ED5International is a premier, fully accredited performing arts academy based in Sydney, and specialises in a two-year full-time Advanced Diploma of Performing Arts. ED5 was founded by Elena and Mario De Cinque, and provides intensive training in dancing, singing, and acting to prepare students for professional careers in the entertainment sector.
Here, Dance Informa hears from graduate Daniel Assetta, who reflects on his time at ED5.
I still remember walking into ED5 for the first time 15 years ago – just a kid from Campbelltown, with big dreams and the hope that one day all of this might lead to something. Under the guidance of artistic director William Forsythe and founders/directors Elena and Mario De Cinque, ED5 gave me two years of incredible training – the kind this industry actually demands. Technique, discipline, commitment and learning how to be vulnerable as a performer. It had its challenges, but they were so rewarding to work through.
By the time I graduated, I wasn’t just a better performer – I felt like a professional, with the tools and mindset to actually sustain a career. From there, I booked my dream job straight out of ED5, touring the country in Wicked. Those two years launched a theatre journey that took me through the original Australian companies of Hamilton and The Book of Mormon, playing Tony in West Side Story at the Sydney Opera House and across Germany, the Rum Tum Tugger in the national tour of CATS, and productions of A Chorus Line, Funny Girl, Curtains, Follies in Concert and The Gathering across Sydney and Melbourne.
In 2016, I was honoured to receive the Rob Guest Endowment Award, which opened the door to working internationally and pushed me to think bigger about what might be possible. After a rigorous green card process, my NYC dream became a reality – making my American debut in the New York City Center Encores! production of The Light in the Piazza, performing at the iconic 11,000-seat outdoor theatre The Muny, premiering a new musical 42 Balloons at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and debuting a solo show at Feinstein’s 54 Below.
Right now, I’m living something I could only have dreamt of back then – I’m in the Broadway company of & Juliet, playing Henry and covering Shakespeare, a role I’ve now performed over 100 times. I feel incredibly grateful for every part of the journey. The ups and the downs. None of it happened overnight. It came from training, persistence and a willingness to say yes – especially when things felt uncomfortable or uncertain.
If you’re auditioning for ED5, my biggest advice is this: don’t walk in trying to prove what you can already do. Walk in open. Curious. Ready to be challenged. The people in that room aren’t looking for perfection; they’re looking for potential and a willingness to grow. That’s where the real shift happens.
I’m also really proud to see the next chapter of ED5INTERNATIONAL under original founders and directors Elena and Mario De Cinque, with the wonderful addition of directors Deb and James Meyrick. The care, passion and vision they bring is something special.
ED5 will always be a home for me. It’s where my dreams were refined into the reality I now live – and I’ll never forget that.
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