ALAN Cook will take to the stage as one of the state’s top VCE dance performers from last year, despite having no formal dance training.
Alan completed Year 12 at Haileybury College Keysborough in 2009 and achieved perfect scores for his two solos and an overall study score of 47 in dance, which ranked him fourth in the state.
Alan will perform both solos at the Melbourne Recital Centre next week as part of Top Class Dance – a program that celebrates outstanding work from VCE students.
However like most of the other dancers set to perform, Alan has not been a dancer for most of his life or performed in front of large crowds.
“My first ever real dance performance was in the ‘Haileybury Tattoo’ in 2008, which I went into having had no formal dance training at all,” Alan said.
“After performing in the Tattoo the dance teacher at school, Samantha Drury, approached me about doing dance as one of my VCE subjects.
“At first I was a bit reluctant and thought it wasn’t really my thing, but eventually I decided it would be some fun and decided to give it a shot.”
This decision paid off when dance was his highest subject score.
Alan said composition solo, one of the dances he will perform in Top Class, was based on Greek myths of the Underworld, ‘Hades’.
“It’s a pretty weird and dark narrative, but I think that’s one of the reasons why it stood out to the assessors and helped them choose it to be in Top Class,” he said.
Alan said he was pretty nervous about the performance.
“But that’s just part of performing, at least for me it is,” he said.
“Once I’m on stage and the music’s on then I’ll be fine.”
Despite his natural talent as a dancer, Alan has no plans yet for a career in the industry.
“If I can find the time I’d definitely like to dance more in the future, and who knows where that could take me,” he said.
– Bridget Cook
