Davide Zazzera: Educational inspiration from urban

This workshop will be taught in French and/or English (depending on the languages the participants speak).

Do you need inspiration to move away from your place in front of the mirror and get your group dancing in a different way? If so, this is the workshop for you! With his wealth of experience in urban dance, martial arts and collaborations with different types of group, Davide has developed teaching methods to get every group dancing. How can you get children and young people to work independently? How can you use improvisation exercises to develop an urban style or give structure to free expression? Where and how can you find music that resonates with every type of person? How can you work playfully and teach your pupils a sense of rhythm at the same time, without them realising?

Davide challenges you not to stay standing in front of the mirror and to use different tools to give your children and young people opportunities to practice, explore and develop their authenticity in dance. The body dances and your mind thinks. So what if we let go of that thinking for a while to make room for something unknown? Even if you’re not familiar with hip-hop, house or breakdance, we’d recommend calling in on these urban neighbours to see how they approach things.

Who is Davide?

Like many hip-hop dancers of his generation, Davide is self-taught. All his contemporaries developed their own style by sharing, experimenting and trying out dance moves with other dancers and people of their own age.

He had his first experiences of dancing on stage at local city dance contests in Mons. Intensive workshops all over Europe brought him into contact with hip-hop, popping, locking, house and modern dance. He became a professional, dancing for artists and producers such as NRJ in the Park, VTM, Yannick Noah, Franco Dragone, les Frères Taloches, Télévie, etc.

Through many exchange projects and by teaching in different contexts, Davide has built up expertise that enables him to get any group dancing, from young children to adults, in all sectors.

Why does Anne-Lore Baeckeland think you should take this session?

Many dancers and dance teachers – including myself – stick to a specific circle of acquaintances, colleagues and dance styles. In recent years, I have been working more and more with people from the urban world. Long conversations and discussions have revealed a world to me that I was hardly aware of before. Urban teachers have the same questions and problems as teachers of classical, contemporary and modern dance, but sometimes they have different responses and solutions.

In France, urban dance styles have found their place in theatres and subsidised, recognised companies. Belgium still prioritises contemporary dance. All the same, some dancers find their way in both worlds… and Davide is one such dancer.

Be curious, throw away your preconceived ideas (if you have any) and meet this dancer even if urban isn’t your thing.