Shall We Dance
Interview with Erin Barnard
The world is the playground of energetic Erin Barnard and
you quickly discover that while chatting to him, he is eyeing out what you
would consider obstacles in everyday life as his next launch off point.
The young shining star is currently dancing in the
extravaganza show, Shall We Dance
that is taking place at the Playhouse, finishing this weekend. “This is my
first Shall We Dance and I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t nervous and
exited.”
“Once I got the opening number out the way on the first
night, our dance company Mark Wilson’s do a jive to the song Happy, I started
to relax and have fun!” his enjoyment was evident from the back of the
auditorium as he moves around with such charisma and grace, throwing in a few
free style aerial jumps.
“Parkour and freerunning give me a sense of freedom. I
know that I can get out of and into any situation I desire no matter what
obstacles are in my way, whether it be physical or mental. Parkour is not a
sport in the traditional sense as we don’t compete with others we compete with ourselves;
to always do better, go a little further, a little higher, pushing all the time
to improve on something.”
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 passionate parkourist states, “I really enjoy the
movement, I have to move!” he enthuses, “I feel most centred when I ‘m moving
like I‘m at my highest potential. I think I was born to move one way or another.
With dancing the challenge of having to move as one with someone else is
exciting.”
“The dance studio my aunt went to needed more guys. My Mom
said I would love to go meanwhile I had no interest to do it because I was only
12. I got forced to go anyway, I was so nervous. It turned out I loved it just as much as I
love jumping on my trampoline and tracing. With my movement back round I learnt
the basics quite fast too.”
Tracing is the term he uses for when he does a Parkour
run through the bush or urban area mixing it up with a flip or somersault every
now and again. “I am an extremely cautious person; most people don’t think so
if or when they watch me. They think I’m being reckless and stupid when they
see me doing Parkour or Freerunning. What they don’t know is that I spend a lot
of time assessing the environment before I do anything, I am paranoid that way,
it must be safe or I don’t want to do it.”
The self-taught Parkour enthusiast has little time to be
idle, “My hobbies include traditional longbow archery, hiking, camping, dancing,
mountain biking, knife making and I like wielding knives, machetes, axes and
pretty much anything I can use in the bush.”
The keen outdoor sportsman claims, “I am also very involved
in Scouts. I enjoy all aspects of scouts but I have to admit I mostly enjoy the
hikes in the Drakensberg Mountains.”
At sixteen years old, the chap has a whole life awaiting
him. Smiling he says, “I would like to speak all my blood languages - Dutch,
German and French.”
Pondering he says, “I also want to become a chiropractor
for serious athletes. Reason being I want to be able to travel around the world
to go and meet professional Freerunners and Parkour enthusiasts and help them
recover from injuries or just generally improve their skill from a medical
perspective, because I know how much I love to move and how important it is to
me to do so safely.”
The thoughtful lad ends by saying, “The only person you
should be better than, is the person you where yesterday.”
Explaining he continues, “Now by this I don’t mean you
have to be twice the person you where yesterday, I just mean improve on
something every day.”
Barnard, along with over 100 dancers, is wowing audiences at the Playhouse till this weekend in the annual showcase Shall We Dance.
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