Following her dreams

MOVING to the other side of the world to pursue a dream is a tough decision for anyone to make, let alone a 14 year old but as the offers lined up last October, Olivia Carey simply continued to work on her craft and eventually committed to continuing her dance education at the Alberta Ballet School in Canada.

She could have chosen opportunities closer to home with Queensland and Melbourne schools also in the mix but Olivia has flown to Canada as she commits full time to life as a ballerina.

“It was such a great opportunity for me,” Olivia said. “Classes will include repertoire, classical, contemporary styles and we also do basic maths and English, so you do still get a regular education.”

But it is the chance to work towards her dream of joining a ballet company that saw her pack her bags and leave for Canada last week.

“I’m really excited,” Olivia, who will be living on site with other international students, said.

Olivia has loved her time at MJ Dance Studio and working with guest teachers and MJ alumni Symiko De Van Der Schueren and Euan Doidge further inspired her to leave no stone unturned in pursuing her passion and throwing everything at what she hopes will be a successful dancing career.

Olivia has also had the chance to speak to the mother of an other former MJ alumni, Katarina Gajic, who has forged a ballet career in Europe.

With all that information and from students that honed their skills at the same school Olivia has called home it just seemed logical to take up the scholarship opportunity at the Alberta Ballet School.

It was as a seven year old that Olivia first dipped her toe into dancing and two years on from that she started to really focus on ballet.

“My next door neighbour danced and she was one of my best friends at the time so I just got involved,” Olivia said.

And it was ballet that has ended up capturing her heart and her passion.

“I think it is more artistic and I really enjoy the technical side of it – I love the challenge,” Olivia said.

For the past two years, Olivia has been part of the Australian Ballet ITP and that has opened many doors for the young dancer who has been able to use that connection, and regular visits to Melbourne, to attend different workshops and forge connections with different ballet schools.

“I attended a few classes with En Pointe as part of their program and I went to Brisbane during last year’s holidays for a summer school and I auditioned and got into their full time program,” she said.

As Olivia was contemplating where her future lay, she worked hard on her role as Swanilda in Coppélia as she prepared for the National Showcase in Queensland in January and since then she has continued to compete and rack up the wins at dance competitions around Australia.

Olivia has also completed all her ballet exams, receiving top marks for all of those major exams.

She was also an assistant teacher at MJ Dance Studio, working with the studio’s youngest ballerinas and sometimes taking classes on her own.

To get the kind of offers Olivia was getting for her future dancing aspirations was down to talent and also a lot of hard work.

She used to head to the studio most mornings to practice, had solo lessons with Chrstina Jenkin, competition classes with Maria Slape for the troupes she was involved with outside of her ballet commitments, as well as focussing on strength and conditioning and stretching as a regular part of her routine.

“I also did acro for a bit of fun,” Olivia said.

Ballet, of course, is her priority, and she earned a top 12 position in the contemporary section of the Youth Grand Prix Australia in 2024 in a field of more than 150 dancers.

“During that process we had classes from dancers of the Australian Ballet,” Olivia said.

But for now she is lost to Australian ballet as she looks to spread her wings, working hard in Alberta, where she will be involved in four major productions for the coming year.