Dance Australia – June-July 2017

47

JUNE / JULY 2017 | WWW.DANCEAUSTRALIA.COM.AU

What is the process involved in applying for our top

ballet institution?Karen van Ulzen finds out.

AUDITION SPECIAL

UDITIONING for the

Australian Ballet School

mustbeascaryprocess–

right?Oneday–one

chance–forachildto

provethatheorsheistop

classical dancer material?

In short, no. Certainly,

the Australian Ballet

School (ABS) is the elite

ballet school in the country and classical ballet

hasstricterrequirementsofitsdancersthanany

other dance style. And yes, every year only a

selectfewarechosen.ButtheABSisnowa

broaderinstitutionthanitsearlydays,withits

Interstate/International Training Programme,

AfterSchoolProgrammeandsummerand

holiday schools as well as its Full-Time

Programme. There are many chances for young

pupils to access the School.

Tobeginwith,anyone(aged9-18years)can

audition, explains Marijke Franken, the

executive assistant to the artistic director Lisa

Pavane.“Nooneisturnedawayfrom

auditioningoncetheyhavesentinan

application form.”

Furthermore, says Irina Konstantinova, one

oftheSchool'smainclassicalteachers,“the

aimofthefirstauditionclassisforthepupils

to enjoy themselves.”

Butfirst,theaspiringballetstudentmustsend

intheapplicationform,includingphotos–one

facing front in battement tendu a la seconde,

theotherinsideprofiletothecamera,feet

parallel. Once the application has been

received,thepupilwillbeinvitedtoauditionat

theSchool'sannualNationalAuditionTour.

Thisinitialauditionclassiskeptsimple."The

classisdesignedveryspecificallyaroundwhat

wearelookingfor,”Konstantinovasays."Akey

focusisforthestudentstorelaxandenjoytheir

auditionclass.Weaimtogiveexercisesthatthey

arecapableofandwon'tgetfrustratedwith–

nothingverycomplicated.

“It's really dependent on the age of the

applicant.Forexample,withtheyoungestones

wesetsimpleskippingandrhythmexercises–we

arelookingattheircoordinationandmusicality

as well as their natural [sense of] movement."

Witholderchildren,agedabout12or13,she

says"welookfirstofallattheirstage

presentation, musicality and coordination and,

ofcourse,physicalsuitability”.

“Withstudentswhoare14or15yearsoldand

auditioningforthefull-timecourse,theclassis

alittlemoreserious.Itincludesbarrework,

centrework–portdebras,asimpleadagioto

see the line in the air, simple pirouette exercises,

someallegrotoseetheir'push',andashort

waltzenchaînementwheretheycanshow

expression and demonstrate their natural

movement and sense of dance quality.”

The class goes for roughly an hour, and is

followedbyaphysicalscreening.Forexample,

the candidate will be asked to do both front and

AUDITIONING FOR

THE AUSTRALIAN

BALLET SCHOOL

Irina Konstantinova with a
youngstudent: ‘Welookfor
a sense of dance quality.’
PHOTO: SERGEY KONSTANTINOV