Goodbye Buzz Dance Theatre

The end of 2014 brought big changes to the Perth dance community. The company I worked work for Buzz Dance Theatre and another company Steps Youth Dance Company joined forces to create a new entity (at the moment called The Contemporary Dance Company of Western Australia) but in doing so both companies closed their doors for good.

An end to an era.

I started working at Buzz not long after we moved to Perth. Starting there in March of 2010. Over the 4 years I spent at Buzz I learned a lot and became distinctly attached to Contemporary Dance. Buzz had a 30 year history and during that time changed its branding once, going from 2 Dance Plus to Buzz Dance Theatre. It had multiple Artistic Directors that each made a mark on the company and that of the culture of dance in Western Australia.

As Buzz was closing down I got to know the Buzz history intimately. It was a company the community of Western Australia should be proud of. 30 years is a long time for a dance company to stay open and performing. Buzz survived times of plenty and times of funding drought, but what it always did well was give back to the Western Australia community in the form of approachable dance performances and education for the youth of WA in both Metro, Regional and Remote areas of this BIG Australian state. 

I feel honoured to have worked for Buzz in its final years and having the opportunity to close it down with what I hope was perceived with respect for its rich history.  2014 was a tough year and I was so glad I got to share my time with the Buzz Board, Pippa Davis (GM), Lucas Jervies (AD) Nicole Ward (Buzz Dance Specialist), Anna Gulati (bookkeeper) and our many dancers. In the last few months our team dwindled to just the myself the Board, Nicole and Anna. Nicole spent days cleaning out 30 years of documents and archiving 30 years of history, a HUGE job, for which I was extremely grateful. On the last day at Buzz I was the last one out the door and I felt proud that Buzz was wrapped up with so much care and respect.

A few photos from out last few weeks.

Nicole and her archive photo boxes

Going through 30 years of poster...

We did have a Buzz 30 years celebration in October. This is Nicole, Pippa and Me in the photo booth. Love this photo.

Moving Day for our officemates Performing Lines, and closing day for Buzz Dance Theatre.

I have never been good at goodbyes.. But I think Nicole and I summed it up well with our goodbye video. In 2014 we did a show called Ecobots. The show featured 4,000 ping pong balls that got flung at the audience. 

As we packed up we still have 4,000 ping pong balls in storage so we decided to give Buzz a good send off by dumping all the balls from the 3rd floor of the King Street Arts Centre. We had a good turn out with most of the building tenants coming to watch, Nicole, myself, Buzz AD Felicity and some Buzz dancers laid on the floor as the balls fell and it was good!

Please enjoy!

Goodbye Buzz!