Page 10 - DANCE 2020 Full Time Studies Guide

Full-Time STudieS Guide 2020
Follow your passion
Full-time study means being
surrounded by peers and Cencouraged by teachers.
ameron Holmes grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney, but moved to the inner west when he became a selective
dance student at the Newtown High School of the Performing Arts. He completed Year 10 before moving on to full-time ballet at the age of 17 at the Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy under the direction of Lucinda Dunn. He loved being surrounded by “passionate peers” and “encouraged by talented teachers who believed in me”.
“That, with a supportive family, enabled my ability as a dancer to flourish,” he says.
While in his second year of full-time, he was awarded runner-up at the finals of the Sydney Eisteddfod Ballet Scholarship. He also won the Cecchetti International Ballet Competition in Italy and fulfilled a BBM (Big Brother Movement) Youth Scholarship, attending company classes in the UK.
“The Australian Ballet was always my company of choice and on my return in late 2017 I was offered a contract with the
company’s Story Time production. At the conclusion of this contract, I was thrilled to be asked by artistic director David McAllister to join the full company and did so officially in 2018.”
At times he struggled with adjusting to the work load. “Full-time ballet dancers train eight hours a day, six days a week,” he explains. “When you’re in a ballet company you are responsible for your own work load and must prepare yourself for the upcoming repertoire.” Nonetheless, the experience has been “amazing”, with performances all over
Australia and an international tour to China in just his first year. “Every day I feel humbled to be surrounded by so many talented dancers and still live in my home country.”
Looking back to his student days, he says he now better understands the absolute importance of artistry. “In the words of Martha Graham: ‘Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion’,” he says.
ABOVE: Cameron Holmes: artistry is all important.
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10 | AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2019 | WWW.DANCEAUSTRALIA.COM.AU