Alex Dellaportas is not your typical 20-year-old. She had just finished high school when she founded Spark Youth Dance Company, a not-for-profit driven entirely by young artists with the purpose of empowering them to tell stories through dance.
In its three years of operation in Melbourne, Alex and her team have produced a number of dance performances and smaller projects, including a short film. Their upcoming show Ariadne, premiering this September, brings together 23 dancers aged seven to 19 and a 35-piece professional orchestra to present a rather … unusual take on a classic Greek myth.
You always get asked to have a million degrees and so much experience on shows … I mean how do you get that experience in the first place? So we decided to offer the space for young people to fill the roles.
Speaking to Neos Kosmos, Alex explains how it all began.
“I started the company two years ago. I had just finished high school and found myself not really knowing what I wanted to do. Dancing has always been my favourite thing since the age of two and I kind of liked the idea of leading something, so I thought why don’t I do a production?”
She rallied a group of kids together and staged their first show, a version of The Nutcracker at the Frankston Arts Centre.
This initiative prompted her to identify a lack of places and opportunities for young people to create their own work and get involved in big dance performances.
“You always get asked to have a million degrees and so much experience on shows … I mean how do you get that experience in the first place? So we decided to offer the space for young people to fill the roles.”
From the dancers to the lighting and set designers, the team behind Spark Youth Dance Company is comprised entirely of creatives under 25 and a professional orchestra of post-uni students.
In preparation for every show, they audition aspiring performers from the area’s dance schools, with which they’ve established an ongoing collaboration and partner in organising workshops, while the company also runs a number of smaller projects throughout the year.
A central aspect of their work is bringing on board industry heavyweights as mentors or even contributors on productions.
“One of our big objectives is education, so we provide a platform for people who want to get involved in a big show […] and then we also connect them with professionals from the industry, as I know that’s hard for someone to do on their own,” she explains.
Taking on the personal task of approaching experienced professionals for assistance, Alex has managed to connect with the likes of the Australian Ballet’s chief conductor, Nicolette Fraillon for advice on shows, while acclaimed saxophone player and teacher at Melbourne University’s Conservatorium, Joseph Lallo has taken the role of mentor and music director.
The company’s contribution to the arts scene and local community has been acknowledged by businesses and organisations who helped it grow through sponsorships, while Alex has also personally funded some of the work herself.
Previous performances by Spark Youth Dance Company.
From 'Shelter', a short film produced in partnership with Headspace. Photo: Yanni Photography
The 20-year-old admits that being the artistic director of a dance company while simultaneously running a non-profit adds up to a bit more than a full-time job.
But what she identifies as the greatest challenge is finding a balance between learning from others and not being afraid of putting forward her own vision.
“Especially as a young person, it is hard to find the voice to talk to people who are older than me and already successful in the industry. Hearing them say ‘no’ to my ideas or ‘that’s not going to work’ I have to say can get really frustrating sometimes, because I feel that we are bringing out something interesting with our work.”
This fresh perspective comes from the participants themselves, who help shape each story told through dance with ongoing discussions before the production.
“We choose stories that have a deeper meaning to be learnt, because we’re working with kids and it’s really important to be able to teach them about a history, a culture or something about themselves.
“Then we build up the performance like a film mapping all the scenes,” she says, explaining that emotion is easier to translate into movement than words.
The same approach has been followed for their upcoming work Ariadne.
“We especially talk about how they [the dancers] can relate the characters’ story to their own life. For Ariadne we talked about how she goes on this journey of learning to trust herself […] and how by killing the Minotaur she almost kills a part of herself she doesn’t like, and that’s a really big thing for teenagers to learn.”
Instead of using the traditional version of the myth, where Ariadne, after helping Theseus to kill the Minotaur is saddened by Theseus abandoning her on the island of Naxos, the team chose to twist the story and retell it from the heroine’s perspective.
“We’ve gone with the story focusing on Ariadne as a woman who really wants to leave Crete and explore the world. A typical princess, she can’t really leave on her own will and so when Theseus arrives she sees this as an opportunity to escape. When she does get off the island and is abandoned, she actually realises she had all she needed for her life inside her the whole time and that everything happens for a reason. She reaches a realisation for her life and how she should continue forward.
“Somehow we ended up having a bit of a mental health reference in the story, come to think of it; it’s a very complex story,” she concludes with a laugh.
With her grandfather hailing from Lefkada in Greece, Alex recalls growing up listening to Greek myths recounted to her as a child. Now having the opportunity to work on a show based on that very mythology is a chance for the artistic director to pay tribute to her heritage.
“My pappou was always the one to tell me crazy stories; [he] read books to me to introduce me to big ideas. So I thought that for this year’s show I should honour that,” she reveals.
Asking the young creative where she sees herself in five to ten years from now, the response is one of ambitious plans in the field of choreography. But she is quick to add that regardless of what the future holds for her, there is one non-negotiable.
“I want to make sure that whatever I’m doing I’m happy and listening to myself, doing things that I enjoy and love not worrying about what other people think.”
Catch ‘Ariadne’ at the Frankston Arts Centre (27/37 Davey St, Frankston VIC) from 27-28 September. For more, visit sparkyouthdance.com.au/