Dane Hurst, of Rambert dance company, left his native South Africa 13 years ago headed for the UK. He recently returned in order to begin the process of sharing dance with other young people who want to escape the streets, bringing a dance floor over from London by ship. The floor is the former rehearsal floor of Rambert, sold when the dance company moved from Chiswick to its new home on London’s South Bank.
Dane learned all the pieces he has danced for Rambert on the floor; being reinforced vinyl it will soften the young South Africans’ landings as a shock absorber, protecting joints and withstanding friction and heat. After he bought the floor, Dane won best male dancer at the Critics’ Circle Awards in 2014. He used the ceremony to announce his dream to use dance to empower young people in his homeland, and asked for help inspiring young children to dance as he once was. He approached an architect to design a dance centre made out of shipping containers, for when there are funds to build it, to then house the floor.
As a child dance was a release for Dane, discovering ballet because his grandmother made costumes at the local dance school, during the time of apartheid. Eventually Dane escaped and was able to dance in London with a scholarship, training at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. Now aged 32 it is time for Dane to leave his wild dream of being a dancer, in order to pursue a new dream. Dane has established an organisation called the Moving Assembly Project and launched a pilot project: two weeks of workshops at a health and education centre. Another ex-Rambert dancer, Estela Merlos, also journeyed to Africa to help Dane teach, giving the children a way to survive.