Merimbula dancer Gabriela Green is bringing a creative dance environment, usually the domain of Australia’s big cities, to the young people of the Bega Valley.
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The 24-year-old Fling Physical Theatre associate artist is running a professional development program helping young dancers create sustainable careers in the region, after being awarded a Young Regional Artist Scholarship from Create NSW.
“I’ve pretty much danced since I was three, through my mum, and I haven’t stopped ever since,” she said.
The scholarship is allowing Ms Green to work with mentors, create a more experimental and professional environment for the region’s young dancers by drawing talent to the region, and help explore new ideas while connecting with the community.
“It allows me to find ways to help young dancers find work, create local ideas, and have support to do the research involved,” she said.
“I’ve always moved around a lot, and I love to connect with everyone around me and the community.”
One of her mentors, Melbourne based performer, teacher, choreographer and director Rebecca Hilton visited Bega over the weekend to run workshops with the company and watch a performance on Saturday night inside the Bega Indoor Sports Stadium.
Ms Hilton taught Ms Green and Fling’s co-artistic director Rob Rob McCredie at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, and is a close friend of Fling founding artistic director Lee Pemberton.
“The students really enjoyed being in a more professional environment,” Ms Green said.
Part of Ms Green’s program will also involve working alongside Canberra based dance and physical theatre artist, teacher, and Australia Dance Party artistic director Alison Plevey.
Former Fling dancer Siobhan McKenna has also won a scholarship to help enhance her technique, and choreograph with the dance company.
“NSW is home to an incredible range of emerging talent, and we’re committed to finding exceptional artists and providing support that enables them to progress their careers and continue their success,” Create NSW CEO Michael Brealey said .
“Whether it’s embarking on mentorships, expanding their education and research or even supporting recipients with essential marketing and promotion, we know that access to scholarship funding can make a real difference.”
The state government funding is also offered to the creative areas of design, digital arts, history, Indigenous arts, literature, music, theatre, screen and visual arts.
