PROJECTS
HOMEMADE JAM
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the choreographers |
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Homemade Jam is brand new choreographic development of works made here in Aotearoa / New Zealand by New Zealand choreographers on some of New Zealand’s best contemporary ballet dancers.
BCA is creating a platform for New Zealanders to create and express themselves through movement based on the ballet canon. We will express the unique voice of those that call New Zealand home. There is an energy and magnetism that New Zealand trained dancers expel, that places us here in this young, rugged, diverse landscape and intrinsically relates to those who reside here. BCA is deeply grateful that the development of Homemade Jam is made possible with funding from Creative New Zealand. the worksFor Homemade Jam Cameron McMillan will collaborate with live musicians, the NZ Trio, creating to John Psathas’s commissioned work for the Trio, Helix. As this is a ‘homecoming’ for Cameron, he is keen to explore the ideas around Home, and the parallels between the return of Ulysses and his creating work back in his homeland after 10 years.
In Homemade Jam Loughlan continues to develop his strong artistic relationship with acclaimed Kiwi composer Claire Cowan. Their new work, titled Subtle Dances, explores a set of three short moods for piano trio, fused together with a synthetic sound-mix. Both sassy and hypnotic, the work presents itself as a contrasting set of interior landscapes. Passing thoughts, memories, unsolvable problems, and explorations of headspace. Sarah Knox is excited to again work with music by Rhian Sheehan for Homemade Jam. These are songs that were written after he saw performances of her work Between There and Now. Sarah wishes to investigate more fully the collaborative process on ballet dancers. |
Cameron McMillan
Loughlan Prior
Sarah Knox
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about the choreographers | homemade jam
cameron mcmillan
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New Zealand born and raised, Cameron McMillanis a London based choreographer, dance artist and teacher with an international performance and creative career for over 20 years spanning contemporary dance, ballet, film and fashion.
Classically trained at The Australian Ballet School, he first danced as a soloist for both The Royal New Zealand Ballet and English National Ballet before moving into contemporary dance. He subsequently performed extensively in both repertoire and new creation for a wide range of choreographers and leading dance companies; Rambert Dance Company, Sadler’s Wells, Bonachela Dance Company, Australian Dance Theatre, The Royal New Zealand Ballet, and Sydney Dance Company amongst others. He has re-staged and assisted the creation of work from Rafael Bonachela, Russell Maliphant and Liam Scarlett, and has been Rehearsal Director for UK company Ballet Boyz (2013-14) supporting major tours in the UK, Europe and the USA. He recently held the position of Artist in Residence at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and is currently working freelance. Cameron is a dance maker with a physically complex, musical and emotionally resonant creative voice. His work actively draws from and challenges his background and breadth of experience, striving for new territory, and is as diverse as the companies that commission him. His interest lies as much with the architectural rigour of movement as form, as with the emotional landscape of the human condition and our relationships to the broader contexts of society, art, music, and culture. A versatile creator across contemporary dance, ballet, and commercial sectors, he as been an Associate Artist with Dance East (2010-14), and was the first dance artist to be awarded a New Generation Artist Award from the New Zealand Arts Foundation in 2012. He was invited to take part in the first cohort of Sadler’s Wells Summer University, Dance Lines at the Royal Opera House, the 2012 Dance East Rural Retreat for future artistic leaders and the One Dance UK mentorship scheme for future leaders. Creating across scale and drawing on his breadth of experience and vocabulary, he has been developing his choreographic practice throughout his career with creations for companies, leading dance institutions, festivals and brands including; The Royal Ballet Of Flanders, Aldeburgh Festival, Brisbane Festival, The Royal New Zealand Ballet, Balett Pécs, Transitions Dance Company, ROH2, Dance East, DanceXchange, HfMDK Frankfurt, Palucca Hochschule Für Tanz Dresden, Hong Kong Academy For Performing Arts, English National Ballet/Big Dance, Milwaukee Ballet, Intoto Dance, Channel 4 Random Acts, and campaigns for brands including Adidas, Karen Millen, Lacoste, and Geox. His work has been supported by European Capital of Culture Pécs 2010 and has been exhibited in the ‘Lange Nacht der Museen’ Art Festival, Austria. |
loughlan prior
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Described by Dance Aotearoa New Zealand as ‘A creative tour de force’, Loughlan Prior is an award winning Aussie/Kiwi choreographer and film maker based in Wellington.
After graduating from the New Zealand School of Dance in 2009, Loughlan joined the Royal New Zealand Ballet and began creating small works alongside his performance career. He became the first recipient of the Ballet Foundation of New Zealand’s Harry Haythorne Choreographic Award in 2015 and was awarded Creative New Zealand’s Tup Lang Choreographic Award in 2016, travelling to Toronto to stage his work at the Assemblée Internationale. Prior was appointed to the position of Choreographer in Residence at the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 2018 and has been the Creative Director of Prior Visual, a project based film collective, since 2014. Together with composer Claire Cowan, Loughlan Co-Directs Lo|Co Arts, a performance ensemble devoted to the seamless melding of choreographic and compositional practice. In 2019 Loughlan created Hansel & Gretel, his first full length production for the RNZB, with a specially commissioned score by Claire Cowan and designs by stage and screen legend Kate Hawley. “Hansel and Gretel is a wonderful production with imaginative choreography and a creative team at the top of their game.” – Lyne Pringle, The Dominion Post In the same year Loughlan created The Appearance of Colour for the Queensland Ballet’s innovative Bespoke programme. The ballet will tour to London and Oslo in June of this year with further performances at the Next Generation Festival. Loughlan’s ballets have been performed in New Zealand, Australia, UK, Germany, Norway, USA and Canada and he has created numerous live and digital works for a diverse range of local Kiwi companies and creative partners, including iD Fashion Week, Te Papa National Museum, WGT LUX Light Festival, Tempo Festival, Zambesi, New Zealand String Quartet and TV3’s 'Dancing with the Stars'. His dance films have enjoyed screenings at the New Zealand International Film Festival, the Film Society of Lincoln Centre, #60secondsdance Denmark, San Francisco Dance Film Festival and the Short Film Corner of the Cannes Film Festival. This year Loughlan will create new works for Singapore Dance Theatre, Queensland Ballet, Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden, New Zealand School of Dance and Ballet Collective Aotearoa as well as a new work for RNZB to premiere in London at The Royal Ballet’s International Draft Works Programme. |
sarah knox
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Sarah Knox is an independent dance artist and lecturer in the Dance Studies Programme at the University of Auckland. Sarah originally trained in classical ballet and contemporary dance at the New Zealand School of Dance, where she won awards for Best All Round Student and Promise in Choreography. Following graduation in 2001 she worked as a professional dancer for over 14 years and performed nationally and internationally for companies such as Footnote Dance, Black Grace and the New Zealand Dance Company. She has worked with New Zealand’s most prestigious established and emerging choreographers including Douglas Wright, Sarah Foster-Sproull, Claire O’Neil, Malia Johnston, Michael Parmenter, and Carol Brown, among many others. As a performer she has been praised for her technical mastery and elegance. In 2010 she was nominated for the ‘Best Established Dancer’ at Auckland’s Tempo Dance Festival.
Alongside her academic work, Sarah also works as a dance maker: developing her own choreographic work independently, and as commissioned work for dance companies. Her choreographic portfolio includes works for Footnote NZ Dance (2016, 2010, 2008) and New Zealand Fringe Festivals (2012, 2008), Tempo Dance Festival (2015) and Dance Nucleus in Singapore (2016) the University of Auckland international tours (2017, 2015). In 2017 Sarah was awarded the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s Harry Haythorne Choreographic Award for her work ‘Between There and Now’. As a teacher Sarah specializes in choreographic and dance technique education and she has taught dance extensively in New Zealand and internationally in diverse contexts. She has broad experience in rehearsal direction and staging dance. Sarah regularly adjudicates ballet, jazz and contemporary dance competitions around New Zealand, including the NZ regional competition of the Asian Grand Prix Ballet Competition and works as a ballet and contemporary dance guest master teacher in workshops and seminars. Sarah is also involved in the dance industry in diverse other capacities. She co-founded and co-directs Trigger Dance, an organization that provides contemporary dance and choreographic education to tertiary and pre-tertiary students, she is a Trustee on the Auckland Dance Festival Trust (Tempo), is the co-founder and co-chair of the global Early Career Researchers’ Community for dance, sits on various funding panels, in 2019 she will become the co-chair of the World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific Education and Training Network, and works as a mentor and consultant for a number of dance organizations both in NZ and internationally. |
