Innholdsfortegnelse for June - July 2016 i Dance Australia

THE newly appointed director of the Bolshoi Ballet, Makhar Vaziev (pictured) , took up his position in March this year. He has stepped into the shoes of Sergei Filin, who was attacked and had his eyesight permanently impaired in an acid attack in 2013 by a company dancer. Vaziev has left his post as artistic director of the Ballet of La Scala (where he held the reins for seven years) to take up the new role. Before then he was artistic director of the Maryinsky Ballet in St Petersburg for 13 years. Filin is staying on at the Bolshoi as the head of the Workshop for Young Choreographers. “I very much hope we will work in a team, together, in a friendly way,” says Bolshoi general director Vladimir Urin.…

Photos say more than words, so they say. The camera captures those superb fleeting moments that leave the viewer grasping for ways to describe them. They freeze a movement that would otherwise disappear instantly into the past. Both participants, the dancer and the photographer, collaborate to produce something that stands alone as a work of art. Enjoy this gallery of dance photographs.…

IN 1997 I auditioned for the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts’s dance degree program. With just three years of dance experience under my belt I knew that I would be considered a wild card. I reckoned that my interview was going to be vital – I needed to convince the panel to take me into the course even though I was behind most candidates in terms of training and experience. I thought a lot about what I might be asked in the interview and the answers I would give. When it came to the interview I was feeling confident. Half the candidates had been dismissed after the practical component of the audition, and I felt proud that I had made it through to the interview stage. I also believed…

SYDNEY dancer Jasmin Dearing (pictured) will travel to the UK in July to take part in the Cecchetti Ballet Summer School. Her trip is the result of winning the NSW Big Brother Movement Scholarship Award in 2015, which included the prize of $8000 to further her studies. Dearing has studied with the Mary Geer Academy in Sydney for 12 years. She auditioned and was chosen for the Cecchetti Senior Scholars Program a few years ago and has since achieved her Advanced 1 Certificate for Cecchetti Ballet and is currently studying for her Advanced 2 Certificate. While in the UK, Dearing also hopes to participate in the English National Ballet Summer School. Described by her teacher, Mary Geer, as a “well-mannered and dedicated student with a love for music and classical…

STEPHEN PAGE, artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theatre, has always said that it’s “the dancers who inspire the company’s stories...” For the company’s next major production, “OUR land people stories”, three of the dancers are sharing “their heritage, their experience, their families and their origins with audiences,” alongside Page’s own work. Jasmin Sheppard’s Macq (first performed in 2013 during Dance Clan 3) explores the 1816 March of Macquarie – a historical chapter in which Sydney’s Aboriginal community was decimated. Many landmarks in Australia are named after Lachlan Macquarie, but just who was he? Passionate and political, Macq will serve as an enlightening history lesson for many unaware of this brutal encounter. Daniel Riley and Beau Dean Riley Smith have created Miyagan (“our family”, pronounced Me-ya-gun), a poignant dance story in…

THIS photo is of Australian dancer Lucy Green in character for her role in the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s forthcoming world premiere production of The Wizard of Oz, choreographed by artistic director Francesco Ventriglia. Sydney-born Green graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School in 2008 and joined the RNZB in 2010. She is now performing principal roles, and recently was guest principal artist with the Scottish Ballet. The RNZB will tour The Wizard of Oz around NZ from May 4 to June 12.…

“History is as light as individual human life, unbearably light, light as a feather, as dust swirling into the air, as whatever will no longer exist tomorrow.”– Milan Kundera, ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’ You may think you have pain in your body, but the pain is created in your brain. The pain sensation is produced whenever your brain decides that your body is at risk. Your brain monitors your body’s wellbeing by receiving a constant stream of signals from nerves throughout your body, and it orders necessary adjustments, such as rolling over in bed to relieve pressure on one side. Your nerves react to any unusual sensation by sending a warning signal to your brain. To decide whether your body is in danger or not, your brain weighs up…

The Grand Prix (senior award) went to Joonhyuk Jun (17), a South Korean studying at the Royal Ballet School in London. The men’s senior section was won by Narcisco Alejandro Medina Arias from Cuba. Second went to Stanislaw Wegrzyn, from the Ballett-Akademie Hochschule for Musik und Theater in Germany, and third to Motomi Kiyota, from Japan. In the women’s senior section (12 to 15 years) the winner was Yu Hang (16) from China. Second place went to Thays Golz (18) from Brazil, and third place went to Australian Makensie Henson (15), a pupil of Prudence Bowen Atelier. The junior boys’ category was won by Itsuku Masuda (12) from Japan. Second place was shared by Samuel Gest (14) from the US and David Perez (12) from Mexico. Third place was also…

Elizabeth Old is the associate artistic director of Australian Dance Theatre and is also responsible for the ADT Youth Ensemble. Karen van Ulzen asked her about her thoughts on interviews. KvU: What do you want to find out during an interview? EO: It's really important, when you're talking about training to be a professional dancer, to gauge the level of commitment, passion and hunger for the job. People imagine that being a dancer is quite glamorous and I don't think anyone has any idea how hard you have to work and how emotionally intelligent you have to be to survive the industry. It's actually quite hard. The training is really demanding. Even if you're at school and doing all your high school exams and dancing and so on . .…

THE interview component of an audition can feel a little like a blind date with the audition panel. During the audition class you are performing and, in a sense, you are protected by your onstage persona, but in an interview you are more exposed as a human being. It’s just you and your personality in there. So how can you put your best foot forwards in terms of presenting yourself as a person as well as a dancer? I spoke to Julia Moody, head of voice at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts’s acting department, to find out how to be calm, composed and confident in your interview. Firstly, says Moody, preparation is important. That means thinking in advance about the types of questions you might be asked and…

A number of Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School graduates are achieving great things in the wider dance community. Lucy Green received rave reviews at the Edinburgh Festival performing the title role of Giselle with the New Zealand Ballet on the company’s Europe tour. She has also been guesting with the Scottish Ballet, dancing the title role of Cinderella. Calvin Richardson is now dancing with the Royal Ballet. As a finalist in the 2012 Prix de Lausanne, he was offered a full scholarship to the Royal Ballet Upper School before gaining a position with the company. Some of his roles with the company include Albert de Belleroche in Strapless and in a part in Woolf Works. Sam Coleby (VCASS Graduate) is now a soloist with Les Grands Ballet Canadiens…

RUSSIAN language classes and pickled cabbage are two of the challenges facing young Brisbane dancer Ted Cooper (16), who has accepted a place at the Bolshoi Academy in Moscow, Russia. Cooper began his training in January this year, after having made the difficult decision to decline an offer from the Australian Ballet School. “I felt that moving to Russia was the best decision for me because I would develop a lot as a person, as well as a dancer”. Perhaps Cooper’s fate was sealed when he performed with the Bolshoi in Coppelia when they came to Brisbane some years ago. He explains that this experience was a pivotal moment for him and “I set out to keep practising and keep improving”. In Australia, Cooper trained with Sayers Dance Centre in…

1 DANCERS OF DEGAS The artist Degas is synomymous with ballet. And exhibition, Degas: A New Vision, will be at NGV International from 24 June – 18 September 2016 as part of the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series. http://www.danceaustralia. com.au/news/ dancers-of-degas 2 NEW COMPANY DEBUT Limitless Dance Company is a new independent contemporary dance company, founded and directed by Mitchell Turnbull and based in Sydney. http://www.danceaustralia. com.au/news/ http://www.danceaustralia.com.au/news/debut-for-newsydney-based-dancecompany debut-for-newsydney-based-dancecompany 3 STUDENT SHOWCASE Twenty Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) schools from Victoria and Tasmania gathered together at the National Theatre in St Kilda in Melbourne for the RAD Showcase in March. http://www.danceaustralia. com.au/news/ 20-schools-perform-at-rad-showcase…

THE Queensland Centre of the Performing Arts is continuing its dedication to presenting high scale, international dance companies with the presentation in September of Ballet Prelojocaj. This French contemporary company is named after its founding director, Angelin Preljocaj, who has created 45 distinctive works for the company since founding it in 1985 in Aix-en-Provence. For this Brisbane season, the company is presenting his unique take on the story of Snow White. “I have followed the version by the Grimm brothers,” he says, “with just a few personal variations based on my own analysis of the symbols in the tale.” He is as fond of the wicked stepmother and her “narcissistic determination not to give up on seduction and her role as a woman” as he is of Snow White herself.…

WHEN young Rhys Kozakowski landed the title role of Billy Elliot in the Australian production nine years ago, he was a publicist’s dream. The parallels between his life and that of his fictional character made great copy. Like Billy, he lived in a coal town – Newcastle – in a house with his parents and his grandmother. His father drove coal freight trains for QI National. And Rhys was a boy who loved dancing. But there the similarities end. Unlike Billy, he has not had to surmount great obstacles to achieve his dream. Instead of having a hostile father opposed to his dancing, Rhys’s parents were all for it. “It was a really understanding and accepting family,” he says. “Everyone was really pushing and enjoying my dancing. That wasn’t a…

Slim, brown eyed, lithe and cheerful, and at an age when many dancers have already retired, Lina Limosani is as busy as ever – and she’s never been one to stand still for long. Growing up in Melbourne, she was intent on being a gymnast. “I used to collect every gymnastic picture you can imagine and cover all my exercise books at school with them,” she tells me over a cup of coffee. But nearing the end of school, she had no idea what she wanted to do until a careers adviser recommended, “Just choose something you love doing”. Lina says: “I just loved dancing, getting out on a dance floor and letting myself go … and I remember when I was a child, choreographing dances for our family events…

MARKO Panzic has worn many hats since he first came to our attention as a Top 20 Finalist in the first series of So You Think You Can Dance Australia in 2008. But the most benevolent one he currently and very proudly wears is as founder, artistic director and producer of The Dream Dance Company. This Sydney-based commercial dance company will launch its second season program, “The Secret Society”, at NIDA’s Parade Theatre on July 13. The seed that started “The Dream” – as Panzic lovingly refers to it – came in 2014 when, as artistic director of the Australian Dance Festival, he presented what was predominantly a “faculty” performance at the final night concert. Panzic remembers that “the audience went crazy”. But it wasn’t just that performance or the…

AAH – appetite. It seems like such a complex idea. We seem to be always fighting against it. But can we use this natural bodily signal to our advantage? I talk about appetite a lot with dancers. I aim to help them understand how to become more aware of, and responsive to, the signals that can help fuel their bodies for training and performance; it’s a very important part of learning about nutrition, eating and looking after your body as a dancer. Sometimes it can get tricky. Long classes, short breaks, intense activity. All of these can affect your appetite, and your ability to respond to it in a timely or appropriate way. Essentially, from a physiological perspective appetite describes the signals that your body sends to your brain that…

DO • Put effort into email writing; a badly written email could be costly. • Find out what companies are in the area you're travelling to: you might have chosen to audition at the wrong one! • Research the company's style and repertory. Interviewing finalists is standard practice and your opportunity to prove you're interested and informed. • Keep your resumé concise. Companies spend only a short time reading each application and summer workshops and childhood RAD results are more often than not ignored. • Consider the size of the company. Smaller companies require all dancers to be capable of dancing soloist roles. • If you're interested in a particular company, read the dancers' biographies online and keep an eye out for any 'trends'. For instance, a company that performs…

Academy of Music & Performing Arts Rozelle (Head Office) Broadway/ Alexandria (Dance Campus), NSW Courses: Bachelor of Dance Auditions: 6 October, 14 November, 21 November Website: ampa.edu.au See advertisement on p.29 and 69. Alegria School of Ballet Woolloomooloo, NSW Courses: Alegria Classical Ballet full-time training Auditions: Private auditions at any convenient time Website: www.alegria.com.au See advertisement on p.20 . Amanda Bollinger Dance Academy Southport, Gold Coast, Qld Courses: Half-day and full-time elite training programs, acceptance by private audition only Website: www.vaganova.com.au See advertisement on p.65 . Angus & Lucinda’s Academie de Danse Bowral, NSW Auditions: June through to December Courses: Certificate III in Dance CUA30113; Advanced Diploma in Dance (Elite Performance) CUA60113 Website: www.anguslucindadanse.com See advertisement on p. 68 Annette Roselli Dance Academy…

TO the overseas observer, Broadway in New York is synonymous with American musical theatre. In reality the industry is much more nuanced. It encompasses Broadway, Off-Broadway, national tours and regional shows. A large portion of the industry performs in shows regionally or as part of a national tour, some of which do not fall under the ambit of Actor’s Equity and therefore are not subject to the union’s regulations and pay rates. For dancers who want to audition for Broadway shows, a good place to earn their stripes is on these tours, with their physically, mentally and emotionally demanding schedules. They are also a crucial part of the musical theatre eco-system in America because they bring a night of Broadway entertainment to regional areas. Theatre-lovers who will likely never make…

YOUNG Brisbane dancer Chloe Keneally (pictured left) is firmly in pursuit of her dreams after successfully auditioning for the English National Ballet School (ENBS). The 15-year-old will commence training at the school in September and says she is “excited to train with such a prestigious school and to gain some independence living away from home”. Acceptance into the school is just the latest in a string of achievements for the young student of Debra Whitten School of Dance. Chloe competed in April at the Youth America Grand Prix and attended the Royal Ballet (Upper School) Summer School in London in July last year. She received 2nd place for her 15yrs classical solo at the Sydney Eisteddfod in 2015 and was a finalist for the Robert and Elizabeth Albert Ballet Scholarship.…

GRADUATES of the Australian Conservatoire of Ballet (ACB) are making impressive waves around the world. Freya Wilkinson has recently returned from the Prix de Lausanne where she received 10 scholarships, including one for the Royal Ballet School. Earlier this year Rebecca Mottin was offered a contract by the English National Ballet School for its May performances of Swan Lake in the Round. Melody Martin has been offered a contract with the Australian Ballet. Jessica Allison-Walker has been offered a contract in the Australian Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty Storytime Ballet production and Kiely Groenewegen is currently in the third year of her Royal Ballet School scholarship. Many ACB alumni are also establishing themselves with their new roles in their professional companies. Benjamin Ella, who has been with the Royal Ballet since…

GABRIEL Jahnke, a student of Suzanne Way at Professional Coaching, Avalon, NSW, has won the Australian Institute of Classical Dance Houston Ballet Academy (HBA) scholarship. The competition was held at the Hurstville Entertainment Centre in NSW on April 12 and was adjudicated by the director of the Houston Ballet Academy, Shelly Power. Lucky Gabriel will receive return airfares to Houston, Texas, to attend the HBA's intensive summer program in June as well as meals and accommodation. Power also offered the runner up, Madison Cronin from Tania Pearson Classical Coaching Academy, a short stay at the school at another time as well as her prize of $500.…

IT is incredible how one can travel the world and do what they love at the same time. Dance. Since joining Guangdong Modern Dance Company last year in August, I have had some of the most amazing experiences working with different choreographers, collaborating with other contemporary dance companies and touring around the world. I grew up in Sydney, so I found the culture in Guangzhou, where the company is based, has different unique qualities. I find that the dancers here are spiritual and articulate with movement. It is a whole new world of dance on this side of the planet. My starting point in deciding to come to China after graduating was given to me by my teachers at the National College of Dance in Newcastle, NSW. Brett Morgan, Timothy…

What is your first memory of dancing? One of my most cherished childhood memories of dance is of my sisters and I making up dance a routine to a song (gorilla wrap) on cassette tape. Where did you train? I started learning ballet at Ecole Classique but continued most of my training under Anne Grey at North Shore Dance Academy. I then attended Newtown High School of Performing Arts for Y9 and 10 and later moved down to Melbourne to join the Australian Ballet School as a full time student. What was your first public performance? Around the age of six, as a gum nut baby, in the end of year ballet concert. What was your first professional gig? With the Australian Ballet performing Meryl Tankard's Wild Swans in 2003.…