Table of contents for July-August-September 2024 in Dance Australia

CAREERS SHARP Short Dance competition has become a valuable staple of the contemporary dance calendar. Produced by Form Dance Projects at Sydney’s Parramatta Riverside Theatres, it is annual event in festival format and is open to aspirants under 21 years. Dancers are invited to submit and perform their own works in front of an audience, and are assessed by a panel of industry professionals, with awards for performance as well as choreography. Among the prizes are secondments with companies and schools. The year Taiga Kita-Leong decided to enter the festival, 2021, was a pandemic year. Undeterred, Sharp Short went on-line, inviting submissions of dance films in place of performances in person. Meanwhile, Kita-Leong had been forced to return home from the NZ School of Dance, and had instead taken up…

GIUSEPPE Bausilio was only a child when he first competed in the Youth America Grand Prix. The son of ballet dancer parents, he had been dancing at their school since he was four and entered a semifinal in the junior division of YAGP in 2009 when he was ten. It was to be the jumping off point for his future career. He was spotted by children's talent scout Norah Brennan, who invited him to audition for the musical of Billy Elliot. Before he had a chance to say "electricity" he had been offered the lead role. "My life turned upside down," he says now. "Never in a million years would I otherwise have had the opportunity." It also hugely expanded his performance range. Although he had competed in YAGP as…

DANCER OVER the past 40 years he’s become an Australian showbiz legend renowned for his versatility, but the 18-year-old Todd McKenney began his professional career as a dancer, with the same practical goal as everyone else: to work. That, he quips, was his only grand plan upon leaving Perth prepped in jazz, tap, ballroom and acrobatics. By then, dancing for him was as natural and effortless as walking, having started aged just three in his young mum Peta Norton’s Perth studio. McKenney quickly achieved his aim of being known as one of Australia’s best commercial dancers. On the advice of performer, choreographer and producer Kevan Johnston – who with wife Jill Perryman received the 2013 Equity Lifetime Achievement Award – he then developed his “singing chops”, and moved up to…

SO, you’ve got the offer and you are thrilled about accepting a place in a full-time dance course. It’s such an exciting time in your life, but one that comes with a series of unknowns. You might encounter cultural or language barriers; shared living conditions; a whole new group of peers. You will be negotiating new schedules, new physical demands and maybe even a different time zone. While you may be excited about all these new opportunities, it is also wise to have a plan for how to navigate some of the challenges that go with them. Make connections. Don’t underestimate how much you can learn from others and the importance of building a network of support with your fellow students. Seek out positive influences and start to build a…

Studied: Annette Roselli Dance Academy.Presently: English National Ballet School from September, 2024. The most pivotal experience that my full time journey has given me was the Fonteyn competition in London, 2023. The teachers I learnt from and the people I met truly transformed me as a dancer and I developed my artistic and technical abilities immensely. To walk away as a silver medalist and now with an opportunity to begin my next full time journey at English National Ballet School is such a surreal experience and I am forever grateful for these moments and the people I met. The new connections made with people, teachers and dancers are like strands in my tapestry that I will take into my future. Along with the incredible opportunities, full-time training is incredibly demanding.…

Studied: National College of Dance.Presently: Arts Umbrella, Vancouver, Canada. Did your original career aim change from when you started your studies to when you graduated? I came into the program at NCD wanting to pursue a professional career in contemporary dance. When I graduated, my passion and desire was just as strong. I was also closer to the place I wanted to be, having secured offers from various institutions internationally recognised for their post-graduate education in contemporary dance. I accepted an offer from Arts Umbrella and could not be happier. How did you cope physically with the demands of the workload? The transition from part-time to full-time dance was initially very physically challenging. Conditioning your body to be able to meet the demands of a six day week, working from…

Studied: The Australian Ballet School.Presently: Associate Artistic Director at Australasian Dance Collective Did your original career aim change from when you started to when you graduated? I suppose the goal posts have continually kept shifting. Since graduating, I have danced in ballet and contemporary companies, choreographed around the world, directed and edited films, conceived campaigns for commercial clients, and recently I have taken up the role of Associate Artistic Director of ADC. Put simply, I collaborate. It was never about conquering each of these fields and moving onto the next, rather broadening my skill sets, and listening to what I was craving artistically. It has been a vast and unpredictable 10 years in and around the industry, with some high highs to offset some sobering lows. I’ve learned so much…

GRADUATE STORIES Studied: Victorian College of the Arts/ University of Melbourne.Presently: Freelance dancer and choreographer based in Naarm. What is your best memory of your full-time dance studies? My best memories are of the people, mentors and peers I was able to meet, exchange and learn from. The opportunity to collaborate and learn from artists of diverse dance backgrounds was incredibly valuable in growing my own practice and approaches to making and performing dance. I learned a lot from my peers and found strength in collaboration and teamwork… a gift I have taken forward into my work today. Did your original career aim change from when you started your studies to when you graduated? After my tertiary studies I came to learn that my practice as an artist is grounded…

BRITAIN’S Aakash Odedra Company will return to Australia this August with a dance-theatre performance called Little Murmur, choreographed by award-winning dancer and choreographer Aakash Odedra and South Australia’s Lewis Major. Aimed at children seven years and older, Little Murmur is a stunning visual treat about living with dyslexia. Odedra himself has dyslexia and says that it led to his career as a dancer: because he found written language so difficult he turned to dance as his preferred mode of expression. Since its premiere at The Spark Festival in Leicester 2022, Little Murmur has toured theatres, schools, festivals, libraries and community spaces across the UK and Europe. Children are enchanted by the groundbreaking projections, extraordinary soundscape and a blizzard of paper and confetti. Aakash Odedra Company was founded in 2011 by…

HEALTH AND WELLBEING AS if professional ballet isn’t hard enough, a Sydney Morning Herald review of the Australian Ballet (TAB) claimed in May that the company was looking “unusually thin this [2024] season”. The response was swift and decisive with the AB Artistic Director, David Hallberg and principal dancer Benedicte Bemet appearing on breakfast TV with claims that this comment was “triggering” for dancers. That dancers’ bodies are not a site for comment or speculation, was the message, and that this was harmful for the dancers. There was strong media commentary across varied outlets for a couple of days and then the furore appeared to die down, as is the case with the immediate and strident nature of contemporary social commentary. Full disclosure here. My take on this matter was…

FOR Samantha Vottari, the prize for attending the Cecchetti International Ballet Competition (CIBC) was far-reaching. "I did not receive a prize," she says now, "but for me the prize was to meet all the wonderful people at that competition, make forever lasting connections, to network and get to dance to my best ability on such a wonderful stage. Also to travel for the first time overseas at the age of seventeen." That first overseas trip was to be a portent of things to come: she now lives permanently overseas – in Madrid, in Spain, as a dancer with the world renown Compañía Nacional de Danza (National Ballet Company of Spain). Vottari's path to her present home began in Adelaide, where she trained from the age of six to 16 with…

RUMINATIONS IF you have watched dance for long enough – which I am sure you have – there will be some special dance works which stay with you, long after the curtain has fallen. It might have been the inspiring story, the symbiotic union of dance and music, a moving performance, or perhaps just a memorable night out with a loved one. Whatever the reason, some evenings in the theatre leave a lasting imprint. It might be a work which you would like to view again, for fondness and sentimentality … and yet, you never see the piece again! Dance is a transient gallery, which periodically allows its audience a return visit; yet all too often the work is performed just once and then gone – seemingly deleted as quickly…

Studied: Alegria Dance Studios, SydneyPresently: Dallas Conservatory Classical Training Program, USA. What is your best memory of your studies? My best memories include performing ballets and rehearsing with my peers. While performing variations alone is a rewarding and valuable experience, my most treasured moments have been performing in the corps de ballet and working with other dancers. Through dancing in the corps de ballet, I realised the true value every dancer has in a ballet and the joy of working with others to create a beautiful work of art. Performing is such a magical experience and it is so special when you get to share the stage with other dancers when you are all putting so much work and care into the performance. Performing ballets takes so much rehearsal time…

GRADUATE STORIES Studied: ED5INTERNATIONALPresently: ‘&Juliet’ on Broadway Best memory of your studies? Starting out in a full-time dance course is always so exciting but can be an overwhelming time of change: meeting new friends and choreographers, testing out all of your skills in new classes, creating career goals and balancing the lifestyle and demanding schedule. At ED5, I’ll always remember being welcomed by three of the best in those first weeks, the directors of ED5International – William Forsythe, Elena De Cinque and Mario De Cinque. They have put together a wonderful course that pushed and challenged me, but also allowed so much joy, growth and success. One of my favourite memories would be working so hard towards our first theatre repertoire performance at the end of Term 1, which was…

Studied: Adelaide College of the Arts and Flinders University Creative Arts (Honours) Presently: Independent dancer, choreographer and sound designer. What was one of the main life-lessons you learnt through your full-time studies? The key to being a phenomenal dance artist is being a human first. Dance and art are informed by our lived experience, by our knowledge of the world around us. You must remain open to that. The major life events, the minor details of the world around you, or the days where you do nothing at all are all a part of the process to enrich your experience in dance. When this idea came into my cohort’s world it was incredible to see the transformation of our work ethics, our abilities and our ideas. Dance really isn’t cyclical…

GRADUATE STORIES Studied: The McDonald CollegePresently: Principal dancer with the Queensland Ballet. What is your best memory of your full-time dance studies? I had many wonderful memories, so I’m going to have to narrow it down to three: one of which was the incredible teachers I was lucky enough to learn from and work with – Alan Cross and Josephine Jason, two world class teachers which I credit a lot of my early learnings, understanding and development in the art form. They truly made my passion for classical ballet grow each and every day working with them. I still use a lot of their teachings in my work today. Another wonderful memory would have to be the friendships built while dancing full-time; the bond between all the dancers grew each…

Studied: Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).Presently: Stephanie Lake Company AS I’m writing this I am currently touring Manifesto through Europe with Stephanie Lake Company. Later in the year I’ll reengage with the company for further development of Chronicles which will premier nationally across Australia in 2025 as a part of the Major Festivals Initiative. What is your best memory of your full-time dance studies? As a 2nd year student I was brought onboard the 3rd year students remount of Xiao-Xiong Zhang’s Rite of Spring (alongside a few members of my cohort). This production was presented in Perth and then toured to Beijing where we performed it in collaboration with Beijing Normal University (BNU) students. The experience was an a major push for my embodied practice and development. How…

BACKSTAGE AFTER reading Emma Kingsbury's extensive CV, it was something of a surprise to see how young the face was smiling back at me on Zoom. At 36 years of age, Kingsbury is a theatre designer with a CV as long as Gandalf's beard. She has created sets and costumes for the whole gamut of the performing arts: film, TV, opera, ballet. She now spends most of her time living and working in the US but she recently visited Australia to witness the premiere of one of her latest commissions: for the Australian Ballet School's new ballet: Possum Magic, based on the children's book by Mem Fox. Possum Magic is an Australian classic, beloved since it was published in 1983, adored for its uniquely Australian characters and Julie Vevis's delightful…

Triple feats The Brisbane International Contemporary Dance Prix. ALEX Macnab received not one but three big boosts to her career aspirations through competing, and both through the same competition, the Brisbane International Contemporary Dance Prix (BICDPRIX). The first time was in 2019, when she was a pupil at Transit Dance in Melbourne. She entered the junior section of the BICD, came runner-up, and was offered a place at the New Zealand School of Dance. The NZSD was a school she had coveted for some time, so she jumped at the chance, moving to Wellington to take up the place in 2020. Unfortunately, she was forced to return to Australia barely six weeks later, because of Covid. She returned to her old alma mater, Transit, where she studied full-time, graduating…

CAREERS WITH over 25,000 entrants each year, who perform to an audience of more than 170,000 people, the annual Sydney Eisteddfod plays a vital role in Australia’s arts community. For young dancers, its huge dance section offers many opportunities for contestants of all ages. For ballet dancer Lania Atkins, it played a big part in her career. Atkins trained at the Dance Spot in Sydney and was also chosen for the Australian Ballet School’s Interstate Program. She entered the Robert and Elizabeth Junior Ballet Scholarship, one of the more prestigious prizes at the Sydney Eisteddfod, in 2015. With her prize money of $7000 she was able to travel to the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland, where she made it to the semi-finals, and was offered a spot at the Dutch…

Ablaze Dance Academy 2/116 Garden Grove Parade ADAMSTOWN HEIGHTS 2289 P: 0437590054E: ada.classicalcoaching@outlook.comW: www.ablazedanceacademy.com.au ADA offers elite training in classical ballet and contemporary, providing talented dance students with the necessary coaching to pursue a career in Classical Ballet or Contemporary Dance. Students are trained in the Royal Academy Of Dance as well as Vaganova method of classical ballet. ADA offers a range of specialised training programs from Tiny Tots Program and after school programs, part time programs all the way to our comprehensive Full-Time Program. ADA specialises in nurturing the individual talent and needs of each of the students in a caring and supportive environment. ADA graduates have been accepted into prestigious ballet and contemporary schools all around the world, including: Alberta Ballet School, Ballet De Catalunya Trainee, Brussels International Ballet,…

GRADUATE STORIES Studied: Amanda Bollinger Dance AcademyPresently: Royal Swedish Ballet. What is your best memory of your full-time dance studies? The whole experience is one unforgettable memory for me. Every day brought growth in me as a person and a dancer. It’s hard to define one exact moment, however, I remember the sense of accomplishment when my teacher Miss Amanda entrusted me with the role of the “Princess” in the Prince of Persia piece that we did. I was still quite young and did not expect to be chosen for this role, however, I know she saw the dancer, the determination and the dreamer in me. What is the main overall lesson you learnt? You need to know you love what you’re doing and couple that with grit, so when…

Something I hear repeatedly from dancers is that they often feel more comfortable expressing their emotions on the stage rather than in class, practice and rehearsal. Do you feel the same? It can be extremely tricky to find a balance between hard, diligent work and joyful expression when you’re training. However, I find that when dancers sometimes feel a bit dull, or are struggling to enjoy dancing like they did when they were younger, it often comes down to this: when the pressure is on, and the hard work gets harder, and competitions and auditions are around the corner, it can feel more like pressure than joy. A simple and effective way of increasing feelings of joy and freedom in one’s dancing is to reconnect with the music. We mustn’t…

THIS landmark creation was first performed by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company at Cirque Royal in Brussels in 1994. It was novel and it was huge. Conceived for 15 dancers, and 90 minutes long, it was Cunningham's last collaboration with his creative partner, John Cage (who died before the work was realised). It was performed in the round, with the audience encircling the stage and an orchestra of 112 musicians encircling the audience, so they were "immersed" in the sound. As was typical with Cunningham, the choreography was based both on chance and on design: he used the random principles of the I Ching but he also intricately mapped out the stage and created 128 distinct movement phrases. The music and set design were created separately and added later. The…

Studied: Queensland Ballet Academy. Presently: Queensland Ballet Young Artist Trainee ‘24; Dutch National Ballet Junior Company 24/25 season. Did you learn anything unexpected about yourself through doing your full-time studies? I learned so much – but a stand out would be my capacity for growth, both artistically and technically. When I first went in at 14, I don’t think I realised fully what I was getting myself into; that my everyday goal was to get better, push for more, and how people’s expectations of me would grow with that. Not only this, but also that I had the ability to handle all of these aspects with maturity. I learnt that I definitely loved ballet, and it made me realise how much I dance for myself and not for others. How…

GRADUATE STORIES Studied: Tanya Pearson AcademyPresently: Slovakian National Ballet. ONE of my best memories of full-time dance studies was in my first year of training. My friend Ginger Hobbs choreographed a contemporary piece. I was lucky enough to be given a lead part and I will forever feel grateful for that. The sense of unity I felt dancing along with my classmates, who had become my family, was extremely gratifying. It’s an indescribable feeling. I made friends in first year who I will be friends with for many years to come. Even though we stopped training together we are still close and supportive of each other. The shared experience of moving out of the traditional school setting and embarking on a potentially life-changing journey to become a dancer is something…

Studied: The National Ballet School, St Kilda.Presently: Apprentice with Europa Ballett, Austria. What is the main life lessons you learnt through doing your full time studies? I learned to be more independent by balancing student life and “me” time with things I love (cafe hopping and baking). I also learned to open up to those who care about me because I understand that’s how I can get help. During audition seasons, I was feeling very anxious, to the point where my mental health was affected. I made the best decision by reaching out to my supportive coaches. I was able to gain back my confidence. Having a positive mindset when things don’t work out also helped me tremendously. As dancers, we often feel the fear of rejection. But once I…

GRADUATE STORIES Studied: Queensland College of Dance.Presently: Le Moulin Rouge, Paris. What is your best memory of your full-time dance studies? I still remember the feeling of pure joy after the curtains closed on our cabaret show, FOSSE. Out of the shows we performed, it was my favourite, and despite the sadness of it being over and the exhaustion we all felt, there was something truly special about that moment. We were jumping around on stage together, celebrating all our hard work. I had loved every second on stage that night, and realised then that performing is what I want to do! Did you learn anything unexpected about yourself during your full-time studies? Over my two years of training, I learnt that I am easily self-motivated and have a lot…