By Regina Green.
Emma Tierney is a young Melbourne dancer who has been performing with Paul Malek’s Project Y – a youth company which gives professional experience to dancers aged 12-22. Emma has been dancing for ten years, and currently dances every day at The Edge Performers School.
Would you like to make a career of dancing?
Yes. I want to do it all – musicals, contemporary, cruise ships. I like Sydney Dance Company, Chunky Move, and 2nd Toe Dance Collective. I’ll keep doing Project Y for as long as I can, if I keep getting in.
What is the most valuable thing you’ve learnt from Project Y?
To be friends with the floor, to put your whole body into it.
Emma with her dance friends
And what has been the best part of this experience?
Making new friends, learning new dance styles, and dancing with different people.
What is Paul Malek like as a director?
Lots of fun. He’s really funny, but strict at the same time.
Describe a typical day of rehearsals.
We do a warm-up and then get straight into choreography. We learn pretty much all of it in the first four or five rehearsals, so after that it’s mostly cleaning the routines and changing little things to make it better.
We have half an hour break for lunch and then a few drink breaks, but otherwise we’re very busy the whole time – we’re really tired by the end of the day. We started with a four-day workshop and then rehearsed every Sunday from 11am til 5pm.
iOverload is about using technology too much; do you think you have iOverload?
Yeah I probably use it too much – mostly Facebook!
Would you recommend other young people to audition for Project Y?
Definitely. Go for it –everything about it is really fun!
Project Y presents ‘The Dream Machine’ and ‘Move’ this month at Melbourne’s Theatre Works, St Kilda.
Get your tickets at www.theatreworks.org.au
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