Dance Student Feature
Sophia Bae
1. How old were you when you started dancing?
I was 6 years old when my mum finally let me take ballet class after 2 whole years of begging and convincing.
2. When did it first hit you that you wanted to be a dancer?
When I saw ballet for the first time, immediately it was the music that sparked my love. Watching these beautiful women so vulnerable and graceful on stage made me want to be like them and inspire people. I can’t tell you exactly what date, year or a time in my life that I knew I wanted to be a dancer, but ever since the day I watched the ballet I always wanted to do what they were doing. As my years of training continued, I loved challenging myself to try these athletically challenging steps and found it so much fun. As I've gotten older I’ve learnt that this ‘fun’ activity could be a career and without any hesitation I knew that was my dream. I have always been such an introverted, shy and quiet kid that could never speak or make eye contact to people unless I was home with my close family where I would let go and be this loud annoying kid. Even today, I still struggle with my shyness but my home now is the stage where I’m not afraid to let go and be vulnerable which feels amazing.
3. How many hours do you train per week?
Depending if there are competitions or performances, I would say I train about 25-28 hours of dance per week. I also enjoy other physical activities outside of dance when I have free time to improve my stamina and fitness.
5. What is your favourite ballet? And is that also the one you find most
inspiring? Why?
Anything dramatic! Giselle and Swan Lake will always be the most special to me and I also love Manon, Onegin, Marguerite & Armand and Mayerling but if I had to choose one, Romeo & Juliet would be my favourite! Romeo & Juliet to me is one of the most inspiring ballets for me because of Prokofiev’s gorgeous score with the beautiful choreography (especially MacMillan’s) is a match for perfection. Watching Romeo & Juliet, no one ever sees it as a “recital” and I believe it’s important to stay
away from it. R&J is a dramatic story and watching the dancers take you through Shakespeare's heartbreaking story is so inspiring that you can express the story through movement, music and vulnerability in this artform.
6. Was the 2019 Summer Seminars your first DMI Summer Seminar?
Yes it was my first DMI Summer Seminar!
7. How did you feel when you found out you could take up the London Studio Centre Scholarship?
It was so surreal I couldn’t believe it. I even questioned if the scholarship was actually for me as I was in so much shock and and full of excitement. I am so grateful to Miss Olivia and DMI for seeing something in me that many people including myself don’t see a lot of the times and offering me this special opportunity to train full time for 2 weeks in London! I have always wanted to go to London so I was in denial that I could actually dance and train in a city I’ve always dreamed of going but here I am writing this dancer feature in London all huge thanks to Miss Olivia, Dance Master’s International and London Studio Centre.
8. Did you travel to London by yourself? Can you tell us three things you learnt from the whole experience of attending two weeks of training at London Studio Centre?
I travelled to London with my biggest supporters, my mum and my sister.
The three things I learnt from my experience attending LSC is :
1) I learnt very quickly that in Europe especially London, the amount of amazing opportunities that are offered here. From getting coached by an ex-Royal Ballet artist to learning Christopher Wheeldon and John Cranko’s choreography. I'm so grateful and will always remember the special opportunities I got to experience.
2) The importance of strength. One of the teachers deeply explained how important strength over flexibility is and that the companies and schools in the UK are now training the dancers to be strong and healthy, and I could absolutely see the strength all the dancers here have which allowed them to really move their bodies with control and master the advanced steps which requires a lot of strength and control. She explained how also the females have to be very strong in order to be able to work with a partner as the choreography for pas de deuxs are getting more advanced and strenuous on the body.
3) Musicality is something I pay a lot of attention to and the teachers at LSC paid attention to me from recognising my work ethic but also my determination to try and perfect the musicality. I learned that the teachers, choreographers and directors really want to see a musical dancer. I learned that no matter how talented you are, if you don’t have a sense of musicality, it won’t do you any good as a dancer.
9. Is there anything that you learnt that you felt shaped you, that you will
remember when you look back on your time training? How did this scholarship help you? Has it had any impact on your goals and dreams as an inspiring dancer?
I always knew you have to be versatile but I didn’t know how important versatility actually is until I came to London. I learned to really embrace my versatility and ability to move differently to get noticed. I went into the classes at LSC not knowing anything about the style but learned to quickly pick it up and show my full potential. Not only versatility in genres and styles of dance but even within the same genre.
The dance industry now want to see dancers that can show a different quality to each dance or combination as well as versatile technique.
One of the main things I learnt here training in London is to be confident. The teachers and students were all so welcoming and encouraged me to stop hiding and be confident within myself. This experience has helped me understand what kind of a dancer I am and what kind of a dancer I want to be. It has helped shape me into a different person and validated what my goals and dreams are.
Like I said before, the opportunities I was given really inspired me to keep striving for my goals and dreams. Because of this scholarship, I felt so truly happy dancing and gave me a vision of a dream that will inspire me everyday. Throughout the two weeks, the teachers passed down so much of their knowledge and shared their professional experiences which was so inspiring and educational. I will still continue to remember the advice the teachers and choreographers have passed down to me.
I was 6 years old when my mum finally let me take ballet class after 2 whole years of begging and convincing.
2. When did it first hit you that you wanted to be a dancer?
When I saw ballet for the first time, immediately it was the music that sparked my love. Watching these beautiful women so vulnerable and graceful on stage made me want to be like them and inspire people. I can’t tell you exactly what date, year or a time in my life that I knew I wanted to be a dancer, but ever since the day I watched the ballet I always wanted to do what they were doing. As my years of training continued, I loved challenging myself to try these athletically challenging steps and found it so much fun. As I've gotten older I’ve learnt that this ‘fun’ activity could be a career and without any hesitation I knew that was my dream. I have always been such an introverted, shy and quiet kid that could never speak or make eye contact to people unless I was home with my close family where I would let go and be this loud annoying kid. Even today, I still struggle with my shyness but my home now is the stage where I’m not afraid to let go and be vulnerable which feels amazing.
3. How many hours do you train per week?
Depending if there are competitions or performances, I would say I train about 25-28 hours of dance per week. I also enjoy other physical activities outside of dance when I have free time to improve my stamina and fitness.
5. What is your favourite ballet? And is that also the one you find most
inspiring? Why?
Anything dramatic! Giselle and Swan Lake will always be the most special to me and I also love Manon, Onegin, Marguerite & Armand and Mayerling but if I had to choose one, Romeo & Juliet would be my favourite! Romeo & Juliet to me is one of the most inspiring ballets for me because of Prokofiev’s gorgeous score with the beautiful choreography (especially MacMillan’s) is a match for perfection. Watching Romeo & Juliet, no one ever sees it as a “recital” and I believe it’s important to stay
away from it. R&J is a dramatic story and watching the dancers take you through Shakespeare's heartbreaking story is so inspiring that you can express the story through movement, music and vulnerability in this artform.
6. Was the 2019 Summer Seminars your first DMI Summer Seminar?
Yes it was my first DMI Summer Seminar!
7. How did you feel when you found out you could take up the London Studio Centre Scholarship?
It was so surreal I couldn’t believe it. I even questioned if the scholarship was actually for me as I was in so much shock and and full of excitement. I am so grateful to Miss Olivia and DMI for seeing something in me that many people including myself don’t see a lot of the times and offering me this special opportunity to train full time for 2 weeks in London! I have always wanted to go to London so I was in denial that I could actually dance and train in a city I’ve always dreamed of going but here I am writing this dancer feature in London all huge thanks to Miss Olivia, Dance Master’s International and London Studio Centre.
8. Did you travel to London by yourself? Can you tell us three things you learnt from the whole experience of attending two weeks of training at London Studio Centre?
I travelled to London with my biggest supporters, my mum and my sister.
The three things I learnt from my experience attending LSC is :
1) I learnt very quickly that in Europe especially London, the amount of amazing opportunities that are offered here. From getting coached by an ex-Royal Ballet artist to learning Christopher Wheeldon and John Cranko’s choreography. I'm so grateful and will always remember the special opportunities I got to experience.
2) The importance of strength. One of the teachers deeply explained how important strength over flexibility is and that the companies and schools in the UK are now training the dancers to be strong and healthy, and I could absolutely see the strength all the dancers here have which allowed them to really move their bodies with control and master the advanced steps which requires a lot of strength and control. She explained how also the females have to be very strong in order to be able to work with a partner as the choreography for pas de deuxs are getting more advanced and strenuous on the body.
3) Musicality is something I pay a lot of attention to and the teachers at LSC paid attention to me from recognising my work ethic but also my determination to try and perfect the musicality. I learned that the teachers, choreographers and directors really want to see a musical dancer. I learned that no matter how talented you are, if you don’t have a sense of musicality, it won’t do you any good as a dancer.
9. Is there anything that you learnt that you felt shaped you, that you will
remember when you look back on your time training? How did this scholarship help you? Has it had any impact on your goals and dreams as an inspiring dancer?
I always knew you have to be versatile but I didn’t know how important versatility actually is until I came to London. I learned to really embrace my versatility and ability to move differently to get noticed. I went into the classes at LSC not knowing anything about the style but learned to quickly pick it up and show my full potential. Not only versatility in genres and styles of dance but even within the same genre.
The dance industry now want to see dancers that can show a different quality to each dance or combination as well as versatile technique.
One of the main things I learnt here training in London is to be confident. The teachers and students were all so welcoming and encouraged me to stop hiding and be confident within myself. This experience has helped me understand what kind of a dancer I am and what kind of a dancer I want to be. It has helped shape me into a different person and validated what my goals and dreams are.
Like I said before, the opportunities I was given really inspired me to keep striving for my goals and dreams. Because of this scholarship, I felt so truly happy dancing and gave me a vision of a dream that will inspire me everyday. Throughout the two weeks, the teachers passed down so much of their knowledge and shared their professional experiences which was so inspiring and educational. I will still continue to remember the advice the teachers and choreographers have passed down to me.
