Justine Villiers had spent her childhood dancing and finding a fulltime dance school where she could further her skills and passion was important to her.
A descendent of the Kalari people of the Lachlan River, she didn’t know much about her culture growing up. It wasn’t until a few years before joining national dance and arts training organisation NAISDA Dance College that she started learning more about her background from Darug and Gubbi Gubbi Cultural Man Stuart McMinn, who is a cultural tutor at NAISDA.
“This is where NAISDA came into the picture. I saw it as a chance to both do what I love and learn a lot more about who I am,” Justine said.
Cultural knowledge is at the forefront of NAISDA training. Their unique annual Cultural Residency program enables students to stay and learn with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to deepen their understanding of cultural practice, dance techniques and storytelling.
“It was an amazing learning curve for me,” Justine said.
When asked about her time at NAISDA, Justine mentioned it also enabled her to come out of her shell.
“One of my biggest challenges was my confidence in myself and in social settings. Over the course of the three years, I have learnt more about myself and my culture, which helped me discover who I am today,” she said.
A highlight during her time at NAISDA was getting the opportunity to travel to Melbourne to be a part of the developing stages of Lucy Guerin’s new work as a Secondee.
“It really changed the vision I had for myself in this industry and the way I look at making projects now. Being able to work with a range of people – from other developing artists to artistic directors, professional company dancers and independent artists – I learnt a lot.”
Justine says she plans to finish her Diploma this year and hopes to go into artistic directing/choreographing while continuing to teach aboriginal culture and dance to youth.
When asked about her advice for young people considering auditioning for NAISDA, Justine believes they should be open to trying new things and not to set their journey to just one path.
“Most of all though I’d say be true to yourself, be motivated and determined to get to where you want to be,” said Justine.
NAISDA’s training is subsidised by the NSW Government for eligible students and through the Federal Government.
Find out more about applying to study at NAISDA here.