Sidestepping Perth's cultural brain drain

by Stephanie Vanicek

April 16, 2007

TWO interstate dance students at the WA Academy of Performing Arts are helping to reverse Perth’s cultural brain drain.

Based on WAAPA’s reputation for producing quality dancers, Joseph Simons from Dubbo, NSW and Abbey Mitchell from South Gippsland, VIC made the decision to pack up and move west.

The two 20-year-olds have high hopes for the local dance industry. They share the same dream of bringing contemporary dance to the masses.

Both dancers agree the Australian dance scene is not nurturing enough for young contemporary dancers stepping into the field. They believe this has caused many talented locals to look overseas, in particular Europe, for better opportunities.

“While we do have a lot of well trained dancers,” Mitchell says, “we do not have the audiences to appreciate it.”

Simons believes Australia has a more sporting culture, compared to Europe’s rich artistic tradition. This, he says, has created a dance audience in the Old World.

“We need to create a reason for dancers to stay in Australia,” he asserts. “The health of dance in Australia needs improvement, but it will never improve if all our dancers leave.”

With the commercial success of reality TV knockout dance shows, both dancers believe the time is right to publicise their artform.

“Without a doubt, a show like So You Think You Can Dance has raised the profile of dance,” Simons says. “Whether people like it or not, they have now noticed it.

“It’s just like a controversial art piece. Whether it was good or bad, people still remember it.”

As a result, the two WAAPA dancers have joined together to create Visible Dance, a contemporary company they describe as a “marketing experiment for the dance industry”.

“Dance often has the ability to alienate the general public,” Mitchell says, “and I believe we will be able to use Visible Dance to communicate contemporary dance in a unique manner to an audience.”

The fledgling company has already secured the official patronage of Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi, who’s excited.

“It is a rewarding experience to become the patron of a new or young company,” she says, “knowing you are in some way enabling people to pursue their individual passions while providing something creative to the Perth community.”

Ms Scaffidi believes the WA dance industry is continually evolving, and hopes by becoming the patron of Visible Dance she might be able to share the spotlight with local arts.

As artistic directors, Simons and Mitchell will have complete control over the creative direction of the company.