Table of contents for August-September 2018 in Dance Australia

I S it important for a dance student to take choreography as a subject, even if they have no ambition to be a choreographer? There a few reasons why I would answer “yes” to this question. For starters, it is commonplace for dancers to be asked to contribute to the creative process when making new work with a choreographer. And those who teach – in any capacity – will almost certainly choreograph, whether it be class work or a piece for students to perform. Recently, however, I came across a new perspective to add to those two. At the time of writing this editorial, I had just seen West Australian Ballet’s “Genesis”, a regular season in which the company’s dancers try their hands at choreography. After the performance there was…

Here’s a sneak-peak of what you can do to maximise your dancing potential: Create your rhythm Eating regularly throughout the day can maximise your energy, recovery and growth. Regular breakfast, lunch and dinner is a good starting point. Including snacks in between to top-up your fuel can lead to more efficient training and optimum performance. Enjoy a variety of foods with high nutritional value Eating from the five food groups daily ensures adequate nutrition for your body. These include: wholegrains; vegetables; fruits; fish/meat/nuts/beans/eggs (protein); and calcium-rich foods (e.g. dairy, soy). Hydration is also important! Aim to drink 6-8 cups of water a day. Dancers don’t diet Dance is a beautiful form of art expressed through the dancer’s body, mind, and spirit. Too often dancers are tempted to “cut out” certain…

SOME things never seem to change. Little girls will take up ballet and be adored by all. Little boys will take up ballet and be bullied and ostracised. No matter the claims that as a society we have become more open-minded, more educated about the arts, more civilised and cultured, more accepting of minority interests, boys continue to suffer if they choose to take up dance, particularly classical dance. It’s little wonder that the numbers of boys doing ballet remain pitifully low. According to research by the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD), only 1.8 per cent its exam candidates are male – though the proportion rises to around 4-6 per cent at the higher vocational graded levels. In recognition of this statistic, the RAD has established Project B, an initiative…

Based in Perth, Emma Sulley is a postgraduate sports and musculoskeletal physiotherapist and certified clinical Pilates practitioner, with over 17 years experience treating dancers. Her experience includes working with local and international dancers and dance schools, musical theatre practitioners and circus schools and companies. She also has extensive experience working with international-level athletes, most recently at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. Emma can be contacted at The Valley Physiotherapy (www.thevalleyphysiotherapy.com) or Body Logic Physiotherapy (www.bodylogicphysiotherapy.com.au). THE VALLEY PHYSIOTHERAPY 45 Montreal Street, White Gum Valley, WA, 6162. Phone: 0410 616 727 BODY LOGIC PHYSIOTHERAPY 215 Nicholson Road, Shenton Park, WA, 6008. Phone: +61(08)9381 7940…

Jordan’s top tips for YouTube success #1. Great content doesn’t mean choreographing the best routine ever. Great content is a captivating video, filmed well, in focus, with great audio that people will want to watch over and over. #2. Consistent uploads will let your audience know that you are serious, and help train and gain viewers to your channel. #3. Confidence goes a long way. The Internet can be a cruel mistress. My advice when it comes to reading comments is to not let it get to you. Upload videos for yourself and not for the haters.…

Bangarra Dance Theatre DARK EMU SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE JUNE Bold, thought-provoking and a little hard to follow. BANGARRA Dance Theatre’s new production Dark Emu is a bold and thought-provoking work based on the ideas explored by Bruce Pascoe in his book of the same name. Published in 2014 and the winner of the 2016 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, Pascoe’s book has garnered attention well beyond literary circles. Key concepts are that the hunter-gatherer tag applied to precolonial Indigenous people was not just incorrect, but wilfully misleading; that the evidence for this lies in early written accounts by a range of colonial explorers; and that the colonisation of Australia had devastating and far-reaching environmental impacts, overturning the balance of custodianship, respect and care for the land that had existed for thousands…

Dear Emma, I’ve become so used to wearing warm up layers during classes and rehearsals that I’ve grown nervous about taking them off and revealing my body. What do you recommend? – 19 year-old pre-professional male ballet dancer, SA. Dear Dancer, You’d be surprised at the number of your colleagues who also struggle seeing their bodies next to naked in the ballet studio with that unforgiving mirror glaring back. Once upon a time we were more modestly clad, so hours in front of the glass were not so confronting. (For a good example as to how our dress has changed, I recommend you watch the Royal Ballet’s Youtube video Ballet Evolved: How ballet class has changed over the centuries.) I don’t think it is a coincidence that as our studio…

IT’S “normal” for female dancers not to get their periods, or for them to be irregular, right? Actually, no. It may be common, but we would not regard it as “normal.” There are multiple reasons why hormone balance is extremely important for your overall health, particularly for dancers. In this, the first of a three-part series, we’ll be taking a dive down into the whats, whys and hows. There are a number of different reasons a female can can lose her menstrual cycle. For dancers, the most common of these is called hypothalamic amenorrhea (pronounced “hy-po a-men-o-ree-a”) or HA. There are a few other reasons, but for this edition, let’s explore this common presentation. Why do periods go missing? In HA, signals that are supposed to be sent out by…

SEÁN Martin Hingston packed his dance bag and left Australian shores, bound for Broadway, in ’92. While looking to perform on a Broadway stage, his bigger dream was to work with the teams developing new Broadway shows. A quarter of a century later, with an enviable string of performance, film and television credits to his name, Hingston shares his recent experience of working with award winning director/ choreographers Susan Stroman and Andy Blankenbuehler on workshops of their respective new shows, Little Dancer and Only Gold. “I came here to make musicals from the ground up,” he muses. “That’s my passion. When you do that you get to add your ideas to the overall creative process and story-making. By being involved with the workshops or pre-production you become invested in a…

Thinking about studying dance full-time? Then this is the publication for you. Inside this guide you will find the outlines of more than 80 courses, from private schools to government tertiary institutions. Dancing from dawn till dusk is of course every aspiring dancer's dream, but full-time studies are about exercising the brain as well as the body. Most dance courses include not just classes in dance technique, but academic subjects as well. As you will read within, these enrich and deepen students' understanding of their chosen artform as well as equip them at practical levels, such as teaching safe technique and wellbeing. They also widen students' possibilities should they choose not to go into performance but into one of the many associated careers instead. We have also included accounts from…

I WAS born and raised in Melbourne and grew up training at some of Melbourne’s most prominent dance and theatre schools. In my earlier years I trained at Centrestage Performing Arts School. During high-school I entered the elite program at Patrick Studios Australia (PSA) gaining tuition in all dance styles and musical theatre. The intense and disciplined nature of this course was exceptional preparation for the rigorous school environment I was soon to encounter. After completing VCE I moved to Manhattan, New York, in February 2014 to begin my full-time studies at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in their musical theatre program. It is a fast-paced course that covers significant content over two years, and a high level of achievement and professionalism is expected of each student. However,…

Where are you from and where did you undertake your full-time training? I’m from Paynesville, Vic, and trained at the National Theatre Ballet School in (Melbourne). What level of education had you attained before beginning your full-time training? VCE year 11, then I completed my year 12 certificate through Distance Education Centre Victoria while beginning my full time training. Was it a big change to move into full-time studies? Yes it was, it meant that I left all familiarities behind to move from the country to the city, to change schools, to live away from my family and friends. It was a change that taught me to grow up fast, to become an adult and take on new adventures, discoveries and experiences. It was a chance to learn more about…

THE Royal Academy of Dance is holding a “pop up” event in Sydney in September, with plans to bring the dance floor outside and give the public a taste of its latest initiatives – and a chance to have a go themselves! With ballet demonstrations for the over 55s, performances from young RAD dancers and open ballet classes for boys, there will be something for all. The pop-up event will be the official launch of Silver SwansTM , branded ballet classes for the over-55s to help improve mobility, posture, coordination and energy levels and impart the sense of well-being that dance brings. Also on display will be the Academy’s latest classical ballet program, Discovering Repertoire, with variations performed by local RAD students. This new performance-inspired program gives students the opportunity…

1 REGISTRATIONS OPEN Sydney’s competitive dance festival, Sharp Short Dance, is back to unearth the country’s best young dancers and choreographers and will be held at Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, from November 13 to 17. Registrations close October 18. www.danceaustralia.com.au/news/sharp-short-dance-returns 2 SEE THAT DOLL! The Australian Ballet has announced that it will be taking Coppélia on its regional tour, starting in Horsham on July 18 and finishing in Darwin on August 23 and 24. www.danceaustralia.com.au/news/australian-balletregional-tour-announced. 3 RISING STAR: JOSH GREEN In a relatively short space of time young dancer Josh Green has burst onto the international ballet competition scene, writes Catherine Paine. Two things make Josh different from most of his competitors... www.danceaustralia.com.au/artists/rising-stars-josh-green…

LUCY Guerin Inc’s masterful double act, Split, is one of two productions to be on show at the Sydney Opera House’s “UnWrapped” season in August. This initiative is a biannual program featuring some of Australia’s most acclaimed contemporary performance works. Split features sharp, elegant choreography performed by Melanie Lane (see p.12) and Lilian Steiner – one clothed and one naked – framed by ever-diminishing dimensions of space and time, with escalating intensity. Steiner was awarded a Helpmann for her performance in the premiere season at Arts House in Melbourne, and the show had critics raving at Adelaide Festival earlier this year. Sydney audiences will have the opportunity to see the show before it tours to the Darwin Festival and internationally to venues across Europe, the US and…

Dubbed the “Man With The Iron Neck”, 20th century circus star, The Great Peters, jumped off bridges with a rope tied around his neck only to live and tell the tale. Embodying life and death, The Great Peters ultimately promises onlookers the impossible. Recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that suicide rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples is more than double that of non-Indigenous Australians. The stories behind these confronting figures are told in Man With the Iron Neck; an emotional new work from Australian physical theatre company Legs on the Wall in a world premiere for Brisbane Festival. Based on Co-Director Josh Bond’s family history, the new work addresses youth suicide in Aboriginal communities through the story of three Indigenous siblings from a small…

Amy Harris Senior Artist, Australian Ballet I don’t think it’s a bad thing to start ballet class with layers on but I do think those layers should come off during class. A dancer’s body is rather incredible and I find it truly fascinating how our muscles can change from the beginning to the end of a class. You will only notice this, however, if you have stripped back to the bare essentials and can see every muscle you are working Don’t be nervous and don’t hide behind layers. Let those layers be hair, make-up, costumes, on the stage and in character – the layers we add once all of the hard work is done in the studio.…

IN today’s social media powered world, online popularity is key. Australian dancer Jayden Rodrigues has harnessed the potential of this platform through his YouTube channel, which now boasts more than a million subscribers, placing him in the top echelon of Australian YouTube creators. This online notoriety has not only allowed him to share his own choreography with a worldwide audience, but has earned him roles as ambassador for the Just Dance game franchise, and as a spokesperson for Google, as well as opportunities to work on projects for Ubisoft and Warner Brothers. He has also been invited to be part of the line-up for VidCon 2018, which will feature top YouTubers and online video creators from Australia, New Zealand and the United States. I caught up with Rodrigues to find…

Hingston’s impressive CV includes Broadway credits such as Contact – workshops, readings, Broadway (Frenchman/Uncle Vinnie/Johnny); Promises, Promises (Mr Eichelberger), Curtain’s original reading then on Broadway (Bobby Pepper) and Crazy For You (Wyatt). He has also performed off-Broadway, with credits such as Yankee Doodle Dandy (George M Cohan) – 5th Ave Theater; The Pirate (the pirate) – Prince Theater; Let’s Do It – Longwharf Theater; What A Glorious Feeling – Mason Street Warehouse and Little Dancer (Phillipe) – Kennedy Center. Movies credits include Center Stage, The Producers, Across the Universe, Beyond the Sea. And that’s not all! Head to http://seanmartinhingston.com/for his full CV.…

DANCE teachers in the vocational education and training (VET) sector have until April 2019 to upgrade their qualifications. Federal Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, Karen Andrews, announced the new training requirements in 2017, commenting on the need to “boost the credentials of those providing training and assessments in the VET sector”. New units in the upgraded TAE40116 training package include “Design and develop assessment tools” and “Address adult language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) skills”. Any trainer with the old TAE40110 wishing to work in the VET sector (including those delivering any course from Certificate I to Advanced Diploma level) is required to complete these two units by April, 2019, or, thereafter, will need the full new TAE40116. Australian Dance Institute (ADi), a leader in education for dance teachers…

“During the final stage of my course students created audition DVDs to send to international schools.” MY name is Maddison Faye Weiley and I am currently 18 years old. I am from Newcastle, NSW, and I began to dance when I just three years of age. At first it was definitely just for fun and a sport to do after school, but over the years, as I gained more experience on stage, I soon fell in love with the idea of performing and being in front of people on stage. As a teenager I attended a local performing arts school where they offered not only the academic side but performance opportunities with the school. As time went on I was asked to attend the National College of Dance (NCD) to…

“Distance education taught me a new way of self-discipline which ... is vital for evolving in dance.” MY name is Hannah Nash and I am currently in my first year of study at the English National Ballet School. While I have been living in London for the past year, I’m originally from a small country town outside the Blue Mountains, in rural NSW. My full-time journey began when I was 14, and attended a RAD workshop held by Hilary Kaplan and Archibald McKenzie of Alegria Dance Studios (as I was preparing to sit my Advanced Foundation exam). At that point, I knew I would someday like to transition from regular study into full-time dance training, and was already doing 20 hours of dance a week at my local ballet school.…

“Besides time for class and rehearsals, I also learnt a lot about staging and production and making props.” Where are you from? I’m from Mie, Japan. Where did you undertake your full-time training? National Theatre Ballet School in Melbourne. What level of education had you attained before beginning your full-time training? My second year of high school. Was it a big change to move into full-time studies? Yes, it was. I got used to living without my family very quickly but I struggled with language. It was very hard for me to not be able to understand what my friends and teachers are saying, especially in rehearsals. And I wasn’t able to have conversations with them. So I sometimes felt alone. What were the most important benefits of your studies?…

“I had seen fellow dancers start at a much younger age, so I knew I had hard work to do, but was also glad I was mature and ready...” I AM from Sydney. I was born in Denistone, but now my parents have moved to Mona Vale which is “home” for me now when I visit Australia. I did my full-time training at the Conlan College of Classical Ballet. I had been attending high school at Marist Sisters College Woolwich previous to starting full-time. In Year 10 I began a transition stage where I did ballet at Conlan for three days a week, and two days at high school. When I started full-time at Conlan I then studied Year 11 through Sydney Distance Education high school. I had completed RAD…

“Full-time studies provided me with a strong foundation in classical technique and repertoire but also an array of classes...” Current job/position? I’m completing my 2nd Year at the Royal Ballet School, London. Where are you from? Melbourne. Where did you undertake your full-time training? I studied full-time at the Australian Conservatoire of Ballet from the age of five. What level of education had you attained before beginning your full-time training? I entered the Conservatoire’s specialist half-day program at the age of thirteen. At the end of that year I gained my Certificate IV in Dance and was then offered a place in the two-year full-time program. During that time, I kept up my academic schooling for Years 9 and 10 via Distance Education Victoria. In 2015, I was awarded my…

“... you have to have a lot of discipline to keep up your schoolwork on top of your ballet training.” IN September, 2017, I took the opportunity to further my full-time ballet training by farewelling my family and my life in Australia and moving to Glasgow, Scotland. I am currently studying as a second year student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS), where I will be receiving a Bachelor degree in Modern Ballet at the end of the three year course. Due to a direct entry into 2nd year, I am expected to graduate in 2019. It has been an amazing experience with many ups and downs. In January this year, I developed a foot injury that challenged me to stay positive even though I felt like everything was…

“I’ve always known [dance] was what I wanted to do and was lucky enough to get lots of information from mentors and friends.” Current job/position: Dancer/performer on board Royal Caribbean’s ‘Grandeur of the Seas’ . Where are you from? Melbourne. Where did you undertake your full-time training? Transit Dance, in their performing arts stream. What level of education had you attained before beginning your full-time training? I successfully completed Year 12 at Melbourne Girls College prior to commencing full-time. I did not have any dance qualifications before commencing my full-time studies aside from having completed and successfully passed all of my ATOD Jazz exams. Was it a big change to move into full-time studies? It wasn’t really, purely because I was so used to having the structure and the schedule.…