Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Ballet student Catie Elliott dreams of being a professional dancer, but from her home town of Darwin, top-flight ballet classes seem a world away.
“You see it all on social media, and you think that would be so cool if we could go do that,” the 17-year-old told AAP.
An Australian Ballet outreach program is visiting the Northern Territory for the first time, with workshops and access to pre-show rehearsals.
Students also attend the company’s touring production of The Nutcracker Act II, with performances in Darwin and Alice Springs.
Australian Ballet choreographer and repetiteur Paul Knobloch, along with two company dancers, take students through some ballet fundamentals, before teaching sequences from The Nutcracker.
“It’s super important because unless you’re in big cities like Sydney and Melbourne, dance is pretty hard to get to sometimes,” said Knobloch.
“The fact we can come to these communities can inspire not only young dancers, but also young theatregoers.”
The Australian Ballet does not have any current dancers from the Northern Territory, and nor have there been any in recent times according to the company’s records.
For students like Catie, who started at four years old, a professional career most likely means leaving the Top End.
She trains at one of the two main ballet schools in Darwin, Leisa’s School of Dancing, which has been running for 26 years.
Owner Leisa Jackson says ballet requires skills built up over a lifetime, and she tries to be realistic about dancers making it professionally.
“You have to really be sure you want to do this … it’s not necessarily about how amazingly skilled you are,” she told AAP.
“It is such a hard industry to get into, you don’t ever want to build up hope where there would be none.”
Knobloch choreographed the production of The Nutcracker Act II playing in Alice Springs on Friday and Saturday.
The former soloist and principal artist grew up in Canberra, and recalls he was 16 before he realised dancing could be a real job.
His advice for young dancers is to chase their dreams, regardless of where they are from.
“Anything is possible if you believe enough and with hard work, determination, dedication, you can make it happen,” he said.
The Let’s Dance program is also visiting Albury, Ballarat, Horsham, Mildura, and Adelaide.
