Canberra’s dance talent UNVEILED in new community project
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Canberra’s vibrant dance industry ground to a standstill in March, as COVID restrictions put a halt to classes.
The following months saw studios reinvent themselves—moving to virtual classes, engaging their students in video projects when competitions were no longer possible, and live streaming shows that had usually taken place in packed-out theatres.
For many elite students—whose focus is usually on training to perform set choreography for eisteddfods—these pivots made them think about their art form in a different way. And now an exciting new dance initiative is taking that to the next level.
Suzy Piani and Bonnie Neate are professional choreographers and dance educators, heading Dance Central’s Elite Troupes. Having worked together for a number of years, they’ve become particularly known for their strong and sculptural contemporary routines.
Now they’re collaborating to present UNVEILED—a “deconstructed and contemporised interpretation” of the traditional ballet, Giselle.
“The UNVEILED project is a community-based six-month project culminating in two performances of a full-length (60-minute) contemporary dance work, and we are sourcing dancers from across ACT and surrounding areas,” says Suzy.
The project is aimed at students across the ACT performing a high level of contemporary dance—not just school age, but young adults who are beyond the age of competitions but still have a real passion for dance.
Bonnie says the project is aimed at showcasing what ACT dancers are capable of; also giving them an insight into what the pre-professional world of dance is like in the contemporary genre.
“We saw the need with not only our own dancers, but also looking across the board in Canberra at those dancers who have the skills to do something like this, and there’s not much opportunity for them to really get their teeth into something like this,” she says.
“For those kids that want to look at dance as a career, it lets them experience doing a full length work— often you have your students at the studio who are used to doing maybe three-to-five minute routines. UNVEILED will put them into the space of dancing for much longer period of time, so they understand the stamina and all that comes with doing a full-length work.”
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UNVEILED has been inspired by the classic ballet piece Giselle, first performed in Paris in 1841. The ghost-filled ballet tells the tragic, romantic story of a beautiful young peasant girl who falls for the flirtations of a deceitful nobleman, Albrecht. When the ruse is revealed, the fragile Giselle dies of heartbreak, and Albrecht must face the otherworldly consequences of his careless seduction.
“The classic ballets actually have really good, sometimes dark stories, which lend themselves to more contemporary themes and interpretations We’ve pulled apart the plot a bit to make it a bit more modern, explore modern themes and ideas, and we’ll put all of that through movement,” says Bonnie.
Looking at the traditional through a modern lens is echoed in the community approach to this project. Rather than look to cast the project from existing Dance Central students, Bonnie and Suzy will be reaching out to studios across the ACT.
“Their commitment is just purely learning and doing all the repertoire, for four hours a week with us, but we expect that they stay for the duration of this project at their current studios, doing their current class training,” says Suzy.
“We want to highlight not just one small business, but to help many studios get recognition. We want to bring the Canberra dance community together, to foster the network—because, at the end of the day, we all want our students and our dancers to succeed. In whatever they do, we want them to put their best foot forward.”
And in an industry where competition is often the focus, coming together to create something beautiful is rather special.
“This is a passion project,” smiles Bonnie.
“It really is for the love of dancing and performing,”
Auditions for UNVEILED will be held from 7 pm to 8.30 pm on Monday 14 December at Dance Central’s studios in Phillip. Find out more at dance-central.com.au.
