Hinter den Kulissen: Amelia Seth

You were born in Western Australia, a state with an area seven times larger than Germany, but a population of only approximately two and a half million people, of whom two million live in the captial city, Perth. How did you grow up – in the outback or the metropol?

Actually somewhere in between. When I was 6 we moved to a small sleepy seaside town called Singleton. My grandparents lived down the road, it was a short walk to the beach in one direction and a short walk to my school in the other. I am the youngest of 3 children and in a small town where everybody knew each other, there was always somebody to play with or something to do. It was what I like to remember as a “sun-soaked dream” childhood, where I played outside all day and could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up, but I didn’t want to.

Was it clear for you early on in life that you wanted to leave the region? Was ballet your ticket to the wide world? Or was it all more coincidental than that?

I don’t know if there was a definitive point when I decided I wanted to leave Australia. But I always knew that I probably wouldn’t realise my dreams of becoming a professional dancer if I stayed and Europe was sold to me by my wise ballet mentors as the place to be. I think it seemed obvious to me that I needed to try living somewhere else and that Australia would always be there, waiting for me, if ever I needed or wanted to come home.

From Sydney to Budapest – that’s an unusual move, isn’t it? What influenced your decision? What were your expectations of Hungary and Europe in general? Have they been fulfilled up till now?

I knew I wanted to be in Europe and the school that accepted my video audition happened to be in Hungary. So I took a chance. I think Budapest and Europe, in general, has lived up to my expectations and so much more. Before I didn’t know anything about history, art, even dance really. Living here surrounded by so much culture, in such close proximity, has been an immeasurable opportunity that I am still living and loving today. Moving at 17 means that I also became an adult here and that was such a fast but important learning experience that has shaped who I have become.

You achieved your „Bachelor of Arts“ in Budapest. What exactly does that mean?

It means that I have a university bachelor degree majoring in classical ballet. It involved 3 years of intensive physical dance lessons as well as practical lessons in subjects such as art history, dance history, music and dance analysis.

You’ve been a member of the Company here in Krefeld and Mönchengladbach since the season 2014/15. What brought you to Germany and to us?

Right place, right time! For our graduation performance in Budapest we were doing Robert North’s ballet ‘Light Fandango’ also know to our German audiences as ‘Schottische Tänze’. I met and worked with Rosella Capriolo when she came to Budapest to teach us the ballet on behalf of Robert. She told me that the company might be looking for some new female dancers for the next season. I came to audition and got the job!

Australia is very far away. How do you keep in touch with your family?

Calls, video chat and WhatsApp. My Mum swears that if we didn’t have the internet and the kind of technology we have today that I wouldn’t be living overseas. She wouldn’t have waited several weeks for a letter to let her know I got home safe at night 😉 I also visit for 6 weeks in summer around every second year.

Which other ballet companies would you find attractive to work for?

The leading contemporary dance company in Australia – Sydney Dance Company, they have beautiful dancers and repertoire. But maybe by the time I get back there I’ll be more at the right age to become the director or choreographer (a girl can only dream!)

Do you already have any ideas or plans for your life „after ballet“?

As mentioned above I’d love to move into choreography or some kind of organisational role within the dance industry. I’m also interested in dance journalism and archiving. But I won’t rule out going back to school and studying something completely new just yet.

At the moment you’re company speaker. What does this entail, what our your duties and why was it important to you to volunteer for the position?

We act as a representative of the ballet company as a collective group. I took on this role because I like organising and learning new things, plus it’s not a role that many people want to take. Since dance is still an art form built on a strong system of hierarchy and we train only in a silent form of communication sometimes it becomes difficult for individuals to speak up when they have a problem. The ballet speakers act as a neutral party to help the group voice problems or suggestions they may have to the management. Our main aim is always for it to increase the flow of communication.

Es gibt viele Dinge, die ich schon immer sagen wollte – in der Tat, sage ich sie auch ständig. Allerdings merke ich, je älter ich werde, umso mehr neige ich dazu dabei zu übertreiben und wenn ich übertreibe, fällt es mir auf, dass andere immer seltener meiner Meinung sind.

Also, wenn es um die großen Themen geht, wie das Leben, die Liebe, der Tod oder die Unendlichkeit, zögere ich jetzt meine Gedanken in Worte zu fassen. Andererseits, wollte man, dass ich das alles in einen kleinen Tanz thematisiere, mache ich das sehr gerne!

Das war es von mir!