Next Steps offers Development program for aspiring career dancers
Applications Close March 10
Lion Heart Dance Company is moving into the professional dance development market with the launch this year of their new Next Steps program for a limited number of 12 selected dancers.
Under the guidance of the company director Benjamin Curé, Next Steps is aimed at professional development for early to mid-career dancers. With the goal of up-skilling the professional practice of these dancers, this unique initiative will provide the 12 selected applicants with the opportunity to learn and develop practical business skills in round-table style lectures. In addition, successful applicants will train alongside the company dancers, attend weekly master classes and collaborate on their own creative projects.
Next Steps has been specifically written for mid to early career dancers. It covers a wholistic range of content and has been carefully constructed to easily guide dancers through some of the trickiest aspects of operating as a business. Balancing physical training, creative projects and business-skill lectures, the course covers content such as:
- Understanding the psychological framework from which a dancer operates
- Training and maintaining physical peak physical condition
- Business basics – tax, superannuation, insurance and compliance
- Project planning – timelines, budgeting and follow-through
- Professional practice – professionalism, correspondence, CV writing and constructing expressions of interest.
- Networking, social media and branding
Dancers will finish this program equipped with not only the knowledge, but the resources, networks and skills to launch them towards their long-term success.
“The Next Steps program has sprung right out of Lion Heart’s vision to see the Australian dance industry fuelled with passionate artists and purposeful work,” said Benjamin Curé.
“The more I hired and trained pre-professional dancers who were graduating and stepping into the real world, the more I saw how lacking in basic knowledge they were about how to operate. I was hosting auditions and receiving atrociously written or completely bland expressions of interest, I had performers sending me incomplete or obscure invoices that I was having to then coach them through. It became a regular part of my work; mentoring and up-skilling dancers as I interacted with them. So to try and get to the root of the problem, which was educationally-based, and developed Next Steps as a bridging program or finishing Professional Development option for dancers who so sorely need these business skills.”
“The program is designed for dancers who have been working for a while or those who are just stepping in to the industry. I am looking for dancers with drive and passion who are ready to really invest in their career and not just float around waiting for jobs to come to them. I am looking for dancers who want to succeed but who are humble and teachable.”
Applicants must complete an online form and submit a dance video that showcases them at their best. Applicants are encouraged to be honest and open about where they are at and where they would like to be. Said Benjamin, “I’m not looking for a dancer who presents as being perfect, I’m looking for one who presents as ready to be pushed!”
Each of the 10 weeks within the program consists of 5 hours of practical dance training and 2 hours of lectures, occurring on Tuesday and Sunday. This structure is ideal for those needing to develop their skills while still maintaining their other ongoing commitments. Curé’s hope is that the leaders who are trained up through this program will go on to shape the professional landscape of the Australian dance industry in profoundly positive ways.
Our sponsor Energetiks is proud to support the emerging leaders of the dance industry by providing 2 half-scholarships, valued at $475 each, to assist two exceptional early career artists with attending the program.
Lion Heart Dance Company (LHDC), established in 2015, strives to connect the community with dance by “Creating art that moves the heart”. LHDC is not only committed to providing high quality dance performances that raise the profile of local artists, but to nurturing both young and emerging dancers/choreographers. The company achieves this through our Company Training Program, Next Steps Professional Development Program and community workshops.
Next Steps Program
Applications: Close at midnight on March 10th 2018
Program Dates: Tuesday March 20th – Sunday 27th of May
Contact Hours: Tuesday 10am-3pm & Sunday 1:30-4:30pm
Cost: $950 inc GST
To Apply: Visit www.lionheartdancecompany.com/next-steps-program
