While promotions are a time of celebration, they can also come with a sense of responsibility and respect for the journey that led there.
For Melbourne based dancer, and 2013 Green Room nominee, Jayden Hicks, his new role as Artistic Director and Head of Dance was established by his longtime friend and collaborator. In 2024, Paul Malek made the difficult decision to step back to focus on his personal health.
“He’s still involved, he’s still the owner, but he’s had to move on from his operational duties due to ongoing health complications,” Hicks reveals. “I’ve been very much a part of the evolution of the business, since the beginning, building the ethos alongside Paul. We’re not unaligned in our mission, so I’m not coming in to turn it upside down, but to bring a new approach.”
The institution in question, Transit Dance, grew out of Malek’s earlier performance based work with Project Y and Collaboration The Project. Since opening its doors in 2015, Transit has evolved into a renowned nationally accredited provider of both Diploma level courses and a dedicated High School stream. From their Brunswick campus, they train and mentor roughly 150 enthusiastic students a year.
It’s a formula that has worked well, and so the change of on-site leadership is intended more as evolution than revolution. Yet, as Hicks says, “I’m very fortunate to move into this role in an ongoing capacity, I’ve been entrusted with the opportunity to shape the programs through my own vision and lead this new chapter.”
The immediate mission for Hicks is to keep Transit energised and nimble. “We never look at one year as being a replica of the last,” the new AD emphasises. “We’re always thinking: what’s the most important, the most relevant? Because the industry itself is changing rapidly. It’s the nature of the arts. Different aspects become trendy or important; so we’re always looking at those things and adapting our training model.”
Like educational institutions everywhere, Transit Dance operates in a world where the future of the labour market is increasingly uncertain. “You have to be ahead, because you need to train people not for what’s happening right now but for what’s going to be when they graduate,” Hicks points out. ”You’re always looking at the newest ideas coming in, the newest expectations, and that’s what you train them for.”
For instance, as we contemplate what AI might mean for us economically and socially (and perhaps existentially), and we try to imagine what will survive its disruptive impact, and in what form, we could be excused for a degree of pessimism. But not in the arts. Or so Hicks argues.
“The thing we can hold onto is that art is not really replaceable by AI,” he says. “It’s mimicable but not replaceable. What we create with live performance, and by being human minds making human connections through storytelling, cannot be taken over by technology. If there’s anything we can take from the world evolving so quickly in that respect, it’s that we’re sitting somewhere that is really grounding. In a way, it’s the crux of humanity — storytelling.”
From the perspective of a creative, he adds, there is little reason for technophobic overreaction. “We’re the ones with the creative minds to figure out how to include this new technology into our practice; and we’re not against it. We’re in a place to not let it scare us…So, how do we use this tool?”
A similar pragmatism is embedded in the Transit approach, and from there it flows into the way students are mentored. As Hicks explains, “If we start training our students as both artists and businesspeople, because they need to somewhat coexist, then we can be, like ‘Yes, I’m an artist and I have skills I can offer, but I’m also a professional who knows how to create my own business and my own opportunities.’ Most of the people who are now choreographers or directors or the people running production companies, they started out with a focus on a practical skill like dance. It takes mentorship and an open mind to see these employment avenues are options as a potential for your future.”
Fortunately, dance offers a diverse ecosystem, one that Hicks himself is thankful for. “That’s how I navigate my career. I work in such a broad capacity, as a lighting designer, stage manager, venue management and event producer in addition to my work as a choreographer and mentor. My whole goal when I was training was, ‘I don’t care what I do in dance, so long as I’m amongst it.’”
Now that he finds himself leading a renowned institution, his job is to turn all that experience into practical outcomes for both Transit Dance and the young dancers in its care. “It’s about not focusing on what we’ve done before. It’s always about adapting, being creative and making it more valuable” Hicks affirms. “And now that I’m in the position to design an experience for the students, I’m excited to see where it can lead them!”
Having been with the school since 2015, Hicks is ready to choreograph its next steps. And maybe dance them, too.
By Paul Ransom of Dance Informa.
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