Chapter 2 - Tasdance Visited
As I sat in the departure lounge in Melbourne before boarding the plane to Launceston, I tried not to notice the flannel, the unnaturally red faces, scraggly hair, missing teeth and the accents. You know the one. I was surrounded, and I knew they were all getting on the plane with me.
Naturally, I made a big deal out of nothing. The flight was as easy and quick as any other Virgin Blue flight and there were no goats, sheep, cattle or poultry of any kind wandering down the aisles. Then came the ride into town on the shuttle bus, and that’s when I fell in love with Launceston. Rolling green hills, grazing animals, cute little cottages and chilly European weather. I felt like I was back in the UK.
Two weeks have gone, and I can say that I have had nothing short of a wonderful experience here in Tasmania. Maybe I should start with my primary reason for even venturing to this forbidden state, which is plagued with myths of two-headed people and evil rodents who take the name of the dark one. (I saw neither of these things, though I would have loved to see the latter).
Tasdance.
Unknown to myself, I had planned this secondment very well, because I got to spend a week with each of the choreographers that the company was working with for the season. Upon my arrival, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they didn’t take any of the three boys from the audition but took two girls instead. It made me feel a little better about myself. The first choreographer was Francis Rings, who is an Aboriginal/German woman with the cutest baby in the world. Her style of working was a little unfamiliar to me, but I grew to understand it by the end of the week. It was also good for me to see how the company worked with her, how they responded and how much of themselves they gave in each rehearsal. Being a dancer is hard work. I’m sweating even thinking about it.
The second choreographer was Anton, whom I’ve met but never worked with before. He’s just a little ball of energy who just shakes up the whole studio. I was so happy to finally work with him. I’ve heard that he can be hard to deal with, but I didn’t find that at all. He never once made me feel intimidated (even though I felt totally hopeless at throwing my body all over the place), and he gave me so many helpful pointers and advice that will certainly aid my professional development. I was also glad to hear that I wasn’t the only one struggling with his hardcore movement. When I thought I was doing badly, one of the company dancers would mention that they were feeling the exact same thing. It’s just a style that needs getting used to.
The company itself is just full of loveliness. Every single person made me feel warm and welcome and just took me in like a mother cat takes its kittens. I found them to be very inspiring people, and just generally really dedicated and focused. I don’t regret coming to Tasdance one bit, and I hope I’ll be able to come back in the future.
I spoke to Annie, the AD, towards the end of my last week. Her verdict is that I’m a very good dancer and she was impressed with me but I’m a little too classical. So what else is new? I need some more experience, and some time to really find my contemporary body. At least she didn’t tell me that I’d never ever be a professional dancer. I’d rather be what I am than to be an average contemporary dancer who can’t do ballet. I don’t think you will ever be able to take the classical dancer out of me. It’s just part of my definition.
Now I move onwards to Sydney. More specifically, Sydney Dance Company.
There are other things that have happened in the past week that will greatly impact and influence the remainder of my year and probably my life. I feel like I cannot yet mention it here as it may bring me unfortunate luck if I start counting my chickens before they are hatched. There will be more on this soon.
Naturally, I made a big deal out of nothing. The flight was as easy and quick as any other Virgin Blue flight and there were no goats, sheep, cattle or poultry of any kind wandering down the aisles. Then came the ride into town on the shuttle bus, and that’s when I fell in love with Launceston. Rolling green hills, grazing animals, cute little cottages and chilly European weather. I felt like I was back in the UK.
Two weeks have gone, and I can say that I have had nothing short of a wonderful experience here in Tasmania. Maybe I should start with my primary reason for even venturing to this forbidden state, which is plagued with myths of two-headed people and evil rodents who take the name of the dark one. (I saw neither of these things, though I would have loved to see the latter).
Tasdance.
Unknown to myself, I had planned this secondment very well, because I got to spend a week with each of the choreographers that the company was working with for the season. Upon my arrival, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they didn’t take any of the three boys from the audition but took two girls instead. It made me feel a little better about myself. The first choreographer was Francis Rings, who is an Aboriginal/German woman with the cutest baby in the world. Her style of working was a little unfamiliar to me, but I grew to understand it by the end of the week. It was also good for me to see how the company worked with her, how they responded and how much of themselves they gave in each rehearsal. Being a dancer is hard work. I’m sweating even thinking about it.
The second choreographer was Anton, whom I’ve met but never worked with before. He’s just a little ball of energy who just shakes up the whole studio. I was so happy to finally work with him. I’ve heard that he can be hard to deal with, but I didn’t find that at all. He never once made me feel intimidated (even though I felt totally hopeless at throwing my body all over the place), and he gave me so many helpful pointers and advice that will certainly aid my professional development. I was also glad to hear that I wasn’t the only one struggling with his hardcore movement. When I thought I was doing badly, one of the company dancers would mention that they were feeling the exact same thing. It’s just a style that needs getting used to.
The company itself is just full of loveliness. Every single person made me feel warm and welcome and just took me in like a mother cat takes its kittens. I found them to be very inspiring people, and just generally really dedicated and focused. I don’t regret coming to Tasdance one bit, and I hope I’ll be able to come back in the future.
I spoke to Annie, the AD, towards the end of my last week. Her verdict is that I’m a very good dancer and she was impressed with me but I’m a little too classical. So what else is new? I need some more experience, and some time to really find my contemporary body. At least she didn’t tell me that I’d never ever be a professional dancer. I’d rather be what I am than to be an average contemporary dancer who can’t do ballet. I don’t think you will ever be able to take the classical dancer out of me. It’s just part of my definition.
Now I move onwards to Sydney. More specifically, Sydney Dance Company.
There are other things that have happened in the past week that will greatly impact and influence the remainder of my year and probably my life. I feel like I cannot yet mention it here as it may bring me unfortunate luck if I start counting my chickens before they are hatched. There will be more on this soon.
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