There Will Be Dancing!

The fourth Drive Dance Project has been launched in Moscow. Producer Dmitry Sokolov’s original and venturesome idea turned into an exciting and rather popular project started by 11 dancing schools, branded Drive Dance, which, one by one, opened in different Russian cities (Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Irkutsk, Tolyatti and others). The master-classes of Moscow’s best dancing teachers, Sergey Mandrik, Marina Odzho, Ilshat Shabayev, Khottabytch and others, laid the foundation of success. The next step was a trip to Britain. The studies of new dancing trends in European club culture and the leading dancing centres and agencies of London were realized in the project aimed at bringing in the world best choreographers to Russia. It was an entirely new project, a real breakthrough!

Before the Drive Dance Project appeared Moscow had been visited by European choreographers; they arranged two or three days’ workshops for professionals and left. Amateur dancers had no access to such events; their teaching was limited to imitating several pas seen in the foreign stars’ music video or traditional schools’ classes. The modern dances were introduced into Russia several years ago. The Russian dancing school is still being formed, dancing is taught by the teachers who have recently mastered the new trend techniques.

The Drive Dance Project gives those who are interested a chance of learning modern dancing of the highest standard in the full sense of the word. The world best choreographers such as Carlos Neto, Kirsty Diers, Kevin Adams, Nader Musharbash and others come to Moscow within the framework of the project. They teach in the largest European and American dancing centres: Pineapple (London), Millennium Dance Complex, Edge Performing Arts Center (Los Angeles), Studio Harmonic (Paris), DWA (Brussels) and Broadway Dance Centre (New York). They are the ones who work with such stars as Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopes, Britney Spears.

The course lasts 3 months during which you get a chance of visiting the classes of four or five teachers, each working in Moscow for two or three weeks. All of them have their favourite combinations of movements, their favourite pas, but primarily, they have a wish to share their knowledge and never ceasing energy.

Three months is enough to start feeling your body, to get into the state of dancing, to relax to improvise, to feel comfortable and fine, to dance and enjoy dancing. The curriculum has been developed specially aimed at amateur dancers; it includes the elements of all fashionable styles: hip-hop, street dance, jazz, modern...

Apart from the basic course, each dancing teacher conducts a day off master-class the curriculum of which differs from the ones used in groups. Such master-classes may be attended by those who don’t participate in the main project. Such a schedule makes it possible for you to get an idea of the project and the teacher, to stay in the project even if you are very busy.

When the idea of the Drive Dance Project was only being shaped, the first choreographers invited to Russia wondered: why should one go to the country, famous for its ballet school; who needs modern dances? Gradually, their view changed; the project took on special significance. It turned into a valuable process of cultural exchange.

The project will be completed by all participants’ competition. You have only to prepare a small dance. The jury will referee the contestants; it will include not only the project teachers but the leading Russian choreographers and star-students (the members of Fabrika, Zhanna Friske, Vika Daineko and others). The winner will be given a chance of continuing the studies in the famous dancing centre Millennium, Los Angeles.

The project participants jokingly say that the Drive Dance Project is a virus in the blood. Almost every participant has a corporate T-shirt with the name of the project. All the money received from the sales of the T-shirts is donated to Chulpan Khamatova’s charity fund “Give a Life!”

The next project is starting in March 2009. The sale of club cards will start on the 1^st of December.

* Photos: Carlos Neto, a choreographer from Great Britain, is teaching in his master-class.