Poor turnout in Rotorua saddens dancers

By ELEANOR BLACK

A semi-professional dance troupe has packed up and left Rotorua after their third scheduled performance attracted only 11 bookings in a 695-seat venue.

Students from the New Zealand School of Dance's Adrenalin tour were disappointed yesterday that their evening performance at the Rotorua Convention Centre had to be cancelled following a scanty opening-night audience of 95.

It was the latest in a series of cancellations of arts and culture programmes in a city that bills itself as a centre for tourism and entertainment.

Actor Tim Balme's acclaimed one-man show The Ballad of Jimmy Costello attracted only 100 punters, and the satire Blowing It had a shortened season owing to poor support.

Convention centre general manager Nick Dallimore said there was a drive on to make theatre and dance productions a more prominent part of the city's entertainment scene.

The dancers on the four-week, 16-centre Adrenalin tour were philosophical about their failure to draw crowds in Rotorua.

"Professional companies in this country struggle and we're a school," said second-year contemporary dance student Tim Fletcher.

"People always think it's not going to sell out, especially in smaller centres. They leave it to the last minute because it's not rugby."

Daniel Cooper, another second-year contemporary student, said the worst part of the cancellation was that it meant one less chance to perform for an audience, the main aim of all dance students.

"It's a real buzz and it's good work experience," he said.

Adrenalin, which takes the stage in Tauranga tonight, has a cast of 16 students, most of whom graduate in December.

The venture is the school's first performance away from its Wellington base in two years.