These days many dancers are making the brave leap overseas. Expats Australians are making their mark across many areas, and particularly in Los Angeles, such as Sharni Vinson (Step Up 3), Shannon Holtzappfel and Zac Brazenas.
But once you arrive in LA where do you start? Sally Hare, who performed in Fame - the musical as well as Happy Feet 2, recently returned from two months of intense training. She shares some of her experience with you here:
“If you’ve ever contemplated travelling to LA to train as a dancer, then go. There’s a world of dance over there that I had previously only seen on YouTube and have now experienced first hand.
“Dancing evolves. If you’re not in class, you don’t have your finger on the pulse and you’re left behind. Watching a video isn’t the same as being there and learning about how your body moves. I discovered something new about myself every class I did in LA. I did around three to four classes, a day, with the odd day off to be a tourist – and I was there for two months. That’s a lot of learning.
“There is so much diversity in LA. There are at least 15 classes in each style to choose from across a few different studios in one day, and they are all packed full of people from around the world who are there for the same reasons you are. Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio, Millennium Dance Complex, Edge Performing Arts Centre, International Dance Academy, Movement Lifestyle – you really do have you choice.
“Individuality is encouraged over there. Learning the steps isn’t an achievement: it’s what you do with them. Choreographers encourage people to create something new, make the choreography their own, tell a story and come from a real place. The musicality of some dancers I watched in class blew my mind. When you are hearing a sound in a song that you didn’t hear before simply because the dancer you are watching has picked it out and done a move to it, you know they are special.” . . .
This is an excerpt from an article by Sally Clark in the Aug/ sep issue of Dance Australia. OUT NOW! Or see our special DISCOUNT subscription offer on this website so you never miss out on a single issue!
