DANZ QUARTERLY No 2 December 2005

Recreational Dance: Shall We Dance?

Tania Kopytko interviews Norm Hewitt about his adventures in dance

I recently interviewed Norm Hewitt at Wellington Airport before he rushed off on yet another round of speaking engagements and seminars. Norm has a busy schedule as a motivational speaker across the board from management to youth. But also, since his success in Dancing with the Stars he and dance partner Carol-Ann Hickmore are in demand as performers. I spoke to Norm about what new skills and insights the experience of dance gave him, how it enhanced his ability to express himself as a man and his philosophy on life…

Was there dance in your family?

“I did Kapa Haka at secondary school and I remember at primary school we did folk-dancing (not a very positive experience). My Mum and Dad danced Rock ‘n’ Roll, and we didn’t get involved in that. Well, I suppose we kids were too embarrassed watching them dancing at parties and going “no”. You have got to evolve (in your own way) and I always knew I was going to be an All Black from the age of 7 - Dance was never considered part of that.”

What was your initial reaction when you were asked to do “Dancing with the Stars”?

“That I didn’t want to do any TV in 2005, and of course my initial reaction was nah I can’t dance. It wasn’t until I got home and spoke with my wife, Arlene (Thomas-Hewitt) talked about the (similar) programmes in Europe and Australia – she said it would be really good. You talk about stepping outside your comfort zone (in your motivational work) and challenging yourself, so you should do it.” We talked about the affect on the family, the commitment and sacrifice it was going to require. So we went for it together (as a family), as we knew we had to commit a huge amount of time to it. I was able to make that call. When I was playing rugby, rugby was first and everything else came after that. Now if anyone asks me what is more important, family always comes to the top.”

What new understandings did you get from being in the series?

“I became more aware of what dance and choreography is. It gave me the ability to enter into a whole new world of expression. It was just great to find a different medium to express myself. I tell men now that if you ever want to express how much you love your wife, then dance can give you a new way to say that, without even opening your mouth. And I have had lots of people come up to me and say – “you are right, I dance with my wife and it works”.

“I think that was the biggest thing (dance as a form of personal expression). I had people come to me and say ‘That was a big call, you could have made a fool of yourself’ and I said ‘I don’t believe that’s true.’ I believe we stereotype something to a point where you are scared of it, and so you never let your true worth or true being absorb what it is. Right from the beginning I wasn’t scared. I always say if you are a manager, a captain a leader, if you are genuinely scared or haven’t challenged yourself, if you need an ability to seek goals and achieve them, then saying “I cannot do this” (creating self barriers), then you won’t achieve, evolve. The experience has enhanced so much of the work I do.”

The experience has confirmed and enhanced Norm’s philosophy: “You are always able to succeed if you are able to see where you are at and then take a step beyond, and you do that to improve... I wasn’t the greatest dancer but I understood the challenge... I worked through it as I would for a rugby challenge (methodically). I say to young people if you can put the energy you put into Kapa Haka and sport into academics you will be successful and have balance.”

How did you feel about the Paso Doble?

“I looked forward to it at the end of July. We wanted to put our stamp on it. I liked the high energy and the personas – two aggressors trying to out do each other through skill and evasiveness, counteracting one movement with another like the wind blowing a tree one way or another. The dance skills needed were easy if I opened my mind up to it. We do agility training in rugby, side steps, so you just have to transform that and don’t be scared by it. You just critique it and get back (to it).”

“Carol-Ann was good at translating (the movement); she broke it down like a jigsaw puzzle in little parts. The Paso Double had an affect on TV audiences; it brought families to the living room.” It was part of the reason why Norm believes Dancing with the Stars was successful. “We have an over indulgement of reality TV… but they were drawn to this programme every week and captured by it because it expressed good values, commitment, seriousness….naturalness.”

He has used his experiences of dance to enhance his own work skills. He and Carol-Ann now have a busy schedule performing for various charity and community events, bookings which take them well into 2006. They are very interested in the link between dance, exercise and fitness, and with other dancers on the show, have some projects in the pipeline to promote this.

Norm and Arlene have produced a DVD called The Dancing Diet, Volume One under their brand called New Zealand Lifestyle. It is about a whole lot more than just going to the gym; it promotes dance as a form of fitness. Joined by Carol-Ann, Nerida Lister and Shane Cortese they teach the basic Cha-cha, Samba and Jives as fitness routines. So watch out for this in your local Whitcoulls store.

Norm Hewitt’s story outlines the power of dance and what a lay person can learn by entering into the dance world and its challenges. Perhaps the challenge for dance people is to use the wonderful skills dance has taught them and apply them to the wider world. Sadly the working and performing world of dance is not assured and is very difficult to make a secure living. Increasingly dance graduates are asked to be self reliant, entrepreneurial and be aware of the possibilities of varied employment in the dance spectrum. Perhaps here we can learn from Norm – don’t be afraid of the challenge: "You are always able to succeed if you are able to see where you are at and then take a step beyond."

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