Dancers reflect on Professional Intensive 2019

Coco Wood: I am 18, originally from Melbourne and I trained at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School for four years. Then I moved to the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London and got accepted into third year where I am currently in now.

Katherine Whale: I am 26 years old, I have studied all around the UK and I finished my masters in London with the Laban Dance Company. I just finished my dance teaching training and now I’m trying out different intensives.

James (Jimmi) Michael Ferguson Jr: I’m originally from Florida. I trained there for a couple of years before moving to Cincinnati Ballet where I was a trainee for two years. Then I went to Melbourne City Ballet for two years where I was a company dancer, and I’ve just come back from a contract with Tokyo Disneyland

Professional Intensive participant James (Jimmi) Michael Ferguson Jr.

Katherine: Dance touches people in a lot more ways than language can, and it’s helped me grow from being a shy kid to a confident person. It brings people together.

Jimmi: I love the community about it – being in the same room as other people, doing the same movement, moving and connecting in the same way.

 

Jimmi: I’ve loved the level of support from the teachers. They are encouraging us along our own journey and that environment is great. I also appreciate that along with the high level of support, there is a lot of challenge. They’re always pushing us to do things that might be out of our comfort zones.

Coco: I really loved Lucas Jervies’ improvisation and creative classes, because he comes from an acting background. It was something different to what I’ve done before. It was interesting learning about the Pre-Professional Year, as it’s about learning and growth and developing yourself. It’s nice to hear that those dancers are working on that everyday.

Katherine: Coming here, I realised that the Company is all about growth – there is no hierarchy. We are all on a different journey, everyone can improve, and everyone is learning from each other. That environment has been great to learn in.

Professional Intensive participant Coco Wood.

Jimmi: For me, the repertoire was hard. There’s so much detail and so many things happening at one time! The quality of steps and the dynamic was challenging and fun, and once you got it felt like such an achievement.

Katherine: It was a fast-paced process, which is how Juliette described it. It was nice to experience that. The teachers were able to bring their experience and advice to the sessions as well. It didn’t feel like you couldn’t do it. The teachers would say, yes it’s fast, but you’ll get it!

Coco: All the phrases were so different in quality and varied in style. I liked that we could put our own style on it as well. They asked us how ‘we would do it.’ We saw the performance and it was amazing to see the Company dancers – how fast and focused they were.

Q. What has been the benefit of having a diverse group of people in the Intensive and how have you connected with them?

Coco: It’s been great to get to know so many people from such a variety of backgrounds, and finding out where they’ve been and where they want to go. I felt like it was easy coming in here, because even though we didn’t know each other at the start of the week, once we started talking it was so great to make some wonderful connections.

Coco: It’s been great to get to know so many people from such a variety of backgrounds, and finding out where they’ve been and where they want to go. I felt like it was easy coming in here, because even though we didn’t know each other at the start of the week, once we started talking it was so great to make some wonderful connections.

Professional Intensive participant Katherine Whale.

Jimmi: Having (Head of Training) Linda Gamblin talk to us about healing through dance has been eye-opening. Before coming to the Intensive, I was in a hard place with dance because it is challenging and sometimes it really gets you down. Being here and learning from Linda has given me the opportunity to find my own way through it.

Coco: It shed a new light on being open minded. We are so often told what to do and how to do it, but Linda reminded us that there are other ways of doing things that are still good. It’s been a very safe environment – I felt comfortable trying new things. There’s no judgement, and that has been very apparent throughout the whole week with all the teachers, students, staff and dancers. It’s been a really good learning environment.

 

Jimmi: I think this Intensive has sparked something in me to keep going with my career. I felt uninspired for a long time and this week has brought a fire and passion back. With all of the support I’ve received here, I am going to embody the experience and share it with friends and seek opportunities where I can share dance.

Katherine: I’ve wanted to travel for a long time and dancing has always been a part of my life. I didn’t know anything about the dance scene in Australia, so this was an opportunity for me to get to know more about the dance community here. This week has inspired me, and I want to do more and travel and always keep dance a part of me and be more involved within the dance community.

Coco: I would love to do a pre-professional program here or get a Trainee position in the Company. I would love to further my knowledge and one day join a company.