Richard Cilli tells Nina Levy about his journey to Sydney Dance Company, away and back again.
On stage Richard Cilli looks like he was born to dance. His fluid, rippling style is eminently watchable. So it’s a surprise to discover that Richard Cilli, dancer was nearly Richard Cilli, lawyer. Perth born and bred, Cilli headed to law school at Murdoch University after graduating from high school. “It had never occurred to me that dance could be a career option for me,” he recalls.
It was performing with Steps Youth Dance Company (SYDC) that was the catalyst for change. Studying law by day and dancing with SYDC in his free time, Cilli started to consider the possibility of a career in dance. “The creative development periods, the performing and the mentoring I was getting from Danielle Micich [then the artistic director of SYDC] and the other choreographers… STEPS was like a lifeline for me,” he recalls. “I had to make dance my life. And so I deferred law.” Cilli headed to the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) to train in dance. “I thought, ‘I’ll try this for one year.’ That was the proviso that my father let me do it on.”
Whilst his parents didn’t disapprove of his change of direction, it wasn’t what they had expected for their son, says Cilli. “During third year, my dad came to see us perform an excerpt from Garry Stewart’s Birdbrain and he was like, ‘OK, obviously you’re all right, so you’d better work really, really hard.’ I think there were a few expletives in there. That was great for me because I knew that I finally had his approval and he was motivating me to do my best.”
This is an extract from an article in the current issue of Dance Australia. Read the full article! Buy Dance Australia from your favourite retail outlet, or use our free app to purchase and download your copy, or make sure you receive every issue by subscribing here!