New Name Launch
Launch of National Dance Company Wales
Artistic Director Ann Sholem had promised a
few surprises when she announced
Diversions, Wales' flagship dance company
was changing its name to National Dance
Company Wales but no-one was prepared for
what was to follow.
The re-naming event at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay was sponsored by Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales, Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas who said he spoke not only as a long-standing supporter of the Company and fan of its dance but was also delighted its development and growth had been alongside the 10 years of devolution in Wales.
Company co-founder Roy Campbell-Moore talked
of how the event, 26 years after Diversions
was created, was the culmination of a dream
he had as a young man in his native Australia
for the creation of an innovative dance company
steeped in excellence.
Fellow Australian Lee Johnson told the event this was the fifth anniversary of her joining Diversions and how the name change had grown out of the dance and dancer, the quality of the work and the pride they felt representing Wales both at home and internationally.
Chairman of the Arts Council for Wales
Professor Dai Smith congratulated the
Company for its achievement particularly in
bringing people to the art form. He closed his
remarks with sections of W B Yeats poem
Among Schoolchildren "O body swayed to
music, O brightening glance, How can we
know the dancer from the dance?"
Mr Nick Capaldi, Chief Executive of the Arts
Council for Wales recognised that for many
years Diversions has been one of Wales's
busiest performing companies taking
contemporary dance across Wales, the UK and
Europe. "Building on 25 years of patient and
careful development, Diversions has
established itself as Wales's pre-eminent dance
company," he added. "It is very much a
company that is committed to being for Wales
and of Wales, and the change of name reflects
that ambition."
Wales' Minister for Heritage Alun Ffred Jones, said Diversions
had long been recognised as Wales's national dance company,
and this change of name confirms that status. "As an
internationally-recognised dance company, National Dance
Company Wales will, I'm sure, continue to represent and reflect
the values that underpin Wales, both at home and aboard."
And then with a flick of a switch from Ann Sholem and a
whoop from the legendary James Brown the audience
discovered dance really is for the nation with a three minute
video.
We had First Minister Rhodri Morgan dancing against the
skyline of the the Senedd, opera star Rebecca Evans giving it
her all, BBC weatherman Derek Brockway getting into the
groove, former Royal Harpist Catrin Finch getting on down in
the city's traffic - and that was just the beginning.
The video intercut the Company's dancers with Welsh politicians, TV celebrities, dancers, singers and even a Cardiff fire crew and Indian restaurant waiters dancing for Wales.
TV and radio personalities Andrea Benfield, Matt Johnson and Nicola Hayward-Thomas displayed their flair for what is the most popular of our performing arts, while Welsh Assembly Government Finance Minister Andrew Davies and Liberal Democrat Leader Kirsty Williams showed some pretty nifty moves.
The dance was based on a piece in the Company's repertory by Belgian choreographer Stijn Celis called FORM with unmistakable vocals by the legendary James Brown.
The video was the highpoint of a launch event for National Dance Company Wales and with the music still ringing in his ears Presiding Officer Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas took little persuasion to get dancing again with Company dancer Maria Hayday on the staircase in the Senedd.
Ms Sholem said, "Making the video was such fun. We are passionate about dance and it was great to be able to share that with so many of our friends across Wales who agreed to dance for the nation. We can't wait now to perform on the main stage at Wales Millennium Centre in November and take our dance through Wales and much, much further afield".
The dance company is based at the Dance House 
at Wales Millennium Centre across the way
from the Senedd in Pierhead Street with its own
entrance where today the dancers are creating
a new work. This will form part of the
programme when National Dance Company
Wales appear on the main stage at WMC in
November as a highpoint in the arts complex's
fifth birthday celebrations.
To see the 'Dance is for the Nation' video, click
here.
Written by Mike Smith
Photography by Huw John
