How old were you when you started dancing?
L : "I started dancing when I was 5 years old, my mum took me to my first dance classes run out of a tiny church hall & I did Jazz & Tap!" R : "I danced around a bit at home, with the influence of my mum, but I never took classes really until I was 14 - Break Dance and Hip Hop."
Tell us about your training. Where, who with, what styles etc?
L : "I grew up doing dance just for fun, I never knew I could pursue it as a career until I was finishing high school. I grew up doing Jazz, Tap and Ballet on the Sunshine Coast in QLD at Sunshine Dance Centre & Lea-Anne Grevett. Then I did full time training at Sunshine Coast Academy of Dance Arts, it was a tiny school there was only 5 students in my full time year!" R : "I grew up in Canberra doing Hip Hop/Funk choreography socially with a studio called Fresh Funk until I was 21! After a couple of trips overseas that had inspired me to follow dance as a career I moved to Melbourne where I spent 2 years training, working and teaching before moving to Sydney where I am today. My training has come heavily from class environment, always taking from guest choreographers in Australia and when I travelled to overseas, as well as training through companies shows in both Melbourne and Sydney. I have worked hard in mostly hip hop and contemporary movement."
What was your first professional job?
L : "My first professional job was performing as Ariel in The Little Mermaid Show at Disney in Tokyo! It was such a surreal experience as the whole show was performed in the air above the audience. I had to train in aerial/harness work during the rehearsal process." R : "I think my first professional job was working as dancer with Paul Malek in Melbourne for his contemporary shows through Collaboration to Project."
What has been a favourite on stage or professional moment?
L : "One of my favourite shows to be involved in has been Enter The Vortex by The Dream Dance Company which was choreographed by Sarah Boulter. I learnt so much as a dancer, teacher & choreographer from Sarah and the show was so incredibly physically demanding I really loved that challenge and spending the year touring that show with some of my closest friends." R : "My favourite experience on stage was performing in Project Home on the Gold Coast. The creators of the show, Larkin Poynton and Chris Martin, are two of my favourite people and choreographers from America. They created a film in Iceland, then created a show that was performed after an audience watched the film, and did this in several countries around the world. I was lucky enough to be part of the Australian cast and it is a memory I'll never forget."
What do you wish you had known as a young dancer that you know now as a professional, or what advice to can you give to young dancers in training?
L : "There's time! I see so many people giving up on dance quite early on if things don't happen for them straight away & I think that is such a shame. The best things that have been happening in my career have been in the past two years and I've just turned 30. I think its important to know that there is no one path to having a career in the dance industry, there's no right or wrong - your career can be literally anything you desire it to be." R : "I would agree with Lucy, that there is time. I started late and it hasn't been until the last couple of years that I really feel I have found my purpose and true passion within dance. Also, to continue to follow what you love within dance - there are so many paths in which to take and there is nothing stopping you from even creating your own."
What advice would you give to dancers who want to become professional?
L : "My best advice would be to surround yourself with people who support you & your dreams. I think its invaluable to build a support network and a community around you that can keep you inspired & support you through the highs and lows. That is one of our main missions that Rob and I have been focusing on through our work with One Dance Collective. I think being a dancer is such a tough career choice but if you are surrounded by like-minded people it makes a world of difference with not feeling isolated during the harder times & keeps you inspired to continue developing yourself as an artist." R : "My best advice would be to listen to you heart and follow what it is that you love within dance. I see so many dancers following or working towards what they perceive to be the path of a professional dancer, to then turn around and question it all. As I said, there are many avenues, but as you go through and experience all there is, feel and understand what brings you joy and what brings purpose to it all. What I love most about dance is human connection & the ability it has to heal. If I got back to when I started dance, it was about how it made me feel, and the people I got to share it with. For dance to be my profession with the same intention from which it started, that is incredible, and possible."
What does 2019 hold for you?
L : "This year Rob and I are continuing to run our weekly program More Than Movement in Sydney & Melbourne. This project has been so life changing for us & we adore the community of dancers we are so fortunate to work with each week. We plan to travel this year also! We are doing a big trip through Canada, America & Europe. (Also going to Hawaii because I am obsessed with Dolphins & want to swim with them there!) Aside from that we do have a show that we are looking at putting together later this year...more on that later!!"
R : "What Lucy said :)"
Rob and Lucy have performed/appeared in or choreographed for The Dream Dance Company, One Dance Collective, Justin Bieber, Rita Ora, Dance Boss & Eurovision and will teaching at VDF 2019.