Eleven-year-olds Eli Gillon (left) and Nick Goodman greeted the instructions of The Australian Ballet s dance artist Eric Avery with open arms during yesterday s visit to Warrnambool East Primary School.
THE Australian Ballet is poised for an influx of pint-sized applicants following a visit to Warrnambool East Primary School (WEPS) yesterday.
Indigenous dance artist Eric Avery ran a workshop with grade three, four, five and six pupils as part of the Melbourne-based company's "in schools" program.
It follows the south-west instalment of The Australian Ballet's nationwide Out There tour, which visited WEPS in March.
Company education consultant Helen Cameron said this time the workshop, organised in conjunction with the Australia Council for the Arts, was for a group of Koori pupils who were each asked to bring a friend.
"We spent the morning teaching them formal exercises and then they invented their own," Ms Cameron said.
"It's not about us just teaching them a routine, it's also about the students being inventors of their own dance.
"I can say without reservation they are responding incredibly. Their energy, their sense of adventure is obvious." Ms Cameron said the boys had responded to the dance and movement exercises with equal enthusiasm to the girls.
Avery, 21, began a professional development placement with The Australian Ballet last month and receives mentoring from Ms Cameron.
"Eric already has a diploma in dance," Ms Cameron said.
"He is furthering his professional and learning opportunities.
"It will help improve his communication and teaching skills.
"But it's also about him as a performer and developing his choreographic work."
Avery will visit schools in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane with the program before taking up residency at Bundanon Trust, an arts centre in New South Wales.
The Australian Ballet also runs workshops for communities and theatres.