It’s been four years since ballet master and international choreographer David Jonathan came home to Ormiston.
He visits as a success story and as an inspiration for everyone to pursue their dreams.
“It may be cliched, but if you have a mega passion deep in your gut, do anything and everything to make it happen. There is always a way – and it does get better,” he said.
Mr Jonathan, 37, said he remembered asking his father to glue some metal to his shoes as a young boy in order to take up tap dancing.
He studied dance at the DLDC academy at Mansfield, leaving Wellington Point High school at age 14 for a position with the Queensland School of Excellence ballet academy and later attending the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne.
“Dancing was the only joy in my day. Having a strong passion and connection with the art saved me,” he said.
Mr Jonathan has danced with the Western Australia ballet, the Royal Ballet of Flanders in Belgium and the Astana Ballet in Kazakhstan.
Lower back injury caused him to retire as a dancer and he is now a ballet master and choreographer at Tallinn, Estonia.
As a ballet master, his role is to keep dancers’ technique, strength and fitness at peak, preparing from studio to stage in a professional setting. His work as a choreographer has also been applauded with many of his works now performed by professional companies.
“Choreography is a passion. Every artist approaches their work differently,” he said.
In Kazakhstan, Mr Jonathan said he received a standing ovation for reflecting world events one movement at a time, using Bach’s Piano Concerto Number 1.
“By the third movement, those grandiose and elaborate sets had fallen. It was art mimicking art,” he said.
Mr Jonathan said there was much symbolism in the work.
“It was a time when I was the most proud of my work,” he said.
“This was an important moment for the theatre and a risk for me. I got the biggest reaction from the public and an immediate ovation.
“This is from a public that is dedicated to their dancers and from dancers that are disciplined in the studio.”
Mr Jonathan said he was currently working on an all-male piece, due to premiere in Estonia in April.
“Dancing in Europe is part of the culture and has a massive following,” he said.
“There is a great message in dance. But it also gives you discipline, confidence and requires determination, stamina and resilience that can be put into any aspect of your life.”
