Marko Panzic has become one of Australia’s most sought-after choreographers and creatives in recent years after hitting our National consciosness in So You Think You Can Dance series one! Here we chat to Marko about the amazing year he has had so far …
So tell us about all of your travels around the world this year…
Its been a dream come true! Its been really cool to go to Europe, ive always wanted to go to work there… so that was definitely a tick off the bucket list to be a part of Eurovision! Its one of those things that you see as a kid and hear about all the time, so it was just AMAZING to be a part of that!
Absolutely! How did that all come about?
I got called by a production company that I had worked with before about 5 years ago down in Melbourne. When they called me and said they were putting things together I straight away said “I’d love to be involved, I will definitely do it!” They then said that they were meeting with Jess (Jessica Mauboy) and I was thrilled because she is a good friend of mine! So yeah, they met with Jess and she got the job! It was one of those things that just worked out, because the production company didn’t know we were close and that I was her regular choreographer so… it kind of worked out as a bonus! It was just one of those meant to be situations and it was really cool!
What were the highlights of being over there?
I’ve never seen a stage like Eurovision in my whole life… the sets and lighting and everything is a $20million production! It was actually incredible, my mouth was literally on the floor!! It was 30 days that I was over there working so I got to do some cool things… I got to work with different dancers and meet new friends and to see how the professionalism of how the show is run is so incredible and inspiring. Also seeing Jess go through her performance preparation, coming from Australia and being a big Icon to being in Europe where not many people know who Jess is was quite amazing. It was kind of cool to be able to go out to dinner a lot and be more in the public because in Australia she is very well known so a lot of people will stop her in the street and things.
For Eurovision there was 180 Million people watching the show! So just to have all eyes on you in that circumstance, for Jess it was just really full on! To have that confidence to do that, it was just such a proud moment! Its like the Olympics of music! This was the first time Australia was really waving their own banner, not under another country. It was kind of a funny thing, when you’re abroad and see anything Australian you are automatically so proud of what we have here in our country. There was something quite emotional about being Australian and being represented in a European country. Jess was definitely the perfect person for this because of her Aboriginal background as well. So to see the Aboriginal flag and the Australian flag being flown, it was just something really special to be involved in! I think the thing I will remember the most about that experience is being proud and the specialness of the circumstance!
What was your role beyond being Jess’ choreographer?
I had to do all the creative side, so there was Jess’ performance but also a short performance before it as well that I had to put together. There was also a documentary that we had to film, so we documented all the amazing experiences we had. That was really cool… we actually got to see the culture and go out and experience it! It was like a really, really cool paid holiday! There was a lot of hard work with all the creative side of things that I had to do but there was also a lot of time to appreciate the experience which was amazing!
So now on to The Voice and The Voice Kids, what does your role entail?
I am still the performance producer as I was last year on The Voice & The Voice Kids. I work as part of a creative team. This year we will be calling on a other choreographers as I focus more on my producing role, its nice to give other choreographers the opportunity to put there work out there on T.V. I really want to push myself further and hopefully get more into film directing or some other kind of directing further than just choreographing. I think I kind of got a taste of Europe and I’d love to get more work there and see where it all takes me. So possibly a move to Europe may be on the cards which is exciting, I am ready for a new challenge in life.
What’s next for you after all your work with The Voice and The Voice Kids?
Currently, there are too many things in my brain! So much I want to do! I want to travel the world, but that probably won’t happen just yet. I think next I want to put on another show. I’m really looking into something like that. Just brainstorming at the moment what I want to do, but I really just want to create some work for the talent that we have here. It will be good for me to invest some money on something that will inspire! Then after that Australian Dance Festival will come up and then… its never ending, always a project for me to do. Right now im just asking myself “what do you want to do” and really thinking about and going off that!
