ONE joined a circus at age 15 – the other can’t get enough of gift-wrapping. Both are top-notch dancers.
Lucy Marinkovich and Robbie Curtis are the newbies at Footnote Dance Studios, and already they’re set to perform at the Shanghai World Expo in July.
Before that, they’ll be performing as part of Footnote’s Made in New Zealand.
Curtis is actually an Aussie boy, and grew up in the country town of Armidale. He left home at age 15 and joined the Flying Fruitfly Circus.
“My mum’s a drum-teacher, my dad’s a musician, so I’ve grown up surrounded by the arts and I always had a passion for the physicality of things,” he says. “So I auditioned, and I got in.”
Curtis’s parents supported his decision to join the circus, which also had a school so he could complete his HSC – Australia’s NCEA equivalent.
He quickly excelled at juggling (he can juggle six balls at once) and acrobatics. He also tried his hand at the tight wire, and unicycling, and, appropriately, unicycling on a tight wire.
But during that time, Curtis fell in love.
“While I was there I started doing ballet, and I fell in love it. I like seeing how far I can push my body.”
After watching dance groups in Australia consisting of New Zealand School of Dance graduates, Curtis decided it was for him, and arrived in Wellington.
He says his experience at the circus complements his dance style because it built up his strength and balance.
“The circus was one of the most fun times of my life, and it was such a great bunch of people, a crazy bunch of people, but most dancers are too.”
Other Footnote newbie Marinkovich (also a NZSD graduate from last year) can vouch for that. She has a passion for gift-wrapping.
With the General Manager of Moore Wilson’s as her dad, Marinkovich nabbed herself holiday jobs in the gift-wrapping section.
“I love it. I’d just do it anyway, even if it wasn’t a job,” she laughs. “I also worked at Starfish during my training, and Christmas was my favourite time of the year because I’d get to gift-wrap. I love it when you get really precise folds, or difficult shaped objects to wrap.”
Marinkovich names the sustainable “Keep Cups” as the most difficult shapes to wrap, “but I mastered it on my second try”.
Her sister also loves gift-wrapping, so they compete over the family presents.
Marinkovich and Curtis are dancers in Purlieu, one of the four performances that make up Footnote’s perennial favourite Made in New Zealand, which celebrates homegrown contemporary dance and is set to Kiwi music.
Purlieu, choreographed by leading choreographer Malia Johnston, explores the body’s relationship to small and confined spaces, and is performed on a series of tiny boxes.
“Because this piece is going to Shanghai, it had to fit in with the expo’s theme, which is Better City, Better Living,” says Marinkovich. “With the boxes, we’re working in a very confined space. It’s beautiful how it actually works.”
Curtis says the boxes could be a metaphor for a city, which fits in well with the Shanghai theme.
“It’s about a city functioning sustainably and showcasing innovation. I think Wellington is a good example of that – there are thing like a rubber bicycle stand here, the public transport is alright, and people can walk everywhere. I also think the environment factor is pushed in Wellington.”
The other dances to look out for in Made in New Zealand are I change, choreographed by Sarah Foster, Somebody’s Darling by Michael Parmenter, and Stealth by Ross McCormack.
2010 Made in New Zealand, 8pm, The Opera House, May 26.