Case in Point - June 2016

GROWING: Former WHS student, Amelia Chandulal-Mackay said she has grown a lot during a year of study with the Orlando Ballet School in Florida.

A WHANGANUI ballet dancer is having the experience of a lifetime in Florida, United States.

Amelia Chandulal-Mackay, 19, has returned to Whanganui for a short break, having just finished her first year as a trainee with the Orlando Ballet School.

She was born and raised in Whanganui, and started dancing at the age of 5. She learned classical ballet from her mother, Anna Chandulal, at the Wanganui Ballet and Dance Academy, and Fay Wilbur taught her modern and contemporary dance.

She studied ballet in Australia before moving to the United States.

Although Ms Chandulal-Mackay is a trainee she has had plenty of opportunities to perform on stage during her time in Florida.

"The Orlando Ballet Company uses the trainees for company performances. We're a bit like apprentices except that we don't get paid.

"We take classes in the morning and after lunch we rehearse with the company."

Ms Chandulal-Mackay said having that mixture of training and on-the-job experience has been very valuable for her development as a dancer.

"We perform with the company but we're not under the same pressure as when you're actually a member of the company."

When she returns to Orlando in late June, she will find out whether she has been accepted to the "second company" - the trainees who are paid to perform with Orlando Ballet.

Ms Chandulal-Mackay said living so far from home and dancing with a professional company had been a "growing" experience for her.

"I wanted more performing opportunities, and that was one of the reasons why I went to Orlando, because I knew I'd get those opportunities."

One of the highlights has been performing in a series of dances in front of audiences of up to 2000 people.

She has experienced some moments of real fear during her overseas sojourn, including discovering that the security guard in the building where she lives had murdered one of her neighbours.

"That was very scary, especially being so far from home. You hear these kinds of stories about America, but you don't think they'll happen when you're there."

And it's helped her appreciate where she came from.

"It's made me realise how much I like living in New Zealand and Whanganui in particular. When I lived here, I couldn't wait to leave. But now I really miss it when I'm away."

Ms Chandulal-Mackay's goals for the future are realistic: she wants to get a job as a ballet dancer.

"Ballet is so competitive, and so hard to get work in. I would be very happy if I got a job with the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

"But I also really like Orlando Ballet. They do a lot of contemporary ballet, and I think my body type and my style are more suited to contemporary."

Ms Chandulal-Mackay heads back to the United States in late June.