Amelia Chandulal-Mackay performing in 'Maleficent'

Former WHS student Amelia Chandulal-Mackay performing in ‘Maleficent’ on 29/30 April.

Amelia Chandulal-Mackay is home in Whanganui until June, when she will be returning to the USA to further her ballet training. While here she will be performing in ‘Maleficent’ which is being produced by the Wanganui Ballet and Dance Academy on Saturday/Sunday, April 29/30.

Amelia left Whanganui High School to attend a private ballet school in Sydney for 18 months. After that she joined the Orlando Ballet in Florida for a year and then successfully auditioned for Milwaukee Ballet 2 to become a trainee and being paid a stipend. However, after six months she decided that her focus in ballet was not doing classical ballet but doing modern, contemporary ballet.

This decision led her to being accepted into the contemporary Alvin Ailey ballet school in New York starting in June. She will be applying for a scholarship there to help cover costs. It also meant that she was able to come back to Whanganui and to get involved in Maleficent.

She says she wishes she knew how hard it would be to succeed in professional ballet dancing. “There is the uncertainty, the possibilities of injuries, the need to keep your weight in check, being away from home.” She adds “you need to be a strong yet relaxed person for ballet. Your mind set is as important as your skill.” However the moments “when you have completed a dance in public or when you are out of training when injured, make you realise how much satisfaction there is and how much you miss it when you are away from it.”

The first half of Maleficent will feature a selection of different dances and a contemporary ballet solo along with a group dance. The second half will be more story line and Amelia will play a smaller role in that. That second half will include fairies and woodland pixies, an evil Maleficent, soldiers and princes, battles fought and won. It should appeal to everyone from the dance enthusiast to younger children, grandparents and parents.

Maleficent is at the Prince Edward Auditorium at 2pm each day, finishing at around 3.30pm. Tickets from the Royal Wanganui Opera House are $18 for adults, $15 for seniors, $12 for children under 13 and $55 for a family of two adults and two children.

As for the future, Amelia would love to audition one day for the New Zealand Ballet Company or other ballet companies which do contemporary dance.

River City Press 20/4/17