As Bangarra Dance Theatre prepares for the world premiere of “Blak”, which opens in Melbourne at the start of May, Dance Australia caught up with two of the company’s newest members, Nicola Sabatino and Beau Dean Riley Smith.
Nicola Sabatino
For Nicola Sabatino, there was no question of doing anything but dance, once she started training full-time at the Australian Dance Performance Institute (ADPI). “I knew I wanted to pursue a dance career a year or so before I started my full-time training. Amanda Searight, my dance teacher at the time, said ‘you should go for it’, so I did. Once the training started, it had become a reality and I knew one way or another I would dance. I am glad I took the initial leap of faith because despite the tough times I can't imagine doing anything else.”
After completing two years at ADPI, Sabatino continued her training at the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA) Dance College, where she was mentored by Graeme Watson. “While I was studying at NAISDA Dance College, we were told that we could pick a mentor,” says Sabatino. “I wasn't sure who I would choose but our Horton technique teacher Graeme Watson approached me and said he would like to mentor me. Three years later, I'm still harassing him for advice and the occasional recipe. Graeme broke down a lot of misconceptions I had about my body and dance and was a giant support for me. I consider him one of the great revelations of my training and dance career so far.”
Since completing her studies at the end of 2011, Sabatino has had some fantastic professional engagements. “I was super lucky last year,” she remarks. “I was fortunate enough to meet and work with a lot of inspiring people last year, all of them wonderfully knowledgeable and very generous. I especially enjoyed performing Tammi Gissell's Feather and Tar; a cabaret of sorrows and had a cultural and spiritual awakening in "Diaphanous" by Ochre Contemporary Dance Company. It was an amazing first year after college.”
The second year is proving pretty good too. “Being a dancer at Bangarra is very exciting, the creating and touring has been amazing,” reports Sabatino. “Life in a company is very different to what I've experienced freelancing and I am enjoying it very much. We toured Spirit to Vietnam within my first two months of joining the company; it was a very busy and intense time but extremely exciting. We're now preparing "Blak" to tour. I'm looking forward to performing in front of audiences at home in Australia.”
Above: Nicola Sabatino (second left) with the female ensemble in "Spirit". Photo: Greg Barrett.
Beau Dean Riley Smith
Beau Dean Riley Smith wasn’t planning to become a dancer, initially. His first qualification was a Certificate IV in theatre from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). “During my HSC I decided that I wanted to possibly have a career in the arts as an actor,” recalls Smith. “I had no theatre or high school drama training so I went to my careers teacher and told him my situation, he advised me that there was this course at WAAPA for Indigenous people. I sussed it out and made some phone calls and next thing I remember I was on the plane heading to Perth into a world that I had absolutely no idea about. It was a complete spontaneous decision made on the impulse and memory of what my drama teacher told me when I was in year 8 - ‘Beau, you should really think about being serious about acting, you’re a natural.'"
It wasn’t until the end of the course that Smith considered studying dance, and even then it was only something he imagined would be an adjunct to acting. “I was near the end of my course at WAAPA and I had planned to audition for various other institutions to further my studies in acting,” he says. “My acting teacher also told me about NAISDA Dance College and that I should also try audition there as a backup plan. I told him I had no desire to dance and I had no training in that art form. He replied, ‘It’s just another skill for you and your tool-box. This way if you’re unsuccessful you can still develop your craft and re-audition next year.' I never really thought about it in that way. I was unsuccessful with all my auditions except for NAISDA. I thought I would only stay for a year, but during my time studying dance my desire and passion for this art form just grew stronger and stronger and I ended up staying and completing my studies at NAISDA.”
Smith hasn’t looked back. Whilst still at NAISDA, he performed in Tammy Gissell’s Velokoskey’s Affair, at NIDA, Vicki Van Hout’s Briwyant at Woodford Folk/Dreaming Festival, Queensland and Imprint at Garma, NT. In 2012, he danced for youMove Company at the Sydney Festival and performed in Feather and Tar – A Cabaret of Sorrows choreographed by Tammi Gissell for "Blakdance 2012" as part of his industry secondment.
Most recently Smith toured nationally in Vicki Van Hout’s acclaimed work Briwyant and also performed an exerpt at the 2012 Australian Dance Awards. “Being in the production of Briwyant was a fantastic experience and I was extremely lucky as the national tour was a part of my secondment through NAISDA,” says Smith. “It was such a privilege to be a part of that work. For me Vicki is paving the way for, not just indigenous dance but Australian contemporary dance, her artistry is so fresh and innovating. The highlight for me was just to be a part of that work, I remembered seeing the work when it was in its Sydney season and I came out blown away and was just thinking I want to be a part of that. Later on in the year I was approached and offered to be a part of the national tour. It was just exciting to be working with Vicki and seeing her process in terms of dance composition and how she has infused both modern dance and indigenous dance and now is creating a new dance vocabulary.”
Smith is thrilled to be dancing with Bangarra. “Life at Bangarra is amazing,” he says happily. “I never thought I would be in such a company dancing along side the people who are my inspiration, who I look up to, it’s crazy. I went through NAISDA having to study the company, and three years later I’m now in the company. It’s surreal to me and still shocks me. I’m just trying to absorb everything that I’m learning here in the company and take everything as it goes. I’m truly blessed to be working in a company with such a rich cultural history.”
Catch Sabatino and Smith in "Blak":
Melbourne 3-11 May, bookings
Sydney, 7-22 June, bookings
Wollongong, 17 & 18 May, bookings
Canberra, 11-13 July, bookings
Brisbane, 18-27 July, bookings
L-R: Beau Dean Riley Smith, Luke Currie Richardson, Waangenga Blanco, Leonard Mickelo performing in "Spirit". Photo: Roger Stonehouse.