For World Ballet Day 2021 - we have asked senior artist of the The Australian Ballet and BWB Board member Valerie to share her pointe shoe prep…
Q&A - Alice Topp-Australian Ballet's resident choreographer
In 3 words what does dance mean to you?
Soul in motion.
2. Favourite ballet to dance?
William Forsythe’s In The Middle Somewhat Elevated and Wayne McGregor’s Infra, and Jiri Kylian’s Petit Mort...and...and.. I just can’t pick one!
3. Do you believe that ballet is a readily accessible art-form?
I believe that dance is a universal language. People all over the world dance when they feel joy or when celebrating and it’s a universal way of connecting with others. Body language a big way of expressing oneself. Ballet can sometimes be trickier for people to relate to and understand but I believe most of the time it’s just that ballet is misunderstood as a form of art just to be appreciated by an elite group of people. Most ballets speak of common themes relating to the human condition - love, loss, joy, tragedy, passion - something everyone will experience in life and can connect with. And most people have a love for music! So I think it’s just about dispelling the theory that ballet is only tiaras and tulle!
4. What is a typical misconception about ballet that you would like to set straight?
I think when people think of ballet they believe there’s so much focus on the aesthetics - being a particular height, weight and look and having certain physical attributes and facility, like highly arched feet etc. Being a ballet dancer is SO MUCH MORE than that! You are not just a sum of your parts! To be a ballet dancer you are first and foremost an artist, a storyteller. You also require incredible mental strength to deal with the pressure of demanding schedules, relentless touring, injury and retaining countless counts and repertoire! Being a dancer requires great athleticism, strength and endurance as a performer as well as discipline, determination and commitment to get to that level. It’s so much more than “the look.”
5. What are you reading right now?
The Resilience Project by Hugh Van Cuylenburg
6. 1 thing that most people dont know about you?
That I’m a big country kid and if I’m not in pointe shoes, I’m in Blundstones.
7. Ballet without Borders aims to allow children from disadvantaged backgrounds to experience ballet- if you had ultimate power for a day what would you do to make this happen
I would make sure every child had the opportunity to see a live performance at a venue for free. We’d fill theatres around the globe with children who’d never experienced ballet. It would be 24 hours of shows and we’d make sure children from all regional and rural areas were able to travel to their nearest venue to witness a show and meet the performers. If I had ultimate power beyond a day, I’d make sure they had access to free classes and dance education forever more!
8. Favourite ballet to watch?
Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room
9. If you could go back to a point in time in your life, what advice would you give yourself?
I would tell myself not to be afraid to take up space. Not to be afraid to be different, unique and imperfect. To have courage to be seen and heard and to be unapologetically honest as an artist and human. As perfectionists, we are always spending so much of our careers self-critiquing and comparing our journey to others, but it’s all over so quickly, and you want to enjoy the short time you have! Don’t spend it wishing you were this or that but celebrate you and your unique gifts. No one else has that to offer!
10. You have been given an elephant! You cannot sell it or give it away, what do you do?
Sadly I think it would be too big for my apartment!! I’d have to find it some land which I might turn into a wildlife conservation where we could educate people from a young age to appreciate the world and all it’s inhabitants and cultivate compassion and empathy for other living things.
Story of one of our sponsored children-Daniel
Hello Readers,
During our Penrith workshop in April this year, we spotted a talented young boy and had the opportunity to sponsor him to go to his local ballet school, Glenbrook Ballet Academy.
Daniel loves ballet. He loved our workshop so much that he tried to teach his sister some moves! He has since sat his first Royal Academy of Dance primary ballet exam.
‘'I was so excited to hear that Daniel had won a scholarship from you. He came back from the class he took so inspired and ready to take on the ballet world.
Since then he has gone from strength to strength and has been working so hard for his Primary ballet exam. He really is such a talented young boy with so much promise and potential. He has incredibly strong legs and feet and beautiful turnout and he loves to jump, all the traits for a ballet master in the making.”
-Miss Ilona, Daniel’s teacher at Glenbrook Ballet Academy
We are so proud to have been able to support Daniel in his love of ballet and look forward to following Daniel’s ballet journey.
Workshop Success-Penrith
Hello lovely readers,
I am pleased to announce that our first ballet workshop in Penrith was a success with another one to be run in conjunction with PCYC during the winter school holidays in July.
Our lovely students learned ballet basics such as common ballet positions, turns, jumps and interesting ballet facts. We also ran a nutrition session sponsored by Harris Farm and had some lovely goody bags to hand out at the end of class.
Thank you to all the students and my two wonderful teachers, Mitch and Sharyn for making this day so wonderful!
xx
Katia
