Aplomb Dancewear - About

I began dancing at 14 and did my first ballet class at The National Theatre in St Kilda, Melbourne. Despite unsuccessfully auditioning later that year for a student place in Year 9 at the Victorian College of the Arts, and being told “dancing isn’t for you,” I forged ahead under my own steam, taking a part-time Jazz class one Saturday at DanceWorld 301 (DW301) in South Melbourne. Ballet teacher Brian Nolan recognised my talent, encouraging me to take a boys’ ballet class, which led to a momentous conversation which would change my life. Within five days, I’d signed out of secondary school to begin full-time ballet school at DW301.

I’d found ballet and ballet had found me! And this is where a love affair began. Through my mother’s encouragement, I juggled dance and education, completing my traditional secondary schooling through Distance Education while I studied ballet full-time. It was hard work and required grit, determination and incredible self-belief. After three stimulating years of study, I was awarded a Diploma of Dance Performance from DW301. At DW301, I was privileged to be taught by eminent dancers, including ballerina Gelsey Kirkland, one of George Balenchine’s most infamous ballerinas, and Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Pas de Deux partner.

Continuing my ballet training at New Zealand School of Dance (NZSD) in Wellington, New Zealand, under the directorship of Garry Trinder, I was nurtured and guided to become the best dancer that I could be. With its new, world-class studios and internationally-renowned ballet staff, I was afforded the opportunity to dance some of the world’s best choreographies.

• Victoria Simon (George Balanchine Trust) picked me for three Balenchine ballets she set at NZSD for our graduation performances.

• ‘Concerto Barocco’ - 2nd Movement, choreographed 1941

• ‘Divertimento no. 15’ 1956

• ‘Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux’ created by Balenchine in 1960

At NZSD I also performed in :

• ‘Double Contrasts’ - Choo San Goh, set at NZSD by Janek Schergen

• ‘Jabula’ by Natalie Weir

• ‘Concerto’ - Brown Couple - Kenneth MacMillan

• ‘Sequenza VII’ - Graham Murphy

• ‘Jardi Tancat’ Solo man - Nacho Duato

• ‘Six Dances’ - Pas de Quarte & Finale - Jiri Kylian

• ‘A Man Gambling’ - a solo created for me by Leigh Warren

During my studies, I toured with the Royal New Zealand Ballet and attended Jacob’s Pillow ballet summer school on a competitive scholarship in Lee, Massachusetts, USA, under the directorship of Anna-Marie Holmes.

In 2003, I graduated from NZSD and was offered full time contracts with both Royal New Zealand Ballet and WA Ballet. I accepted the contract with WA Ballet where I danced over the next three years.

Phantom of the Opera
From a young age I loved musical theatre, and had always felt I belonged on stage within that world. When I left WA Ballet I danced on a cruise ship for six months where I was approached by Toby Simkin, a Broadway producer, who was baffled that I was dancing on a cruise chip. We struck up a friendship, and on my return to Australia, he organised my audition for Phantom of the Opera. Six months later, I danced in the role of ‘Slave Master’ alongside one of my idols, Anthony Warlow, as the phantom. I toured in Phantom for three years around Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

CATS
In 2010, I joined CATS the musical as the character ‘George’ who is a ‘swing cat’, where I energetically covered (understudy) and performed eight cat roles within the show, over 14 months.

La Cage aux Folles
In 2014 I was cast in The Production Company’s production of La Cage aux Folles. I was cast as one of the Cagelles, playing the role of a “drag queen” alongside five other very talented Australian dancers and a stellar cast. Simon Burke, Todd McKenny, Ronda Burchmore, Gary Sweet and Marg Downey.

“The six Cagelles are impeccably cast, each of them not only stunning in appearance but also accomplished dancers and singers in their own right. The control and precision of the near-nude feather ballet in “La Cage aux Folles” could not be bettered on Broadway. Brava to Josh Gates, Wil King, Adam Noviello, Taylor Scanlan, Anthony Sheppard and Kyle Stevens.” (By Simon Parris)

Throughout my career, I have defied the odds, on multiple occasions. In 2004, the first year of my professional dancing career, I experienced a seizure in Karratha, Western Australia, after a tour rehearsal. Diagnosed with Epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and a tumour (Cavernous Angioma) in my right temporal lobe, I was told to stop dancing. But instead, I was determined to defy medical expectations and I continued to dance.

But in 2011, after 14 months performing in CATS, my life took an unexpected turn. I experienced a seizure, and woke up in the ICU at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. In 2018, I started to have multiple daily seizures that unfortunately, medication could not control.

In 2020 I underwent brain surgery, removing the tumour and surrounding area. I have never had a seizure since surgery and I no longer take any medication for epilepsy. MS is dormant within me and I don’t take medication for it. I’m pleased to say that I’m a happy and very healthy, 40-year-old man.

In the two years following brain surgery, I put all my effort into creating APLOMB Dancewear, an online Australian dancewear company, tailor-made for professional and pre-professional dancers moving into the professional world.

Ideally, as a professional dancer, you should be wearing colour, patterns, and dancewear designed with ‘You’ and fashion in mind. We as professional dancers are highly trained athletes, who are fitter, stronger, more elegant, precise, and graceful than any and all other athletes. And as performers and entertainers, we must add a ‘character’ to all of that, to top it off, making us artists!

My hope is that dancers across the globe will build a lifelong relationship with APLOMB Dancewear by enjoying our state-of-the-art dancewear pieces, which not only feel fantastic, but look stylish whilst radiating professionalism and colour.