Under the direction of melanie day the mdance company presents on 30./31. Marz as well as on 5. And 7. April with "tan-go nights your first show in the old rope factory in bamberg. A story about passion, love, frustration, lust, danced in an exciting mix of tango, jazz and modern dance, promises to captivate the audience.
Melanie day, trained as a professional dancer in london and new york, became a dancer after her eleven years of dancing shows and musicals on the "floating stages" of the royal carribean cruise lines around the globe from a fateful "wave carried to bamberg in 2014 and left with body& soul – school of dance and percussion "at anchor, teaches since then there and many places in the district of bamberg, bayreuth, schweinfurt, coburg. She is an internationally sought-after choreographer and guest lecturer for workshops. Since 2017 she is engaged as a performer, singer, dancer at the frankischer theatersommer and was most recently also a dancer on tv in the hit series "babylon berlin" to see.
You yourself have danced for years as a professional dancer in countless productions. Fulfill yourself now with "tan-go nights" a childhood dream ?
Melanie day: yes, totally! I love to dance on stage, but choreography has always been a rough passion. To realize my own ideas with my own dance company had been my dream since I was 14 years old. My rough wish for the first year of my life.
Why "tan-go? What story is told?
The idea came about three years ago in jazz dance class with dany ruger of body and soul, when i was choreographing "tango de roxanne" from the musical movie "moulin rouge made. I love this song, the tango rhythms, the drama and the passion behind it. So one thing led to another. Since it is not a pure tango dance show, but many different dance styles with different music and rhythms, I decided for the hyphen in the name "tan-go" decided. The story is about people who meet, perhaps already know each other, are friends, are couples, become couples, or break up, quarrel, love each other, and so on. But I don't want to give too much away.
What did the casting look like? What did your dancers have to bring with them and where do they come from??
I searched for professional dancers through different web portals and they all applied to me in advance. About 35 dancers from all over germany and austria were finally invited to bamberg to the studio of body and soul. The only thing you had to bring was heeled shoes and a lot of passion (laughs). During the audition the dancers learned two choreographies from the show. All were really great and after a long "agony of choice" I finally had to decide on six dancers. They come from berlin, nurnberg, wurzburg, habfurt, and of course i dance with them myself!
The idea of putting on a show of her own on the "dancing legs" was it's one thing to put on a show, but how long did it take to prepare and what goes into putting it into practice??
Uff … All in all, it actually took four years. The most important thing was a suitable location, i.E. A stage to find. After a visit to the theater to see "othello in the old rope factory i was immediately enthusiastic about the ambience and charm of the place and i knew at once: this is it! I've been creating my songlist since 2017, I'm in the concrete planning phase since mid 2018. Now it was time to plan the financing, to find sponsors, to set up contracts, to take care of technical equipment, costs, stage design, etc. To grief. The casting for the dancers was in december and since january i have been choreographing – finally (laughs).
And why bamberg in particular?
Bamberg is a highly cultural city, it has so much to offer. I have many personal memories of the town. While exploring the local dance scene, when i decided to settle down here again, i met dany ruger, who was just about to start rehearsals with her choreography for the musical "spamalot" on E.T.A.-hoffmann theater and she brought me on stage with her and her dance troupe and with the old acting ensemble. It was a successful start to be able to continue my profession and passion directly in my new home town.
What are your next plans?
To be continued, isn't it true?? It would be great if the demand for " tan-go nights" so rough is that there will be further performances. Apart from that, I am already planning my next show for the late summer of 2020 under the name "the 4 elements". I hope that we will inspire the audience and that the dance company will not remain a one-hit wonder.