Townsville’s largest live music dance party will bring disco fever to Jezzine Barracks this weekend, when Dance Tropics Dance returns for its third instalment.
The one-night-only festival is an exciting collaboration between Dancenorth and the Band of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (the 1 RAR Band), allowing performers and audience members alike to dance along to live music.
Dancenorth Community Engagement and Learning Coordinator Andrea Dighton said the event was an exciting showcase of not only the company’s professional ensemble, but Dancenorth’s range of open classes and a larger number of community dance groups than any previous festival.
“In every open class I teach, the students are the ones pushing Dance Tropics, not me! They tell the other students how fun it is and beg them to come and dance with us, and at its heart that is what it’s about: it’s about the people we’re involved with here on a week-to-week basis; they come to
class, they do the hard work every week and this is such a fantastic opportunity to showcase them,” Andrea said.
“You really can’t deny the beauty of performing to live music, it’s something you very rarely get to do as a dancer so having the 1 RAR Band there supporting us is amazing.
“They are extremely aware of how difficult it can be to perform to live music because obviously musicians have their own pathways – but working with [lead vocalist] Deb O’Toole and the band is so great because they know speed and timing are important factors.”
In 2019, Dance Tropics Dance will be inspired by disco – with a groovy soundtrack, flowing costumes, and a mirror ball all part of the spectacle.
Company Manager and Dance Tropics Dance Producer Eloise Grace said it was an exciting project to work on as one of her first at Dancenorth.
“I made the move to Townsville to join the Dancenorth team in October last year so haven’t actually been to Dance Tropics Dance before which I think is so exciting, because I’ll be building on what’s already established to create something new, fresh, and potentially better!” Eloise said.
“There will be so much sparkle, so much disco, incredible entertainment, so many opportunities for the audience to get up and dance too, the amazing Otto’s Food Truck, and a brilliant family-friendly vibe: bring your picnic blanket and enjoy the night!”
Catch Dance Tropics Dance at Jezzine Barracks on Saturday October 5, with more information at dancenorth.com.au
