Mar 1: Dance-O-Mat!

1 March 2013

Yes! It’s back … again! Go and boogie down on the corner of Cashel Street and Oxford Tce (where the Tap Room used to be).

December 2012

Dance-O-Mat No.2 was back at a new site after being in hibernation for the winter, but then it had to go for another wee sleep while the building next door was demolished.

OPENED 21 September on Oxford Tce, near Re:Start (Cashel Mall) until end of November 2012

This project in its first iteration was extremely successful, getting 600 hours of use at our best guess (based on the $2 coins collected) across 3 months. From salsa to flamenco, break dance, swing, ceroc, belly dancing, random all-ages discos and the SUPERHERO DANCE SQUAD, Dance-O-Mat brought many smiles to people’s faces, right up against the red zone. Local choreographers and teachers used the floor too to work out in the open with their students.

Now it’s back on a new gap ready for dancers, kids, friends and more. Right near the river, its a different location with a lot of foot traffic. We’re pretty happy with the new site even if it did take A LOT of work to put it in there!

28 August 2012

Check this out! Dance-O-Mat won the Architectural Designers NZ Resene Design Award 2012! F3 who designed the wonderful Dance-O-Mat was awarded this prestigious award as part of the Earthquake Response Design Award.

What’s a Dance-O-Mat? Dance-O-Mat is a dance floor on a vacant site with coin operated lighting and sound courtesy of a converted washing machine of course (get it? Laundromat… Dance-O-Mat!)! Anyone can come to the site, plug their MP3 player/Ipod/phone loaded with their own music and get dancing.

Dance-O-Mat has been created in response to the loss of many of the dance studios and performance spaces around the city. Gap Filler wanted to give the Christchurch community a unique dance experience whilst bringing life to our broken city – something to lift the spirits and raise the heart beats of the people.

So, plug in, pay, hit play, and enjoy! The first Dance-O-Mat was located on what was previosuly Bargain Rental Cars the corner of St Asaph and Manchester Streets, city from February 15 – May 28, 2012.

DANCE-O-MAT meets the SUPERHERO DANCE SQUAD – One of our favourite uses of our DANCE-O-MAT!

How can I use it?

The Dance-O-Mat is available for use between 8am and 11pm daily.

Bring an Ipod/MP3 player/smart phone (anything with a headphone jack) and plug it in to the washing machine. Put $2 in the slot on the machine and this activates the power for 30 minutes. Then press play and get dancing!

We’re trying to keep things simple. If you want to bring your dance group or class here, make use of the black board booking system on the wall at the site (it is updated every Monday morning for the coming week). Just write your name or dance group’s name and the time you will use it in the correct slot on the blackboard. If there is no chalk there, visit our neighbor (just behind you), The Drawing Room and borrow a piece from them.

We ask that if you wish to book a regular slot here, or hold a performance or large event, please email us first danceomat@gapfiller.org.nz. Events for more than 50 people will need to be OKd with Gap Filler first as we have a responsibility to the landowner to take proper care of his site.

Like all Gap Filler projects, this one is a bit of an experiment. If you happen to have any comments/questions/feedback or notice anything you think we should know about, please email: danceomat@gapfiller.org.nz. We think Dance-O-Mat is super-cool and we hope you do too. Please help us to take care of it and treat it with respect.

We plan to organise regular dance events there for you to be a part of or watch. Keep an eye on the website, but better yet, follow us on Facebook or join the mailing list from this website in the GET INVOLVED section.

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Read Gap Filler’s project report from the first installation of the Dance-O-Mat here.

With special thanks to those who’ve made it possible:

First location, St Asaph Street: Thanks Pippin, Andrew, Ella and Richie at F3 for all your work, Phil at Maytag for the washing machine and Matt Ballantine for making it work. Jen McBride for designing and painting the awesome sign, Robbie and Steve at Aotea Electric. The landowner, Chris, and the neighbours Paddy and Mark. Trent for all the maintenance! Adam Hayward at the Body Festival and Julia Milsom for connecting with the dance community and all manner of assistance. All the volunteers too: Kim Roman, Lesley Murray, Nic Sargent, Alistair Smith, Beth Burse, Emma Cullen, Kirsty Dunford, Leben Young, Charlotte Mayne, Dorothea Theunissen, Hannah Kriesell, Christina Berneheim, Kasuni Thewarapperuma, Rosalee Jenkin, John Leonard, Amy Jansen, Amber Coubrough.

Second location, Oxford Tce: Glen at Southern Network Services and Robbie from Aoteoa Electrical – thanks so very much!, Re:Start, Anna from Hereford Holdings, Antony Gough, Paul Lonsdale, Phoenix Marshall, Oliver Sewell, Colin De Jager, Sharon Moreham, Audrey Baldwin, Megan Aiken, Brad Smith, Karyn Durham, Ellie O’Byrne, Jeremy Sauzier.