News in Brief
Local hip-hop dancer off to World Champs
Keeley Kira from Puramahoi is off to the FISAF World Hip-Hop Championships on the Gold Coast, Australia.
A member of Eklipz 002 dance crew from Nelson, Keeley has been dancing for five years. She made her start in hip-hop in the Bay when Darney Takao brought his hip-hop classes here.
“I started just as a student like everyone else, then I started running classes along with Maisey Zwanikken. That’s how Darney likes to do things – he gets the students involved as teachers as soon as possible. It’s a really good idea.”
Keeley (14) is boarding over the Hill this year and attending Garin College. This gives her a better chance to rehearse with the rest of Eklipz 002 and may have led to her opportunity to go to the world championships.
“Just before a competition in March, one of the girls had to pull out and the only option to take her place was me. I got to join the competing crew for three weeks and in that time I had to learn all the moves and get up to competitive level. It was a real challenge but I loved it.”
Keeley says that she loves to dance and that she enjoys hip-hop, “Because it doesn’t have set moves like ballet or jazz ballet. You can make up your own style and choose your own music.”
Last month, Eklipz 002 finished second in the junior section for 13 to 17-year-olds in the New Zealand Hip-Hop Championships. That placing enabled them to be one of the six New Zealand groups going to the world championships in October.
Keeley says that the six-strong crew know that there will be a very strong standard of competition at the championships. The group have become very close and, while they have to work very hard, they have lots of fun together. They are approaching the upcoming championships with their eyes open though.
“We know that we’ve just got to go prepared to be creative and find our own style, be who we are on stage.”
Keeley and the others in the crew run classes in Nelson on Wednesdays and then train for an hour after that. They have another training for four hours every Sunday, and when they get closer to the worlds they will try and organise their own two-hour sessions on Tuesdays.
“Darney is a very good coach. He makes sure we’re doing well and makes sure we think for ourselves. He really cares about us. Some of the crew even call him their second dad.”
The dancers have to raise $17,000 to get to the championships, so Keeley and her supporters will be running a stall at Fresh Choice this weekend and organising raffles and other fundraisers.
Neil Wilson
Enjoyable evening out at The Playhouse
Absurd but almost believable, Cash on Delivery is a full-on farce centred around Eric Swan who, unbeknown to his wife Linda, has been defrauding the Department of Social Services for two years by claiming benefits for his assemblage of fictitious lodgers, each unemployed, disabled or, in some other way, eligible for government assistance.
Set in East London, the play begins on a windy, rainy morning with Eric now finding it all too complicated. To extricate himself, he starts to “kill off” his make-believe tenants. We are then fully immersed in a complex plot complete with slamming doors, dead bodies, bald-faced lies, mistaken identities, men dressing as women, and a very temperamental washing machine.
With a cast of seasoned Golden Bay actors, along with a few new faces, Cash on Delivery promises to be a thoroughly enjoyable winter’s evening out. Cast list: Warwick Briggs, Cathryn Tucker, Steve Wilkinson, Geoff Rennison, Paul Sangster, Nicola Blasdale, Linda Sharp, Christie McLeod-Muir, Michael Pitcon and Dawn Beresford.
Cash on Delivery runs Wednesday 3 to Saturday 6 August and Wednesday 10 to Saturday 13 August at The Playhouse. Curtain-up is at 6.45pm and there is a gala wine and cheese event on opening night. Tickets: Paradise Video.
Submitted by Golden Bay Drama Society
Bay Photo: Life in Golden Bay
“We know there are some amazing photos out there that have been taken which are unlikely to ever get off the computer and onto paper. This is a great way to have people show that special moment, or their special place or the funny thing they saw and share it with others in the Bay.”
Organiser Grant Knowles explains the thinking behind the Golden Bay Community Arts Council’s latest initiative, Bay Photo.
The theme for the exhibition, to be held at the Wholemeal Café Takaka, is Life in Golden Bay. This gives people plenty of scope for interpretation says Grant. Photos must be unmounted 6x8 size and they need to be delivered to the Wholemeal between 10am and 12 noon this coming Sunday 31 July. Each photographer can enter only one photo and entry is open to Golden Bay residents only. There is a $5 entry fee.
“The 6x8 size means that all the photos start out on the same level for the sake of fairness,” explains Grant. “GB Pharmacy can print photos that size while you wait, so it’s just a matter of taking your memory stick there.”
Once the organisers see see what they have to work with, they will set up the exhibition between Sunday and Tuesday and it will be open for viewing on Wednesday 3 August.
There will be winners, of course, including a People’s Choice section but Grant says Bay Photo is more about the exhibition than the competition.
“There’s always a popular exhibition of photos at the A&P show each year and we would hope to have this event become as popular.”
Enquires to Grant on 525 7974
Takaka Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade: Further investigations to start
Since February this year, a working party of Councillors, Community Board members and local residents has been working to resolve issues surrounding the proposed Takaka Waste-water Treatment Plant upgrade.
Issues that have to be considered in the upgrade are: the age of the existing system, its physical position, a growing demand for increased volumes of waste-water and visual and odour concerns.
The working party has asked Council staff to undertake further site investigations of the land acquired adjacent to the existing plant. This work is due to start on Monday 1 August.
The investigation will be in the form of a Rapid Infiltration Basin (RIB) trial to assess the extent of groundwater distribution associated with future RIB use, and to gather additional data to assess groundwater flow direction in the vicinity of the RIBs.
The work will include three individual infiltration tests. The first test will include distributing waste-water to a single RIB continuously over a 24-hour period. This test will essentially act as a “control” for the next two tests and will help identify any issues. Tests 2 and 3 will run continuously to measure the extent of water distribution under the RIB with certainty. This is expected to take about seven days per test. A resting period between tests will allow the groundwater levels to recover to pre-test levels. The three tests are expected to take four to five weeks.
Before, during and after the testing, water and contaminant levels will be monitored in the groundwater through a series of existing and new monitoring wells.
At the conclusion of testing, the working group will consider the results and the trial RIB will be removed. Council will update residents after the trial has been completed.
