Shall We Dance
Playhouse Opera: 5 – 13 September
Interview with Arne Janse Van Rensburg
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| Pic by Ben Franke ~ www.republicaupdate.com |
On meeting Arne Janse van Rensburg, a 20year old dancer in
this year’s Shall We Dance, you look up to him straight away.
The tall smiling frame quietly stands next to you while
watching the monster photoshoot unfold for the dance extravaganza. His dance
instructor, Mark Wilson breaks the ice by informing me the gentle giant
alongside me is a concert pianist and a parkour enthusiast.
Parkour I question and he explains, “Parkour is a freestyle
discipline that allows you to move around mostly urban spaces in the most
efficient manner possible. It is a combination of running, climbing, swinging,
vaulting, jumping, and rolling. The world becomes your obstacle course and we
revel in moving through it.”
“It is one of my many hobbies. Apart from building general
health, fitness and strength, the art of parkour gives an immense feeling of
freedom to move over obstacles at a high speed and with little effort. The
benefits are countless, varying from building confidence to giving a hand in
everyday life and simply being a lot of fun.”
Janse van Rensburg’s outdoor hobbies reveal that he is an
avid surfer as well as an off-road cyclist, “I’ve considered dancing a hobby
mostly. I've been playing piano since I was nine and mean to carry on with it.
It's first on my priority list.”
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| Pic by Ben Franke ~ www.republicaupdate.com |
“I'd like to travel the world playing smaller recitals in as
many different countries as possible. I hope to be able to give Master Classes
on my travels as well.”
Apart from doing some minor demos and competitions he hasn’t
been on the stage for any major performances, but he is still young. “I don't
think it's possible to pinpoint what makes me love playing piano, it's
something that comes from the heart and thus difficult to describe. I can name
some things I do 'consciously' enjoy though, which obviously starts with the
music itself. I'm a big fan of nearly any music written before around 1900. I
generally don't like modern music much even though I dance to it!”
Continuing, he states, “The complicated theory bordering
mathematical genius behind old music completely fascinates me, the way
composers turned theories into something that speaks to the heart in such a
powerful way is something I can't quite fathom.”
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| Pic from x-move.net |
“And figuring out those ideas and working them into my
performance through practice is a huge amount of pleasure as well. Classical
music is probably one of the best challenges for the mind, in that it's very
enjoyable and satisfying on top of often being highly complicated, even for
people who don't understand the theory, it's a universal language.”
Chatting about dancing, he claims, “My parents believe that
dancing should be part of our education, for mental and social growth. Needless
to say I was quite reluctant to go for the first time. Against everything I
expected the lesson turned out good fun and before long dancing became one of
the highlights of my week.
“The first time I danced was rather awkward in more than one
ways. Perhaps for a teenage boy the most daunting thing about dancing is the
close contact with girls, and that combined with strange leg movements you've
never done before can become a lot to get your mind around when first
starting.” he says smiling.
“I'm an enthusiastic hobbyist. I've gone through many
different hobbies in my life, most of which I took quite seriously at some
stage. To name a few, I've spent time stargazing, doing archery, snake hunting,
breeding snakes as well as rehabilitating and removing them from homes or
gardens. I enjoy building 1700s trading ship models, and photography which has
now almost evolved into profession.”
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| Pic by Ben Franke ~ www.republicaupdate.com |
Getting called up for his second round of photos, concluding, he says, “I would
love to go to Mongolia. Something about that country has had me intrigued for a
long time. The other thing is I'd like to dedicate my life for the good of the
planet in some way. It bothers me greatly how nonchalantly people treat the
current state the planet is in. If there's something I can do to change that
I'll do my best.”
Janse Van Rensburg will be taking to the stage for his first
ever performance in Shall We Dance and walking away from him,
I look up to this beautiful man more than when I started chatting to him. What
a sensational, captivating individual and I am honoured to have met him.
Shall We Dance runs at the Playhouse Opera from
5 – 13 September and booking is through Computicket.
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| Pic from www.aion.mx |
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