A fresh wave is rising in the Australian commercial dance scene. New Zealand native Michael Ralph is fast becoming one of the most sought-after choreographers in the business. At just 27 years old his resume boasts choreographic achievements staggering for his age, demonstrating an impressive resilience in an industry that can be intimidating for young talent.
Ralph is the choreographer of Georgy Girl – the Seekers Musical, produced by Richard East and Dennis Smith. It promises to be the pinnacle of his career to date. In just 10 years he has transitioned from choreographing his school production in Year 11 to creating the original choreography for the world premier of an Australia-made musical.
Ralph trained in dance from age four at the Dance Education Centre NZ in Tauranga. Sensing his potential, his high-school drama teacher at Otumoetai College asked him to choreograph the school production of Fame – The Musical. “She must have seen something in me and thought it would be a good opportunity,” Ralph reflects. He maturely navigated his first attempt at ensemble choreography with ease. “That amount of responsibility at that age seemed natural; I felt very comfortable in that position” he says. A passion was ignited within Ralph for the “bigger picture” of musical theatre: “The whole experience invigorated me.”
Shortly after, Ralph set his sights on moving to Melbourne to kick-start his career as a performer. In 2007 he completed the Certificate IV in Dance Performance at Danceworld Studios and commenced his professional career that same year in Cats as Pouncival/understudy.
After three years, Ralph began to choreograph professionally alongside his career as a performer. One of his earliest successes was at the 2012 Short Sweet + Dance Festival where he won “Best Choreography” for his ensemble piece Project Elvis. Ralph described the piece as exploring the "lust, loneliness and love of youth in the 1950's”.
To showcase his choreography to the industry and create more opportunities for himself, Ralph devised a self-conceived dance show. In 2013, his NOW & THEN played at Gasworks Theatre in Melbourne from March 21-23. The three-part show was Ralph's first full-length production. Choreographed, produced and funded by Ralph, he put all of his personal finances on the line.
The show opened to excellent reviews and was the catalyst for a quick succession of jobs. Humble in his success, Ralph contends: “I’m very good at delegating and getting a great team of people around me. If you are smart enough you’ll realise that and then the show will be better for it.”
Ralph was approached in 2014 by Gary Young (director) and Lynne Ruthven (casting director) to work on a two-week workshop for Georgy Girl. At that stage, they had already completed a workshop reading and were ready to develop the show with movement. Ralph jumped at the opportunity to participate in his first workshop as a choreographer. Young had seen Ralph’s choreography at a performance of Pippin that Ralph invited him to in 2013, having worked as a dancer in Singing in the Rain earlier that year for The Production Company which Young directed.
The workshop culminated in a presentation at the Dance Factory studios. A large audience consisting of industry people and The Seekers themselves came to see if the Georgy Girl idea was viable. Ralph remembers it vividly: “Some (people) were crying because the music meant so much to them.” The workshop was a success and the show was picked up.
After a whirlwind year of back-to-back projects, Ralph asserts, “This (Georgy Girl) is what my year has been leading to, this moment. It’s extremely exciting that people are going to sit down and actually have no idea what they are about to watch. That does not happen often in Australia.”
The process of creating a musical theatre piece requires a heavy emphasis on the storytelling motive behind the work. Ralph understands that “as choreographers we aren’t just there to give you ‘five, six, seven, eight’, we can help the directors show something they want using bodies and space in a way that they might not think about it. The challenge for me, which I’m excited about, is how to make the 60s feel new and interesting and specific to the context of the scenes. If you come from the idea first then I think you get a better result.”
Not one to shy away from a daunting task, Ralph craves the personal development that challenge brings. “I feel so much pressure to be good, I definitely feel that and I’m an absolute perfectionist. One day in that rehearsal room at a time and we’ll get there eventually.”
- GEORGIA DAVIS
'Georgy Girl – The Seekers Musical' opens in Melbourne on December 15 and in Sydney in April, 2016.
This article first appeared in the Dec 15/Jan 16 issue of Dance Australia.