BALLET
BUSINESS
Jade-Lea Halkier Picture courtesy of Jessie Bird Photography
Jade-Lea Halkier Picture courtesy of Merirous Blyton
Auditorium De Palma Pas de deux Picture courtesy of Merirous Blyton
Jade-Lea Halkier Picture courtesy of Jessie Bird Photography
Dance industry
routes
“The intake into dance colleges grows every year”
There are many routes into a career in dance, depending on which genre or style. Young ballet students could begin full time training at at White Lodge, continue onto the upper school, then a place in the company, as did prima ballerina Darcey Bussell. Every dancer must follow their own path available to them in whichever style is their focus; ballet, musical theatre, contemporary or jazz.
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Jade-Lea Halkier (22) wanted to dance ever since her first ballet class at the age of three; “I always knew I wanted to be on the stage from a very young age, there was no question about it. Then I saw ‘Wicked’ when I was sixteen in London and it was that show that made me think; that’s what I have to do in my life, this is it. But, ballet is where it all stems from,” she says smiling, sat up tall showing perfect posture from years of training.
“It was only because my best friend was living in Chiswick near ArtsEd college I went to summer school there for two weeks. Little did I know it was one of the top five colleges in the UK.”
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WHO
Jade-Lea Halkier
WHERE
London
WHEN
March
2020
Jade travelled from Spain - where she was living with her parents - for the intense training at summer school and discovered a world she wanted to be a part of. Surprised and inspired by other dancers that were auditioning at all musical theatre colleges in London, she said: “Where I was living all I knew was my ballet school, I had no idea that musical theatre colleges existed.” Jade enquired and applied to audition and was successfully offered a place at several. Finally at eighteen she moved to London to begin full time training at Urdang Academy.
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“I learnt a lot about the industry—didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into—I was exposed to so many new things; singing, acting, different dance styles, all thrown at me in one year,”says Jade.
Jade-Lea Halkier
“I learnt a lot about the industry”
“I learnt a lot about the industry—didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into—I was exposed to so many new things; singing, acting, different dance styles, all thrown at me in one year.”
“Some teachers had amazing careers and you learn from their experience. But also now freelance training, I learn so much being in classes full of professional dancers it’s such a different feeling; I think ok they’re my competition they’ve been in the industry for years and they’re going to show up at the auditions, I have to be as good - if not better - than them.”
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It’s become fashionable to dance; there are so many TV shows bringing all styles to new audiences and inspiring a new generation. Competition is immense; 100% dedication is essential.“The industry is overly saturated, there’s so many of us,” Jade said. “Open calls at ​Pineapple and Danceworks have queues around the block. There are more dancers with good technique because the intake into dance colleges grows every year; in my year we started with 97 - and that’s a-lot - before the maximum was 50 each year.”
“The industry is overly saturated, there’s so many of us.”
Leap of faith
Dance isn’t a career for the faint-hearted; both talent and hard work are needed alongside absolute determination and persistence to overcome every rejection, and approach every audition with confidence. Self-motivation and discipline to keep improving are necessary—dancers never stop training to maintain a finely tuned instrument always ready for any opportunity, no matter which style, although ballet is the fundamental foundation of technique for every dancer.
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Training for and breaking into the industry is the first stage of a rewarding career. It requires ambition, commitment and preparation - and a little bit of luck and instinct. Dancers must always be ready to jump - literally. The right place at the right time, and as in the performance… It’s all about timing; when everything comes together the magic happens - as with Darcy - and that's when you know you’re on the right path.
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