Tafe SA’s Adelaide College of the Arts dance graduate Lisa Lonero will be spending the next three months in South Africa, participating in a secondment with Debbie Turner, the Artistic Director of the Cape Dance Company based in Cape Town.
As part of the placement program, which has been supported by the Helpmann Academy, Lisa will undertake daily dance classes with members of the company, interacting and exchanging ideas and methodologies with students, professional dancers and South African choreographers.
“As a neo-classical dance company, the classes will focus on both contemporary and classical dance,” Lisa says. “The secondment also offers the possibility of performing in the company’s 2010 season, as they are staging six performances from November to celebrate their 15th anniversary of operation.”
Lisa was invited by the Cape Dance Company to perform with them for their 15th anniversary season, as she was one of the group’s founding members.
“I began dancing with what is now the Cape Dance Company at the age of 14, when it was still a Youth Company. I was with them between 1994 and 2005. Having recently established a dance collective here in Adelaide myself, it seemed like a wonderful opportunity to have a look into how the Cape Dance Company is run and how their dance projects come to fruition.”
During her upcoming secondment in South Africa Lisa may also have the opportunity to audition for an American choreographer who is staging a well-known dance performance with the Cape Dance Company over the next few months.
Upon her return to Adelaide in December, Lisa is planning on conducting a dance workshop at AC Arts, sharing with dance students some of her South African lessons and experiences. She will also be keen to apply her knowledge to her recently-formed dance collective, Vision4Dance, featuring fellow contemporary dancers Jo Naumann and Rebecca Bainger.
The Helpmann Academy for the Visual & Performing Arts assists emerging artists to make the leap into professional practice, by providing a range of programs and opportunities including exhibitions, awards, grants, mentorships and international exchanges.
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