APATA Podcast

APATA PODCAST FLASHBACK

What an absolute joy to chat with Daniel Assetta! The well-known Australian theatre triple threat, choreographer and coach recently packed up his kit bag making moves to the Big Apple where he has just made his American stage debut in the New York City Centre Encores! production of The Light in the Piazza.

Prior to this, he played ’Samuel Seabury’ in the original Australian company of Hamilton and performed the role of 'Tony' in West Side Story to rave reviews across Australia, New Zealand and Germany including at the iconic Sydney Opera House & Berlin Opera House. Daniel's other Australian theatre credits include 'Al Deluca' in A Chorus Line; ‘Elder Young’ in the original Australian company of The Book of Mormon; ‘The Rum Tum Tugger’ in the Australian/New Zealand tour of CATS; the 10th Anniversary Australasian tour of Wicked; ‘The Ziegfeld Tenor’ in Funny Girl; ‘Luke’ in the world premiere of The Gathering; Follies in Concert; and Curtains. A graduate of ED5INTERNATIONAL, who first found his feet with GY Dance, both under the tutelage of William A Forsythe (Co-Director of ED5), Daniel Assetta sheds light on transitioning to America and opening the door on the next chapter in his career. In this APATA Podcast episode our host Yolande Smith and Daniel discuss:

• The impact of Daniel's formative training years.
• The business-side of a creative career.
• Managing and maintaining a professional public profile.
• Self-care.
• Mentorship.
• The work involved in taking your career, and life, overseas.

Basically Daniel gives you the lowdown on the professional foundations that have prepared him for conquering each new step with confidence and a smile!

A great listen for students and teachers and those looking to a career in the creative and performing arts.

Daniel will make his MUNY debut as 'A-Rab' in West Side Story this month. Best of luck Daniel and thank you for joining us!

At South West Music Regional Conservatorium, our vision is to inspire and enrich lives through music. Our purpose is to provide leadership, resources and expertise to ensure that every person has the opportunity to make, learn and appreciate music.

From young and enthusiastic music teachers billeting with local families every fortnight in the 1980s. To what is now an integral and vibrant permanent part of Deniliquin and its surrounds.

As Head of Music, Paul Young has joined a dedicated team that nurtures and supports students in music education. SW Music provides plenty of community performance opportunities and real world experience for their passionate pupils.

"What's the point of learning an instrument and practicing and then not performing? They've done all this practice and have reached this standard where they can get up on stage and perform. If we weren't organising in-house concerts and performances at assemblies, at schools, and directly liaising with community members to get our kids out there they wouldn't be performing. And to me performing is an integral part of music. "

Paul has extensive experience as a pianist, musical director and educator. He has previously held positions including Staff Accompanist/Performance Coach at Knox Grammar and Redlands, Acting Head of Keyboard and Staff Accompanist at The Scots College, Head of Music Performance at McDonald College of Performing Arts and Head of Performing Arts at Calvary Christian College.

APATA Managing Director Yolande Smith and pioneer specialist in the psychology of the performing artist Elma Linz Kanefield sit down to discuss performance potential, the theme of Kanefield's new book Hamlet's Mirror: Reaching Your Performance Potential Onstage and Off.

With 40 years experience counselling performing arts students and artists Kanefield understands what makes performers tick. She has dedicated her life's practice to building better understanding around hard-wiring of the performer and just what it takes to definite your own version of success. 

"I want the performers with whom I work to gain a conscious awareness of the effect that both their psychological histories and their chosen life as artists have on who they are and how they perform in life, particularly on stage," Kanefield states in Hamlet's Mirror.

"I trust them to find that voice within that moves them to fulfil their special performance potential and create a lifetime of sustainable, successful and authentic performances on and off stage." 

About Elma Elma Linz Kanefield, LCSW, CPC, succumbed to debilitating stage fright as a young performer which left her voice… silent. However, rather than remain devastated and at the effect of her fear, she transformed her fright into her life’s calling and became a specialist in the psychology of the performing artist.

So passionate was Elma about addressing the special personal and professional needs, challenges and possibilities of performing artists that she relocated in 1980 from the Midwest to New York City to open the only Psychotherapeutic private practice exclusive to performers. For the last four decades Elma has been healing and empowering artists at all ages and stages of their lives and careers.

Hamlet's Mirror, Reaching Your Performance Potential Onstage and Off

Hamlet's Mirror looks at the stories and experiences of hundreds of performing artists to explain what prevents some from reaching their performance potential and what empowers others to realise it. Kanefield introduces four Performer Personality Profiles: Problem-Ridden, Pugnacious, Promising and Potential-Realised. These personalities reveal and clarify how performing artists move through professional and personal challenges to become the best they can be as people and as performers. You are invited to hold Hamlet's mirror to see how the wisdom and insight that these performers gained can help you too reach your performance potential.

Head of Performing Arts for South Australia's Pulteney Grammar School, Jonathon Rice BA, Grad Dip Ed, MBA, speaks with APATA's Yolande Smith in this episode of the APATA podcast.

2022 saw Pulteney Grammar School win the APATA National Performing Arts School of the Year Award and Jonathon reflects on the dogged determination of his school community to embolden students with a broad range of learning opportunities, including their award-winning performing arts offerings.

"We are a contemporary, traditional, liberal, co-educational school in a private setting, but we also are becoming very good in the sense of providing a broad opportunity for our students to be involved and engaged with performing arts. And that's really exciting."

Pulteney Grammar School is the second oldest school in the country celebrating their 175-year-old history in 2022 and is following a strategic direction that will see it last many more years into the future. 

Jonathon is passionate about performing arts education and developing programs that engage young people with music, drama or dance, so these students can find their tribe and explore all the amazing opportunities the performing arts offers young people in our 21st century world.

Educated in the South Australian public education system holding a scholarship to Woodville High School Special Music Program as a trumpeter being taught by several significant teachers including Standish Roberts (then principal trumpet ASO), Jennifer Rosevear and Jonathon Draper. He studied music performance at the then South Australian College of Advanced Education in Adelaide (1981 – 1983) and once again greatly benefited from a world class education from teachers like Bob Hower, Stephen Wittington, Hal Hall and Brain Chatterton among others.

He then taught in Queensland for 2 years (Cairns in 1984 and Brisbane in 1985), before returning to Adelaide to complete his Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary Music) in 1986. After several years in country SA then 7 years in Special Education (Townsend School for Vision Impaired), he then moved into the Catholic then independent school systems in both Victoria (Director of Music at Ballarat and Clarendon College) and South Australia (Director of Music at St Aloysius College Adelaide).

Along Jonathon’s professional journey he has owned and operated two hotels and became general manager of a significant hospitality business in 2011 including creating and operating a live jazz music venue.

About This Episode:

We were absolutely delighted to have acclaimed contemporary circus director, producer, and performer Natano Fa’anana join us for the APATA Award presentations for performing arts student of the year so we relished the chance to share Natano's journey as an artist and maker with you!

Drawing inspiration from his Samoan roots Natano has carved a unique path that has achieved national and international recognition through his work as a multi-faceted artist for a string of renowned companies.

As we open entries for the 2023 APATA National Awards Program we welcome the chance to speak with this year’s APATA Performing Arts Teacher of the Year – Amanda Waddell – Head of Faculty for the Arts at John Paul College, Daisy Hill, QLD.

With a twenty-two-year career teaching the performing arts, Amanda understands the benefits of arts-based learning. Her journey began as a dance student with Broadway dreams, falling in love with the art of teaching, and now leading the arts program at her former alma mater John Paul College.

Amanda’s story weaves itself into the very fabric of APATA educators who love the performing arts and have found themselves thriving, guiding young people through their learning journeys.

A strong advocate for the arts in her schools past and present, Amanda is not shy about standing up for the programs and curriculum that her students care about. 

Her passions for teaching and arts education advocacy are deeply intertwined. The day she hangs up her teacher hat, you can bet we’ll see her lending a voice to the cause of having performing arts recognised as a vital part of our schools.

For Amanda, life is one big performing arts lesson, and she is continually inspired to learn and connect to the world through the arts.

We welcome Amanda to our cohort of APATA Award Alumni and celebrate her ongoing journey as a teacher and leader in performing arts education.

Amy Tinning shares just how Branches Performing Arts literally branches out across the outback by bringing dance education to students in regional, rural and remote communities.

Along with her fellow teacher Tammy Gordon the pair cover a combined total of 2,000km every fortnight.

That is 300 students across seven towns. Hughenden, Richmond, Cloncurry, Julia Creek, Winton, Longreach and Barcaldine.

Basically they teach a whopping 84 scheduled classes, and 80 private coaching sessions, to students in the Northern Territory, Outback Queensland and Northern New South Wales.

Significantly Amy first began delivering Distance Dance, Branches' online classes, well before Covid forced us all to transition to remote learning.

Subsequently Branches' Distance Dance and has been a leader in the way they have supported students and families unable to attend in-person dance classes due to pure logistics.

But distance and dance has always gone hand-in-hand for Amy.

As a rural kid who begged her parents to let her attend dance classes Amy inevitably sees no geographical barriers when it comes to learning dance.

Branches Performing Arts is deeply rooted in connecting dance with kids and their communities, and we are in absolute awe of their dedication to helping outback dancers' dreams come true.

Indeed that is part of the reason behind Amy branching out with her Co Stars Dance Company based in Mt Isa.

In this way Amy and Tammy are able to provide developing young artists with professional level performance experience and exposure to high quality dance training and artistic processes.

The team attend comps, perform at various events and are able to experience the magic of performance, Amy's first love.

Please enjoy this conversation with Branches Performing Arts Founder, Amy Tinning.

If you want to know where writing, and a love of writing and the performing arts can take you then check out our convo with Dan Nixon. Dan, Alyssa Smedley and Bryony McLachlan head Pirate Size Productions, a children's television production company creating innovative narratives for television bringing imagined worlds and characters to life. Writing for the screen is committed collaborative journey. Which is something that Dan thrives on. Building relationships and telling stories that are bold, adventurous and that audiences fall in love with fuel the tight knit team at Pirate Size Productions working with such production companies as the Australian Children's Television Foundation, Sesame Studios, ABC Education/ABC Me, Starburns Industries, Pūkeko Pictures, Universal Kids, Screen Australia and R U OK? Day. In an effort to provide innovative, and fun filled creative writing courses and workshops for children and adults Dan also created the Melbourne Young Writers Studio. Their programs are aimed at equipping and inspiring young writers with the skills they need to get writing and to develop their storytelling. While for adults it is a place for emerging writers to hone their craft. There are some great tips in this conversation such as the four main ingredients of a good story and the all important Pitch Bible, which would make a great assignment or project idea for students. Enjoy Dan Nixon and our host Yolande Smith exploring the potential of writing and the arts! 

Mentions 

This episode is hosted by APATA Ambassador Angela Loh, Managing Producer for Camerata, Queensland's Chamber Orchestra in conversation with Eva Spata from Sydney Catholic Schools. Eva works with a dynamic team in strategic direction and implementation for creative and performing arts across the 150 schools in the Sydney Catholic Schools network. Overcoming the challenge of 2020 and 2021 Sydney Catholic Schools was able to introduce a number of "firsts" last year. 

1. The first Sydney Catholic Schools Eisteddfod.
2. The first full time performing arts cohort at the newly dedicated performing arts facility at Burwood.
3. Rolling out of the ambitious Amadeus Music Program after a successful pilot, which will eventually see over 30,000 students learning a musical instrument by the beginning of 2024.
4. The digital production of Fame Jr the Musical with 40 students cast from 25 schools
5. The first Virtual Choir.

2022 will welcome the massive School of Rock Arena Spectacular with 4000 student participants from across their network of primary and secondary schools, the continuation of the Eisteddfod and Amadeus programming, growing the fulltime performing arts stream and of course creating performance opportunities for their students across Sydney.

But wait, there's more!

Along with these incredible educational innovations Eva is a versatile performer across many genres and has vast experience as a director, a producer, and a musical director.

We learn Eva's own journey in the performing arts from her early years to high school, inspiring her to earn a BA in Music, a BA in Education and a Master’s in Educational Leadership.

From Eva’s mentors and experiences to her hopes for the future of performing arts education in Australia please enjoy this chat between Angela Loh and Eva Spata celebrating performing arts education.

Mentions:

Creative Play Puppets has sourced and supplied puppets to Australian puppeteers, schools, teachers, libraries, organisations, specialists and families for over a decade. Travelling near and far (in those heady Covid-free days) to find puppets for all wants and needs Creative Play Puppet's inventory begins with the smallest of finger puppets and nursery rhyme families, glove puppets, marionettes, storybook themes and animals galore, to three-headed dragons, magic trees, and of course their fabulous range of Silly Puppets, whose soft mouth operation can be infused all kinds of emotions making them a hit with educators and therapists alike. We hope this chat with Noel inspires you in your exploration of puppet play. 

Welcome to 2022 and we are back on the mic with Jackson Hughesman, winner of the 2021 APATA Performing Arts Student of the Year Award. Jackson is heading into year twelve at St Patricks College, QLD and we thought it would be a great opportunity to catch up to talk about what winning the APATA award meant to him, and what he hopes to achieve this year. While 2022 has hardly begun Jackson has already played the role of Tevye in Brisbane Junior Theatre's January production of Fiddler on the Roof, with lots more to come. Balancing schoolwork, training, rehearsals, and school captaincy we wanted to share Jackson's perspective as a performing arts student looking at the road ahead. His hopes and dreams, and the realities of studying for a career in the arts during Covid. A fun chat with a bright young man who represents the future of performing arts in this country. 

Mentions:

Meet Pasifika hip hop artist MC Trey, a pioneer MC who was among the first females to step on stage at the dawn of Australia's hip hop music scene. Of Fijian and Samoan heritage, Trey grew up in Fiji moving to Sydney’s Western Suburbs at thirteen. Introduced to hip hop music and culture through movies like Beatstreet and Breakdance in her island home, it was at parties in Sydney that she experienced rap in a more personal way. The more she listened, the more Trey realised that rap was an outlet, a way of sharing stories and being able to stand up as Pasifika person and represent. A hip hop play performance at a juvenile detention centre lit the fire for a future working with kids, teaching them how to write and express themselves. Combining social commentary with social work through her agency Tapastry Creative, Trey is a soulful community advocate.

As a speaker, leader, presenter and performer Trey works with government agencies and community organisations facilitating programs that connect youth to their culture.

For teachers MC Trey believes it is important to find out young people’s stories and empower and encourage them to share and add to the Australian landscape. Allow kids to be part of the process, "They have a lot of the answers to the problems of today." Thank you, MC Trey.

Meet Jonny Ng •Principal Second Violin and Education Manager, Camerata - Queensland's Chamber Orchestra •Pianist in Ensemble Entourage for Musica Viva In Schools •Upper strings and piano teacher at St Margaret's Anglican Girls School •Tutor for the Queensland Youth Orchestra •Co-Founder, Music Lab Education Studio •Music Director, Hong Kong Pops Orchestra •Guest Conductor, Hong Kong Saxophone Ensemble & Polytechnic University Orchestra •Artistic Director, Hong Kong Festival Orchestra. . Jonny Ng's passion for music began when he was chosen for his school's strings program and from there he was hooked. Learning violin, viola and piano, Jonny would go on to play with the Queensland and Australian Youth Orchestras and, after gaining a Pharmacy degree on the way to medical school, music took over and thank goodness for us and Camerata - Queensland's Chamber Orchestra.

Speaking with Angela Loh, Camerata's Managing Producer, Jonny takes us through his musical journey from those early days of inspiration to his current experience as an educator and professional artist. "Thinking back on those early years, music really was my first love and it grew into a true passion of mine...I vividly remember my 1st year in Queensland Youth Orchestra, when I was fifteen, and that whole first year was filled with the kind of goose-bumps or spine tingles you get when you listen to or play music. And that really had a huge impact on me." With music being the driving force of Jonny's passion for education he finds that passion resonating with his fellow Camerata artists, who have almost 300 years of teaching experience between them. Being able to take that experience to regional towns and communities who do not have that resource is a special part of Jonny's work. "At Camerata we're committed to furthering the opportunities for music students & teachers throughout Queensland with a real focus on the communities that we visit through our annual touring program." Jonny has a light in him that you'll hear in his voice and as a teacher and musician that light shines through. He believes in the value of educators, especially those in the performing arts.

"Sometimes I think the biggest challenge we face as teachers is the value that society puts on what we do. In a past life I used to be a pharmacist, so scientific evidence is really important to me. Now there's almost 3 decades of research into the massive benefits of learning a musical instrument and brain development...I find music teachers really struggle with schools and parents believing music is simply a leisure activity...but it isn't, it simply isn't...It's a beautiful art form in itself and it gives us the ability to connect with people, it gives us greater empathy and sensitivity to emotions and it unleashes creativity."