Ballet Zurich, Switzerland.
I was born and raised in Australia but am currently a junior member with Ballet Zurich.
Auditioning for this company was my first. It was when Christian Spuck was first taking over the directorship of the company, so there were many eager dancers and a lot of nerves and excitement surrounding the whole prospect of the new potential opportunities!
I remember walking into the studio for the first time, seeing so many tall beautiful girls; I tried not to get distracted by them or be so nervous, as I really didn’t think I had any chance. The minimum height asked on the application was 169cm, so I knew the odds were against me as as I’m only 161cm.
I decided to just try and enjoy the day and be me. Being my first audition, I wanted to learn as much as I could from the experience. Funnily enough, height didn’t matter in the end, and I was offered a contract that very day!
A week or so later my friends were at another audition and overheard some girls gossiping about the jobs and contracts of the audition season so far. One of them said: “yeah, and supposedly Zurich hired a midget”. My friends said they had to smile and laugh to one another - “Oh my God, that midget is definitely Donna!”
This article was first published in the June-July 2014 issue of Dance Australia magazine.