Full-time training: New Zealand School of Dance
Presently: Corps de ballet dancer with the National Ballet of Canada
What advice would you give to someone considering pursuing full-time dance studies at the school you attended?
As a dancer and a person, you go through many changes during full-time training. Three years is a significant amount of time at such a formative age. You will meet people from all over the world and learn things about yourself that you simply haven’t yet had the time or freedom to discover, both in your personality and your dancing.
You might feel a little lost sometimes, but the path to your future isn’t a straight or simple one. I would advise any young dancer to trust the process, and the great training and support available to you at the New Zealand School of Dance (NZSD), and to follow the curves and bumps in the road as you work towards fulfilling your potential.
You will not emerge from full-time training the same person you were when you began. This is one of its greatest gifts, so be malleable and open to your own evolution.
What is your best memory of your full-time dance studies?
I always enjoyed the performances that were put on for the public. Being able to perform in front of an audience with my closest peers and develop that performance muscle was invaluable.
If I had to pick a favourite, it would be my third-year Performance Season, the All Loughlan Prior Programme. Five works by one choreographer. It was incredibly demanding work, particularly his pieces Storm Surge and Time Weaver. I cherished the opportunity to work with him and his movement, and the rehearsal process really gave me an insight into what a professional day would look like: juggling multiple pieces, all of high intensity and technical demand, throughout the day for weeks.
It’s still some of the best conditioning my body has experienced, and it served as a great jumping-off point for my professional career.
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