Recent graduate Allie Higgins reports on her educational experience.
[Toronto, ON - June 3, 2014] This month, Allie Higgins is successfully completing the Graduate Mentorship Program with Canada's Ballet Jorgen. The 20 year old dancer completed the two-year Dance Performance Studies Diploma program at George Brown College's School of Performing Arts in 2013 and was invited as one of two graduates to become a mentorship student with the professional ballet company. During this interview, she recalls her educational experience and describes her personal growth as a dancer. Allie also seizes the opportunity to promote her beloved hometown of Charlottetown, PE where she will spend the summer after a long absence before further pursuing her career as a professional dancer in Toronto.
How did your experience at George Brown Dance enhance your previous training and how did it help you get to where you are today?
Dancing with people at college really helped me to develop my personal style. I would see someone doing something cool and I was allowed to borrow and change it. There was always this opportunity for dance interchange and that is how we worked together as a class. I feel, we became really close dance-wise although we are all very different dancers.
My dance training before was pretty basic. I did a lot of ballet but not much jazz and I had never done modern. I found that was very different. Contemporary pointe is the type of modern I like to do. It is very ballet based and uses ballet technique but then does something different with it. My previous ballet training was important to allow me to explore modern dance in this way.Image may be NSFW.
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Why did you decide to become a mentorship student with Canada's Ballet Jorgen?
I graduated and I was kind of confused about what I was doing. It is only a two year program and I was nineteen and felt I was supposed to have a life now. But I didn't feel completed in my training. I felt I was starting to break more barriers in my second year at college and starting to really get it. I wanted to continue that and in the mentorship program I had the opportunity to do that. I also found it easier to do that with teachers that already knew me instead of starting a whole different program which could have been another four years and that would have been really ridiculous.
What are the advantages of the Graduate Mentorship Program?
The mentorship program is like a bridge in between school and working in the professional world. You get a bit of both because you're still in class every day for technique and often coaching classes but you are also with the company. You see what it is like to be in a professional company and do rehearsal, shows, and tour.
How can a student make the most of program?
I feel you really have to know what you want going into the mentorship program. Because it is bridging the gap and there is no one that will guide you along. Yes, there is individual attention but you have to be really self-motivated and push yourself to work because nobody will drag you along. It is a working company after all.Image may be NSFW.
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What is one of your best experiences during the last year?
Canada's Ballet Jorgen tailored this mentorship program to me and made it more contemporary. I started my rehearsals with choreographer Hanna Kiel and that was awesome. My first rehearsal with Hanna was so cool because mostly we just sat and talked about life and then my solo with her ended up being about that first rehearsal and what we talked about. That was really special. Then getting to perform that was a really great feeling.
Your immediate plan is to return to your hometown of Charlottetown, PE - are you excited?
I feel, I should work for PE tourism because I tell everybody to go there. I cannot wait to go back, eat lobster and dip my whole meal in butter, go to the beach - it's just the best. I'm so excited to see my family. Eventually, I want to live there again and help develop the local dance community. It would also be amazing to bring more modern and choreography classes there and people are so supportive - someone just needs to get it started.
Mentorship opportunities with Canada's Ballet Jorgen
Canada's Ballet Jorgen invites one or two students each year to join the Graduate Mentorship Program. These students have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the dance company environment and further their education while dancing, performing and traveling with Canada's Ballet Jorgen. Graduates of the George Brown Dance two year diploma program are eligible for consideration. The program starts in July and runs through the following May.
About George Brown Dance
Since 1992, George Brown College and Canada's Ballet Jorgen have enjoyed an unprecedented partnership in the form of George Brown Dance, a dance school offering professional training for students of ballet, jazz and modern dance. Offering professional instruction in a dynamic and highly creative environment, George Brown Dance provides an optimum platform for students seeking a career in Toronto's vibrant and world-renowned dance community or in the ever-expanding international market.
Learn more at www.georgebrowndance.ca