Looking to a life on the high seas

If Josh Shepherd achieves his dancing dreams, he will have his sister to thank – she is the reason the 19-year-old started dancing in the first place.

“My sister started dancing so I just went along as well,” Josh said. “I was eight years old and now I’ve been dancing for 11 years. She was the one who wanted to go but she was the one who stopped and I kept going.

“People have things that they love and dance is what I love – I just can’t stop. It’s addictive.”

Josh’s dance career started at Hype and he moved to MJ Dance Studio in 2020 and that was when he started to really believe a future as a professional dancer was possible.

“I was a hip hop dancer but coming to MJ gave me a chance to try new things including aerial and acro,” he said.

And expanding his repertoire has given the former Mount Gambier high School student a real feel for what he wants to do going forward.

“I would be looking to focus on hip hop and my jazz technique will also help get commercial work,” he said.

To secure his place in the Dynamite program, Josh auditioned online, which included an online meeting and sending through a reel of his work.

“They got back to me quite quickly with an offer so that was great – no nervous wait,” he said.

That sets him up for a course that is starting now and sees him attending classes from 8.30am-3.30pm, Monday to Friday, including theory lessons and a whole lot of dancing.

Following in the footsteps of many dancers who have left this region to carve out a dancing career, Josh has his sights set initially on cruise ship work, making Dynamite the perfect place to train – they have a strong relationship with the industry and a long history of making their graduates’ cruise ship dreams come true.

Commercial work and teaching are also on Josh’s agenda.

“I am looking forward to working with new dancers, new teachers and learning new styles,” Josh said. “It’s all about getting as much experience as I can.”