We Are Family : Jake Mangakahia

What’s it liking growing up a dancer in a sport-loving family? How do you follow your passion even if it goes against the grain? In this episode, Coryphée Nathan Brook talks about what it was like growing up the youngest of three brothers in the Northern Beaches of Sydney and why he chose to pursue an unlikely career in dance. 
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Senior Artist Dana Stephensen never considered herself a ‘ballet girl’. As a highly spirited and boisterous child, she didn’t think she was quite elegant enough, but couldn’t help falling in love with the stage. In this episode, Dana shares her vulnerability as she tells us about becoming a mother, living with an autoimmune disease and juggling a demanding career, all while keeping her passion for performing alive. 
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An artist’s commitment and drive is fundamental to shaping a successful career, but sometimes it takes the unconditional love and support of family to enable an aspiring dancer to go all the way. In our latest episode, newly promoted Soloist Jake Mangakahia goes back to his roots, and tells us how deeply his family and his background have inspired his creative path.  
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In our latest episode, newly-promoted Senior Artist Benedicte Bemet explains how it feels to be the face of our 2019 season, and what goes into shaping a successful career as a ballerina, beyond the spotlight of the stage. 
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What was it like being a creative leader in the golden era of dance? In our latest episode, we chat to Australia’s most renown living Choreographer Graeme Murphy about finding his stride in the exhilarating dance culture of the 1970s and 1980’s and how he plans to paint the town gold in his new work The Happy Prince in 2019.  
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Amy Harris was a country kid from Ararat who dreamed of becoming a ballerina. Fast-forward seventeen years and she has paved a highly successful career in the company, but there was just one thing missing… Amy had convinced herself that her ultimate dream of becoming a Principal Artist might be out of her reach, until one enchanting evening, amidst rapturous applause, all eyes turned to Amy as her fairy tale came true. 
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Alice Topp has recently been bestowed upon with a great honour within The Australian Ballet: she is now its only female Resident Choreographer (while still dancing for the company). Her new role brings with it questions of “why” she is just the second female to reach this position in The Australian Ballet’s history. Her answer may be just as surprising as the other sides to this footy-loving ballerina from Bendigo. 
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Described by the New Yorker as “the most exciting male dancer in the Western world”, David was at the peak of his powers when he suffered a devastating injury that could have ended his career. He turned to The Australian Ballet’s medical team for help, and began a journey involving intense self-reflection, reinvention and the realisation that sometimes the end is just the beginning. BIO David Hallberg made history in 2011 by becoming the first dancer to occupy principal rank at American Ballet Theatre and the first American Principal at Bolshoi Ballet. After working with The Australian Ballet’s medical team to make a heroic recovery from a two-and-a-half-year injury, he is back dancing with American Ballet Theatre, appearing with The Australian Ballet as its resident guest artist, and featuring as an ambassador for both Nike and Tiffany & Co. 
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There’s something magical about the healing effect of music and its ability to connect humans to one another. Nicolette, music director and chief conductor of The Australian Ballet, tells us what it’s like to act as the conduit between orchestra and dancers and why she likes to relax with Queen. BIO  In 1992 Nicolette became music director and chief conductor of the Dutch National Ballet. She debuted with The Australian Ballet in 2002, and in 2003 became the company’s music director and chief conductor. She has since conducted all The Australian Ballet’s programs, including all its overseas tours, and has been a guest conductor with San Francisco Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and New York City Ballet. In 2014 Nicolette became artistic director of Orchestra Victoria. 
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Inspired as a child by watching Fred Astaire glide across the floor with Ginger Rogers, raised by a woman who gave him everything, Kevin grew into a dancer who loves to support his leading ladies and who has developed a radar sensitivity to his partner’s energy.   BIO  Kevin joined The Australian Ballet in 2003 and was promoted to principal artist in 2010. His roles include Romeo, Neumeier's Nijinsky and Prince Désiré in The Sleeping Beauty, and he will create the lead role in the company’s new production of Spartacus in 2018. 
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