Kidz Blog with Emmanuel O’Kane

Thirteen-year-old Emmanuel O’Kane dreams of becoming a ballet dancer when he grows up. He recently travelled down from the Blue Mountains to attend our Contemporary & Lyrical Extended Workshop at our Ultimo Studios these summer holidays.

We caught up with him to ask what he’s learned in class so far and what he loves about dance!

 

I’ve always loved to dance and move around. I started tap lessons when I was six and started classical ballet lessons last year when I was twelve.

I love ballet the most. I love the graceful movements and its ability to tell many different stories.

I love how you’re able to tell a story through dance. I love how dance also involves acting and emotion. I love pretty much everything about dance!

Probably classical music since ballet is my favourite dance style.

I’ve learned how dance can come from many different places. Two of our teachers, Josef Brown and Jason Winters, were teaching us about how breath is important in every single aspect of dance. For example, you breathe in and push away from gravity. Josef Brown was also teaching us about using counter-balance in dance. The classes have been fun! I have enjoyed the intensity of dancing all day and meeting the teachers.

Sydney Dance Company feels like a friendly artistic community.

I think that Sydney Dance Company gives young dancers like me an opportunity to train with very successful professional dancers and learn from what they’ve been taught, so they can teach us and we can hopefully become successful in our careers if we want to later become dancers too.

Most definitely!

A few questions for Emmanuel’s mum, Belinda:

After watching a production by Sydney Dance Company in 2018, Emmanuel was keen to connect with the Company and its classes. The great teachers of this workshop offer an authentic learning experience. Thank you!

The workshop in Emmanuel’s words has been “amazing”. Emmanuel has learned “lots of interesting things” including the importance of breath in dance.

Yes of course! The workshop days were extremely well organised and the staff are very friendly. We both felt welcome in the space and it’s been full of positive experiences for the students.

Our School Holiday Workshops are back from the 30th September – 11th October 2019 for ages 8 to 18 years