Tauranga dance studio represents NZ at worlds

Reporter·SunLive·

4 Sep, 2024 08:24 PM5 mins to read

Tauranga dance studio Space Studios dedicated 200 hours in the last three weeks leading up to the World Championships. Photo supplied.

With more than 200 hours of training in just three weeks, Tauranga dance troupes from Space Studios are dedicated to showcasing their talents on the world stage.

An intense training program set them up for this year’s world championships and they headed to the United States to face off against 55 countries.

Space Studios represented Tauranga and New Zealand at two of the largest and most prestigious dance events in the world.

“We left New Zealand at the end of July and arrived back mid-August. We were away a total of 17 days,” Space Studios director Cameron Smith said.

“Representing your country is always the utmost privilege and something we never take lightly.”

Smith said the craziest part is always walking back into the stadium where the dancers always get mobbed by people for photos. Photo / supplied

New Zealand always has its own “flavour,”because of “our strong cultural grounding,” Smith said.

He reckoned Kiwi dancers always had a fire in their belly when they competed.

“It is such a privilege to have the opportunity to travel overseas, so when the opportunity arises, we give it heart and everything we can.

“Representing in front of 55 countries from around the world is not an easy endeavour.

“In all overseas competitions, we always have our national flags on stage and hold them with pride any chance we get.”

On top of all their excitement they also received some helpful feedback from world-renowned judges such as Keone Madrid and Sophia Lucia.

“Heading to events such as these, with this kind of judge line up, allows us to learn so much and bring back so much knowledge New Zealand.”

Determination

Smith said they used the idea of a boat to stay motivated during the final three weeks leading up to the competition.

“We all stay afloat as long as everyone plays their part and does their job.”

Smith said without everyone putting in the effort there would be holes in the boat that would let the water in.

“We are always fortunate year after year to have such passionate dancers attend our auditions.

“It definitely takes a passionate person to make the sacrifices a world campaign takes.”

Space Studios director Cameron Smith said Hip Hop International is known as the Olympics of Dance. Photo / supplied

He said the team’s strong mentality is fuelled by everyone being on the same page.

“We always create a vision board in the studio of our trophies and medals and what we want to achieve. Dancers also do breath work and manifestation exercises to continue to always keep their goal in sight.”

Astra

Astra is a group of dancers aged 14 to 18-years-old. Their routine was choreographed by Space Studios directors Summer Tyson and Smith, who aimed to bring an action-packed routine to the world stage this year.

Smith and Tyson said this style was “a little different than the normal genre of contemporary dance”.

Space Studios is straight back into it with auditions for their 2025 team happening in October. Photo / supplied

Smith said their viral contemporary team Space Astra placed second in the studio division at the World of Dance Los Angeles.

Last year a video of their performance racked up more than 20 million views across social media. They have not yet posted this year’s performance, but Smith and Tyson were excited to see the traction and opportunities it would bring.

“This year their routine was inspired by a bank robbery, which found our audience in the middle of an action movie as one by one the dancers turned on each other to take the bag [of cash] for themselves,” Tyson said.

The current national champions, Astra, took out second place against teams from the US, Philippines, and Japan, among many others.

Outkasts

Hip Hop International is known as the “Olympics of dance”, Smith said. The competition finds dancers competing over seven days and three rounds for the world championship.

“Space is not new to this event, being the 2023 world bronze medallists,” he said.

“In my 11 years attending this event, this was the toughest year I have seen.

“Seeing teams switch drastically in every round, with teams jumping from 1st in prelims to out of the completion in semis. It was a wild ride.”

Smith said the national champions are heading straight back to the drawing board to maintain their national title again in April. Photo / supplied

This year, Space Outkasts managed to snatch fourth place in the world in their division.

“This event gets tougher and tougher every year, with dancers and choreographers constantly pushing the boundaries of what is humanly possible.

“To witness such talent year after year makes us inspired and push harder to return.

“We are straight back to the studio to hold our yearly auditions again and ready to get back to work to bring back a podium placing in 2025.

Proteam

Smith said Space Proteam debuted at this event, bringing back a fifth-place position.

“This is uncommon. In our journey overseas, we talked to many teams and dancers who attend every year and are never fortunate enough to make it to the world finals, so we feel extremely grateful to have ticked enough of the judges’ criteria to make it through each round of the event.”

Straight back into it

It would be straight back to the drawing board for the dancers, Smith said, as they wanted the national title to remain in their hands come April.

Smith said it was the first time many of his dancers had represented Space at the competition.

“Our dancers were over the moon with their success. It was a crazy emotional moment after their finals in Arizona. Everyone was in tears of joy.

“The craziest part is always walking back into the stadium where the dancers always get mobbed by people for photos. It’s always pretty special to see the hard work pays off.

“For now, we are back to the studio in preparation for the new season and excited to see fresh faces fight their way onto the 2025 World Space teams.”