Ausdance Act Youth Dance Festival is giving a powerful voice to students

Posted on 1 September, 2022

As you walk into the Erindale College dance studio, the air is filled with a sense of freedom, spontaneity and rich imagination. And as the music begins to play, so does the magic of this student-driven dance festival.

Reimaging the theme of transience and permeance, this year Erindale students hold tightly to the theme of the duality of love, intersecting candidly with 650 students from across the ACT. Their vastly different interpretations of this year’s theme and unguarded creativity will take the stage at the Canberra Theatre Centre from Monday 5 until Tuesday 6 September.

These talented youth are understandably excited to perform on a non-digital platform and connect with other schools previously limited by COVID. And as Erindale Dance teacher Michelle Skerry explains, this year’s festival is filled with youthful exuberance and nervous anticipation as they get ready to bring their hard work to a live audience.

“Dancing in front of an audience is a hard deadline, and that deadline doesn’t move for anyone and in this age group that’s a really important lesson for them to learn,” she says.

“But they are all super excited to be sharing and coming together as a group. They haven’t had many performances as a group—for some of these students, it’s their first time performing on stage in this festival.”

For the dedicated dance teachers involved in Ausdance, this performance presents them with a unique opportunity to take a step back, give students space and allow creativity to unfurl without their influence. It’s a compelling legacy of this festival that places meaning, power and trust in its students.

“I’m a facilitator,” says Michelle. “They come up with all the choreography, but I am there to support them. The theme was a tricky one for them to grasp and redefine as something that they connected with. So, we did lots of brainstorming around that and I threw some ideas around so they could create work that means something to them.”

These collaborative discussions have been transformed into deeply moving performances, and as I took a glimpse at the performance by the students at Erindale, I was in awe of how this synergy of love came to life so effortlessly.

With united turns, passionate leaps and unshakable confidence, a palpable sense of self rippled throughout the room.

Jake Keen, a final year student at Erindale, is memorising to watch. He moves his body in a way that is effortlessly controlled and powerfully austere. As he reflects on his creative process, it becomes clear just how liberating this festival is for students.

“Dancing at this festival is much different to dancing outside of school. It’s more about what you like, the composition side of things, and it is very creative as opposed to when you go to dance in the afternoon. Obviously, it’s really good for training but it’s very much a routine. I love coming into school and being able to create.”

Within the environment of Ausdance and the gentle encouragement from his dance teacher and dance mentor, Jake has discovered a passion for choreography—an organic process that almost feeds itself.

“When I choreograph, I listen to the music over and over again to really understand it. I get a sense of the beats, the lyrics and the underlying message—then I just improv. That’s how I get the movement, and I work off that.”

As Jake’s artistry makes its way on stage, it will weave into this beautifully shared narrative from students across the ACT. But perhaps, what steals the spotlight is the incredible transformation they have all undergone, something Michelle has witnessed first-hand.

“I see a lot of growth in them, particularly because we start in Year Ten here. Sometimes they  come to us feeling like they’re super confident and then they get into the room with 20 other dancers that are amazing at what they do, and they’re like, ‘Oh, I’ve got so much to learn’.”

“But by Year 12, they feel strong enough to share their voice and opinion in front of the class, and they can feel confident enough to teach a whole combination that they have just created. That’s really beautiful to watch.”