Career path - Libby Rose Niederer

Libby-Rose Niederer
Jette Parker Young Artist with the Queensland Ballet
Training: Pre-professional Certificate in Dance and Queensland Certificate of Education with Queensland Ballet Senior Program and Kelvin Grove State College and Queensland Ballet Pre-professional Program.

I really wanted to start full-time elite dance training in a school with a ballet company attached while also being able to finish my secondary schooling -- Queensland Ballet Senior Program gave me both these options.

I auditioned at Queensland Ballet as I really liked the direction this company was going under Li Cunxin and I had been to their summer school and thought their teachers and classes were awesome. After my audition I was invited by Li to come and “get a feel” for the company and school -- my mum and I visited and this confirmed for me as the right place for me to go forward to achieve my goal of becoming a professional dancer.

The training I have received has been excellent -- I feel that all the teachers I have had have helped me so much to grow as a dancer. The opportunities to perform both individually and with the company on stage have been wonderful- I absolutely love to perform for an audience and while being in full-time training I have been able to do this and therefore grow so much both technically and artistically too.

Following last year in the pre-professional program at Queensland Ballet Academy I was thrilled to be chosen as a Jette Parker Young Artist, so now I am dancing full-time with the Queensland Ballet -- a professional dancer with a company that I love!

If I was to give advice to someone deciding on a course, I would say, look at the big picture! I considered where I hoped to perform so that my family and friends could still have the opportunity to watch me dance. However it was also vital that I selected a school that had that top-class training and a prestigious company attached.

This is an extract from the Full-Time Studies Guide in the August/September issue of Dance Australia. Buy the new issue at your favourite magazine retailer or subscribe here, or purchase an online copy via the Dance Australia app.