
Photo from left: Angeliki being choreographed by Ania
“There are two kinds of dancers” Angie mentioned when we briefly met for breakfast with Ania, her choreographer, 3 days prior to the shoot.
“There are those freestyle kind of dancers, and then ones who like me, prefer being told what to do with the challenge of bringing a new creative idea to meet the brief.”
There is such talent expressed in both. From moving in a way that your body feels; to then showing expressions of anger, freedom, passion, or sadness on queue with your body. It is an art… Equally, being choreographed into a shape, a feeling, a movement and still being able to transport your body into a place explained by another is pretty darn spectacular.
Angie brought Ania with her on the shoot, and watching them work together was a dream. Angie has every tool in her body that she needs to move any way she wants, and Ania was able to queue it so perfectly that not a single moment was wasted, and instead something beautiful was created.
Angie performed in Resolutions this January in “Tag” by Ania Straczynska on the 17th, and again in “Riah” by Michaela Dance company on the 24th.
Thank you for watching and reading! We hope you enjoyed our Introducing session. If you know you have what it takes to be featured in our clothes with your amazing talent, we would love to hear from you.
Drop us an email explaining a bit about yourself and what you do” [email protected]
Video and photo by: PIIPELINE Productions
