Innholdsfortegnelse for September-October-November 2020 i Dance Australia

Remarkably, in South Korea, Phantom of the Opera continued its run through the pandemic (apart from a mandatory three-week closure). The 126 member cast performed in a 1600-seat theatre. Audience members were sprayed with a light mist of disinfectant before entering the theatre. Each person’s temperature was taken, they had to fill out a questionnaire, sanitise their hands and wear masks. There was also high public confidence in the government’s management of the pandemic, thanks to a highly effective contact tracing regime. Social distancing measures, however, were not applied to seating (though the front row was removed to create a wider distance from the stage).…

MY 10-month contract with the Celebrity Eclipse was my first professionally paid contract after graduating in 2018 from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. The gig started with two months of rehearsals in Miami, Florida, before we travelled to Vancouver, Canada, where the cruise ship was docked. Our itinerary was incredible and we were lucky enough to have regular port changes – either every two weeks or each month – so we never saw the same place more than twice. We travelled to Alaska, Hawaii, California, Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Antarctica to Brazil and back down the South American coast to Chile, where we finished our trip. We would usually perform two shows every second night. Sometimes a matinee. Guest entertainers performed on the alternate nights. This meant we had every…

LOVE Mum’s home cooking but travelling two hours to the studio each day? Have an amazing opportunity to study at a school or studio, and have to move interstate? Well, adventurers, one thing you’ll really have to think about is how you’re going to manage the very important job of fuelling your body for dancing if you’re used to it magically appearing in the fridge or pantry, or even on the plate in front of you. Living away from home for the first time, regardless of age, can be a lot trickier than people imagine. But with some planning and thought, it can be the ideal time to develop independence and find your own feet. When moving away from home, people commonly feel isolated or lonely. They often lack the…

NOT all dancers are fortunate enough to make a long-term career doing what they love. For Caterina Mete, a six-month stint in a suit led to an ongoing role with the iconic Wiggles. Mete has been with the Wiggles for 17 years. Her main role is as a choreographer, but she also dances in the shows and looks after the costumes. What part of your dance training prepared you for this role? I started dancing at seven. I wanted to sing and dance. I started with tap and jazz and also did ballroom. I started ballet quite late – at about 11. Then I did a full-time year at Dance Factory (Melbourne). Early jobs included the Tivoli Theatre Restaurant and cheerleading for Melbourne Storm. I think that doing a variety…

“I’ve been writing CovidSafe plans, mopping and sanitising and ensuring Dancehouse studios can be accessed as safely as possible.” W here were you born? On Darug country in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney near Penrith. What and where did you study? I studied a Media and Communications degree in theatre, film and dance with honours at UNSW. And a Masters of curation at Sydney University. Do you have any dance training? I have been dancing with Body Electric Dance Studios with Jade Duffy here in Melbourne for 11 years. For a 40-year-old, I recognise that’s a very late start to my training! Needless to say my talent is 90% enthusiasm and 10% costume. Where would you say your career path began? In the nightclubs of Sydney helping curators, and…

Where did you undertake your full-time training? National College of Dance, Newcastle What level of education had you attained before beginning your full-time training? Year 10 at school and Advanced 2 RAD. Did you change your mind or have a change of attitude about your career goals while you were studying? My goals did not change – I had always wanted to join a major ballet company. However, I discovered many more options for ballet companies that I had not previously considered. This was through the mentorship of teachers and through attending international competitions and events. I found it important to have that goal in front of me while I was training, as something to push towards. What was one of the main life lessons you gained from full-time studies?…

Where are you from? I was born in Brighton, UK, while my parents were working there – we moved back to Australia shortly after and I grew up in Melbourne. Where did you undertake your full-time training? The Royal Ballet School, UK. What level of education had you attained before beginning your full-time training? Between ages six to 17 I attended dance classes after school at Camberwell District Ballet in Melbourne where I first discovered my love of dance. I took a break between ages 12 to 15 to engage with other activities and school sport, but after seeing a performance of the Australian Ballet’s new production of Swan Lake in 2002, I came back to ballet with fresh inspiration. In early 2005 I had just started year 12 and…

W here are you from? I have been living in London for the past three years, but I grew up in a small country town just outside of the Blue Mountains in rural NSW. Where did you undertake your full-time training? My full-time training began when I was fourteen. After naively attending a RAD Spring School held by Hilary Kaplan and Archibald Mckenzie of Alegria Dance Studios in Sydney, I found myself sitting my Advanced Foundation exam with them three weeks later in order to qualify for full-time study beginning January, 2015. I then spent the next two-and-a-half years at Alegria, continuing my academic schooling with Sydney Distance Education High School. In March, 2017, I was accepted into the English National Ballet School, and have just graduated after three years…

“I learnt discipline, determination, staying motivated when there are times you want to give up, and persistence...” I STARTED with Australian Conservatoire of Ballet (currently MBC) in 2016. After two-and-a-half years, I graduated with my Advanced Diploma of Dance. I embarked on a two-month audition tour in Europe and the UK. From September, 2018, I began another full-time training course at the John Cranko Ballett Schule. I completed my academic education at Methodist Ladies’ College until Year 10, and then completed the rest of my schooling via Distance Education when I was accepted into ACB. Did you make any unexpected discoveries while undertaking your full-time studies? I learnt a lot about my body; as I began the full-time course at a young age (15), the anatomy of ballet was a…

In Perth, the WAB’s first live performance was held while the state was in Phase 3 of restrictions, when 1.5m distancing was still required (front, back and sides of seats). The company presented a performance workshop, CoVid Lab, and was able to fit 40 in the West Australian Ballet Centre. Audiences members were temperature-checked, questioned upon entry, contact traced, provided with hand sanitiser and optional face masks were available for all patrons both upon entry to the building and again entering the studio. There were no food or beverage services and no printed tickets (just names checked off a list). By August, the company, under Phase 4, could host an audience of 132 at the WA Ballet Centre and the protocols above weren’t required. August 15 was the expected date…

DAVID McAllister’s whole life has been the Australian Ballet (AB) – he trained at the school, danced with the company for 18 years, and became its longest-serving artist director. Now, after having held one of the country’s most glamorous jobs for 20 years, he has decided to step down. Soar is his farewell autobiography. So it is quite a surprise when his Introduction doesn’t begin with ballet but instead with his first sexual experience. In this way he immediately establishes that Soar is not just about his career but also about his long coming-to-terms with his sexuality. At age 19 McAllister met and began a relationship with his idol, 37-year-old Kelvin Coe, the AB’s principal dancer. (Coe was a celebrated dancer who was much later exposed against his will by…

DEAR DANCER, A wise teacher once said to me, “Every rejection you get is a step towards where you are meant to be.” Rejection is hard to take no matter what. It is particularly hard when you feel you haven’t been given a fair chance and you aren’t given any explanation as to why you were not picked. But, schools, companies and competitions are inundated with video applicants these days and they simply don’t have the time or resources for this. However, there is no harm in sending a follow up email asking them for some advice on how they think you can improve (unless they have specifically requested no correspondence). This way, you aren’t asking “why not me?”. Rather you are saying, “I respect you and would appreciate your…

WHEN Dance Australia last spoke to Kiely Groenewegen, it was in 2018, and she was just two weeks into her second Met season with American Ballet Theatre. This time, two years on, she is still happily dancing with the corps de ballet with ABT, but was talking from home in Melbourne while weathering out the pandemic. ABT began shutting down in March, cancelling plans to tour to Chicago and Abu Dhabi. Australians in NY like Kiely were told by the Australian Government to return home soon after. She was glad to be back with family rather than in her small apartment in NY, but sorry to have be so far away from her adopted company. She was supposed to have taken part in ABT’s huge 80th anniversary gala in May…

“The transition between full-time training and a lasting career in the dance world was made much more attainable.” Where are you from? I grew up in Newcastle, Armidale and Sydney. Where did you undertake your full-time training? After my final year at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts (NHSPA) in Sydney, I received a full scholarship to Point Park University (PPU) in Pittsburgh, US. I then moved to Melbourne to attend the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA). I graduated from NHSPA, received distinction in my Advance 1 RAD exam, and was selected to perform at the HSC Callback for both compositional and performance subjects. Did you make any unexpected discoveries while undertaking your full-time studies? My time at PPU was incredibly inspiring, humbling and challenging. I definitely felt…

here are you from? I was born in Zimbabwe and began my ballet training there at the age of three before moving to Perth in 2008. What level of education had you attained before beginning your full-time training? When I begun full-time ballet I had completed Year 10 before changing to Distance Education to complete my final two years to graduate from Year 12 before moving to San Francisco. Throughout my ballet training I sat my RAD exams from Grade 4 to Advanced 2, I also received my Solo Seal and I completed my Cecchetti exams from Intermediate to Advanced 2. Where did you study? In 2016, at the age of 15, I moved to Sydney to begin full-time ballet at Tanya Pearson Academy. In February, 2017, I competed in…

“My attitude towards dance gradually evolved and my personal taste ripened. As I was exposed to a diverse range of artists and practices, my understanding of craftsmanship matured.” W here did you undertake your full-time training? Sydney Dance Company Pre-Professional Year (2016). What level of education (academic and dance) had you attained before beginning your full-time training? HSC, Newtown High School of the Performing Arts, Sydney. Did you change your mind or have a change of attitude about your career goals while you were studying? My attitude towards dance gradually evolved and my personal taste ripened. As I was exposed to a diverse range of artists and practices, my understanding of craftsmanship matured. More and more I saw that masterful performers possessed something beyond virtuosity in their technique. They had…

“I learnt discipline, perseverance, how to work intelligently and how to work for yourself ...” Where did you undertake your full-time training? I attended Charlesworth Ballet Institute in my hometown of Perth for 11-and-a-half years – six-and-a-half of them were in the full-time program. I completed Grade 7 to 12 graduation via School of Isolated and Distance Education. I also completed a certificate III and IV and ATAR Dance with Charlesworth. What discoveries did you make? I discovered a love for contemporary and Spanish. I had previously done a small amount of these styles but my appreciation for them grew when I started full-time. I really value learning styles other than ballet because there are many things that you can take from them and apply to your ballet that can…

In her own words: For two years, I studied at Classical Ballet 121 with Gillian Revie where I participated in the full-time ballet program. Before moving to CB121, I had just completed Year 10 at the McDonald College of Performing Arts in the Ballet Stream. While undertaking my full-time studies I discovered a lot about myself as a dance practitioner. Gilly and her team do an exceptional job in providing her students with a range of workshops, styles and teaching. Gilly allowed me to work to the best of my ability and unlock aspects of my technique of which I didn’t think I would ever gain an understanding. As well as ballet, I was exposed to choreographic opportunities, improvisation techniques, stage management workshops; all things which intrigued and excited me.…

KRZYSZTOF Pastor is a successful and prolific choreographer. Not a year has gone by since his debut as a choreographer in 1992, at Dutch National Ballet, when he hasn’t brought at least one new creation into life. Most of his career has been in Europe, but, in the way of the cosmopolitan world of ballet, he already had some connections with the West Australian Ballet (WAB) before this current commission of Dracula. A long time ago, Pastor visited Perth at the invitation of Barry Moreland, a former artistic director of the company. “I was in New Zealand to stage my Firebird,” Pastor recounts with some amusement. “Barry was interested in staging it. He arranged for me to come to see the company but when I got there there was nothing…

CHRIS Horsey established himself as a world champion tap dancer at the tender age of 12 when he won the Fred Astaire International Tap Championship at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel in 1984. Since then he’s taken that incredible tap talent to stages all over the world, in hits such as Hot Shoe Shuffle and Tap Dogs, while also making a mark as a musical theatre performer. He also featured as Angus in Dein Perry’s movie Bootmen which established he wasn’t just a great tap dancer but one with good acting chops too. Horsey lives in Melbourne with his wife, musical theatre star Lucy Durack, and two small children — Poppy (4) and Theodore (9 months). I found him not just in isolation but actually in quarantine in a…

AUSTINMER DANCE THEATRE (NSW): www.austinmerdancetheatre.com AUSTRALASIAN DANCE COLLECTIVE YOUTH ENSEMBLE (QLD): australasiandancecollective.com/youthensemble BALLET THEATRE OF QUEENSLAND (QLD): www.btq.com.au BRISBANE CITY YOUTH BALLET (QLD): www.bcyb.com.au CO: YOUTH DANCE COMPANY (WA): co3.org.au/coyouth-dance-company DRILL (TAS): www.drillperformance.com FLING PHYSICAL THEATRE (NSW): www.flingphysicaltheatre.com.au THE FLIPSIDE PROJECT (NSW): www.catapultdance.com.au MERGE DANCE THEATRE (QLD): mergedancetheatre.com.au QL2 DANCE (ACT): https://www.ql2.org.au/ SOUTH AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN’S BALLET COMPANY (SA): www.sacbc.com STOMPIN YOUTH DANCE COMPANY (TAS): www.stompin.net YELLOW WHEEL (VIC): www.yellowwheel.com.au…

THE pointe shoe, along with the tutu, is universally recognised as an iconic symbol of ballet. For most of the last century both were inseparable from the art form. In recent decades, however, have seen the tutu retreat from centre stage, while the pointe shoe seems here to stay, weathering various cultural and stylistic challenges. A clue to the pointe shoe’s longevity might be found its evolution by a confluence of innovations in technique and technology. The 19th century ballerina Marie Taglioni is usually credited with being the first to dance sur la pointe, in the first 1832 performance of La Sylphide. However, the true origin of modern pointe shoes goes back a further 200 years to the beginnings of ballet – the court dances of King Louis XIV (imported…

MANY years ago a young Australian dancer won a scholarship to travel overseas to London. Her name was Valma Briggs and she became a dancer with Ballet Rambert. She eventually returned home and become a teacher and Royal Academy of Dance examiner. Many years later her grandson, Alexander Campbell, made a remarkably similar leap overseas. He also won a scholarship – the McDonalds Ballet Scholarship at the Sydney Eisteddfod in 2002, which enabled him to join the Royal Ballet School in London. He then joined Birmingham Royal Ballet, then the Royal Ballet. He was made principal in 2016, claiming equal place beside such stars as Steven McRae, David Hallberg (artistic director designate of the Australian Ballet) and Vadim Muntagirov. Campbell has danced a wide variety of repertoire, including works by…

AMELIA Townsend first trained at her mother's dance studio, Annette Roselli Dance Academy, in Brisbane. She loved learning almost every style of dance as well as rhythmic gymnastics. As she progressed to full-time dance, however, “I knew I could no longer dedicate myself to everything as well as make my dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer come true,” she says. “(I think I was exhausting my parents, trying to keep up with all my activities!) Ballet then became my primary focus as well as contemporary. Of course, during my studies I also tried to keep up various other styles of dance because I believe being versatile as a dancer is important.” She auditioned successfully for the Australian Ballet School and left home for Melbourne. Then, at the age of…

“I could express myself through an artform and delve deeper into the creativity of ballet and other forms of dance.” IT took Charles a while to realise that ballet was something he wanted to to. He first saw himself as more of a hip-hop dancer, and even had dreams of becoming a police officer. However, on beginning full-time training at the McDonald College in Sydney, he discovered “what ballet was really about”. He performed as Franz in Coppelia with the College’s company, the Premier State Ballet, and also worked with the Australian Ballet as an extra. He fell in love with “the thrill of being on stage and performing a story”. “There is nothing quite like it” he explains. “I discovered dance, which sounds weird but there is so much…

Where did you undertake your full-time training? ED5International in my hometown of Sydney. What level of education had you attained before beginning your full-time training? I had received a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (Hons) from the University of Sydney, which required a five-year absence from the dance community during my time at university. Did you make any unexpected discoveries while undertaking your full-time studies? ED5International is exceptional in how curated the educational environment is. Directors William A Forsythe, Elena De Cinque and Mario De Cinque have created and nurtured a deeply personal learning experience in which each student is seen and heard individually. As such, the unexpected discoveries were innumerable and available to any student who applied themselves. Did you change your mind or have a change of attitude about…