Week 1 Wrapped!Our first week in the studio has flown by! A big thank you to our wonderful Ballet Collective Aotearoa choreographers; Sarah Knox, Cameron McMillan, and Loughlan Prior who have given us such inspiring tasks and movement vocabularies. Thanks also to resident photographer Sarah Davies and to L.O.D studios for giving us studio space to start cooking our Homemade Jam. Here are a collection of our favourite images from Week 1! Photography: Sarah Davies, Sarah Kaye Photography Honor Christian-Slane | DANCERBallet - Ever since I can remember, music has always made me want to dance. My favourite Ballet would have to In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, by William Forsythe and/or any ballet performed by Natalia Osipova; for instance her performance in Flames of Paris is just phenomenal.
Collect(ive) - I collect vintage clothes, but more specifically vintage jackets. But I can honestly say I am not a huge collector in general. Aotearoa - My favourite place in Aotearoa would easily be Wellington. This is the place I feel most at home and established. Wellington is the city where I realised exactly what I wanted to do with my dance career. Home - I grew up in the heart of Westmere, Auckland. Training - I began training at the Philippa Campbell School of Ballet from the age of five to sixteen. I will always be grateful to Philippa Campbell and Joye Lowe for their incredible training and mentoring. I recently graduated from the New Zealand School of Dance as a classical major with a Diploma in Dance Performance, 2019. Highlights - A highlight in my career so far would have to be when I went to the Prix De Lausanne to represent NZSD in the Choreographic Project, 2019. It was this experience that made me realise I wanted to pursue a contemporary ballet career. Favourite Jam - My favourite jam isn’t… I don’t hate it and I don’t love it. But my favourite music jam at the moment would be Sunflower by Mall Grab. Photography: Sarah Davies, Sarah Kaye Photography WILLIAM KEANE JUNG-YING FITZGERALD | DANCERBallet - DANCE! Dance for me gives me the means to express myself, where all else fails or falls short. My favourite works are Infra by Wayne McGregor and The Lady of the Camellias (the Marcia Haydee version) by John Neumeier
Collect(ive) - I collect books. I love reading and I love the physical sensation of a book. The way they inhabit a space creates a warmth, but also an electric energy. The worlds they contain; it's endless and all waiting to spill forth. They're alive. My favourite book right now is Insomniac City by Bill Hayes - so intimate and tender, everyone should read it. Aotearoa - My favourite place in Aotearoa is the carpark at the Waitomo caves. Go at night, bring a blanket, lay down with those you love and bask in the stars - some of the darkest skies I've ever seen. Roots - I'm from all over. Of Chinese/Malaysian and 2nd fleet Australian convict comes a motley-looking, racially ambiguous, boy from Newcastle, Canberra and Wellington. I'm definitely a water baby and promote the cathartic energy of salt water. Training - Kim Harvey School of Dance gave me love, support, encouragement and inspiration. New Zealand School of Dance gave me strong technique in both classical and contemporary dance. Highlights - Dancing 'The Main Guy' in William Forsythe's In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated; becoming a part of such a long-standing and living legacy is awesome! Favourite Jam - I'm not a huge jam person. I prefer raspberry over strawberry. I really don't like strawberry jam. Fig is nice. Musically (right now) Lonely Cities by Tigertown and (all time) Softly We Go by Evenings. Photography: Sarah Davies, Sarah Kaye Photography It's Ballet Collective Aotearoa's first day in the studio here in Wellington! Our eager and talented dancers have been soaking up fresh new ideas from Homemade Jam choreographers Sarah Knox and Cameron McMillan.
Photography: Sarah Davies, Sarah Kaye Photography |