Student to Professional

When I began my 3rd year at Elmhurst, as a graduate, I thought, "Wow where have the years gone!" and, "I am not sure if I'm ready for this!"

The thought of after a year I would need to secure a position as a professional dancer was daunting and I had no idea what to expect! I had always dreamed of this life since I was a little girl in her pink skirt that never wanted to take it off and a fairy wand in her hand. Now you look back and really think to yourself what if I had lived my life differently, what if I didn't dance? 

To answer this question-I could never imagine my life doing anything else. On to of that, to be able to study a BA honors related to something I love makes it an even more enjoyable! 

That is why my biggest advice to any dancer out there- whether you are studying at ballet school, contemporary, jazz, flamenco etc. to seize every moment and opportunity that comes your way. Be prepared for whatever opens up into your life because in general, living the life of a dancer is quite spontaneous and often you won't know exactly what will happen. For me I live by the motto ‘Everything happens for a Reason.’ This 100% applies to my experiences so far as I have just turned 20 and have already danced for two top ballet companies and have a years contract as a senior artist in a new small dance company. And all of these experiences came when least expected!

First job experience- Swan Lake with Birmingham Royal Ballet.

This is a first example of ‘last minute’ job experience. As Swan Lake needs a lot of corps de ballet female classical dancers and with its demanding choreography physically, there were quite a few injuries building up. My luck was in hand where more short girls were needed to cover just in case, and so one day at school I was called in to learn the whole of Act II and Act IV. After a few days of cramming 1 ½ repertoire into my brain I was already on stage performing with BRB- a surreal moment of my life and literally a dream come true. And it all happened in a flash! Then next thing I ended up being needed for every show. It was daunting sometimes by being put into the 4th Act rehearsal without not being taught any of the choreography. The lesson I learnt here that yes part of it is luck, but a lot of it is having to be totally prepared for anything that is thrown at you and just go for it! 

Working with Northern Ballet- Ugly Duckling 

This is another example where the opportunity came up all at once. I firstly struggled to get an audition as my DVD and photos were not sending through. It was only on Friday, two days before the audition, that an audition was organized for me by the help of Robert Parker (former artistic director of Elmhurst) and his PA Helen Siddle. 

I got to the audition and the atmosphere was already tense. We were then told that we needed to put our pointe shoes on straight away at barre, which made us all even more nervous. By the end of the class I was nearly 100% sure I was going home…until they called my name to stay for the final round! I was absolutely shocked, thinking I had done the worst class in history. I thought to myself then, “Gaby just go for it! Show them what you got!” And so I had the most wonderful time learning their repertoire. A few days later I was offered a short contract with them to perform and tour their Ugly Duckling.

I learnt so much and came back to school afterwards a different dancer. 

First full time contract- Just Live Dance

I came back to live with my parents in Singapore after graduating from Elmhurst, and was planning to take class with the scholars at Singapore Dance Theatre to keep up my training. During my holiday, and through Facebook believe it or not, I noticed this one company’s name on a friend’s wall. It mentioned something about an audition with this new start up company especially for fresh graduates. It ended up being the day afterwards. 

And so I picked up the phone, asked about whether I could still apply, sent my C.V and I was there the next day. Next thing they offer me a contract and to start on Monday! It started with a few conditional weeks, which turned into a full on place with the company Just Live Dance.

I am currently working with JSLN and really finding my footsteps to becoming an artist :)