May 25th 2007 - Urban Beat arrived in Palmerston North and took a 45 minute cruise down to Dannevirke.  The Tararua Youth Community Services team headed by Marise Jackson, had arranged for Urban Beat to travel down and hold a full day Hip Hop Dance workshop for the youth in Dannevirke.  Ofcourse everyone was excited, including the Urban Beat crew, to see what the youth and community of Dannevirke had to offer!!
Right off the point Urban Beat was welcomed with open arms, literally!! Greated by a powhiri at the local marae, the UB crew felt overwhlemed by the welcoming and happy faces they were greeted by as soon as they got off the plane.

  

Our first interaction with the Dannevirke community was at their quiz night, which turned out to be quite competetive but fun all around.  The UB crew and seperate teams of youth and community workers all had a blast answering questions and completing tasks.  Funny enough the UB crew managed to place 2nd out of 7 teams, which we were very proud of!!  Following this the Dannevirke youth were eager to show us what they could do, and continued to ignite a battle inviting us to jump in with them.  The crew was more then happy to catch some time with the youth before the workshop the next day, and everyone left that evening feeling pumped up for the full day Hip Hop Dance workshop being held at the Dannevirke Sports Centre on Saturday 26th May.

1pm 26th May - Urban Beat kickstarts the workshop with a brief introduction then we jump straight into some fast pace and fun warm up routines.  By 1.20pm we are teaching to 220 youth!!  With about 50 or so spectators all from this small but passionate community.

Seeing the over enthusiastic attitudes of all 220 youth, Tui decides to spark up a few battles to really let them loosen up.  Within seconds the Sports Centre is going crazy witnessing their first dance battle of the day.  Showing they were more then ready to listen to instructions, participate in games and learn skillful dance techniques from Tui and UB crew, the Dannevirke youth dug in a continued throughout the workshop with positive and creative attitudes.

By mid afternoon the Dannevirke youth had well established themselves as hard working, passionate dancers.  Before the workshop would come to a conclusion the UB crew( Tui, Charlotte, Teresa, Tuks and Lolos) would showcase a few performance for the youth, and in return the youth danced out all the routines they had learnt and had one last all out finale battle with the UB crew and their community leaders.  After a few spot prizes, certificates being given out and a last "Thank You" by Tui to the Dannevirke youth, the workshop wrapped up with mixed emotions.  Happy to have been apart of such an eye-opening and fun experience, but sad to be leaving, the Dannevirke youth and the UB crew parted ways.

The following day the crew was given a yummy breakfast by the Tararua Youth Community Services team, before heading back to Palmerston North to catch their plane ride home to Auckland. The crew signed off a few autographs and said their goodbyes with a few photos and hugs.

Definately a highlight of the year, Urban Beat were amazed by the support and hard work done by Marise and the team in Dannevirke.  Looking to the future Urban Beat hopes to be back in Dannevirke as soon as possible, but for now we wish you all the best down there in Dannevirke.  Keep dancing and keep in touch.  Thanks to everyone who made this possible, especially to Marise and the Tararua Youth Community Services.

For any enquiries regarding workshops, or anything else please feel free to send us an e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it