Sydney’s Dale Pope is a renowned teacher and choreographer who is passionate about dance instruction as a valuable and rewarding career. A revered senior teacher at Sydney Dance Company Studios, Dale is the choreographer to Bindi Irwin and Bindi and the Crocmen, choreographer to Australian Girls Choir and National Dance Coordinator for Aus Girls Dance. Dale is also the Director of Raw Energy Dance (RED), a children’s dance fitness program for educational schools nationwide and a dancer in the upcoming movie, Mao’s Last Dancer.

Read her interview below

Tell us about your dance training and background. How did your teachers influence you to become the dance teacher and choreographer you are today?
At 4 years of age Mrs Whitikar taught me creative dance, which was to have a huge influence on the appreciation I now have for allowing young dancers to move freely and express themselves in response to music. However, it was my next teacher, Lyn Baxter, who helped me make the life defining decision at 8 years old that I would become a Dance Teacher.  Lyn Baxter was fiery, modern, absolutely beautiful and a fabulous jazz dancer, everything an 8 year girl aspires to be.  Into my high school years, Dorothy Coe once again ignited the desire for creativity and developing composition, which in those days was all extracurricular and not taught in the school system.  Dorothy was hugely instrumental in trusting dancers to access their own creativity and not rely on their teacher.  Given that kind of free reign allows the dancer's soul to speak its’ true language with confidence, and not the language of another choreographer.  And finally, William Forsythe. He was the choreographer I worked for the most in my performing years, and has become a very good friend of mine. He showed me that instructing and choreographing was a real and successful career for those who had the tools and skills, and to see myself as a ‘business’, not just a dancer.

What inspired you to diversify beyond performance into dance instruction and choreography?
Performing comes with extraordinary highs and the euphoria of the stage, and those awful low’s from being cut in an audition, lack of consistent money coming in, or having to waitress in between.  At 8 years of age, knowing that I wanted to teach was instinctive, at 15 years I got serious about performing first, but from the age of 14 years I was in paid teaching, creating and choreographing roles.  Performing, whilst immensely satisfying, kept coming up second best to the overwhelming feelings of my life’s direction – teaching and choreographing.  Naturally I still adore performing and continue to perform in events that interest me, including the exciting upcoming Mao’s Last Dancer movie from the book of the same name.

Dale teaches students in a primary school setting and in Christchurch, New Zealand.

How have you been able to make dance
instructing a ‘real’ career and not just a way to make ends meet between performance gigs?
Thanks to my wonderful business coach and mentor, Mark Sutherland, of Gold Medal Performance, I have worked hard and long to create myself and what I offer as a ‘business’ and I know that this is the key to the success and longevity of my career to date.  I also believe all dancers should have business coaching or lessons included in tertiary education so they at least understand the basic principles of marketing, book keeping, and tax returns to name a few.  These tools allow them to see beyond the next gig and project forward with goals, and inevitably achieve some if not all of them because, in the words of Mark, ‘Winners plan for success’.

How has teaching allowed you to travel the world and impact dancers on a global scale?
This has been one of the most surprising and exciting bonuses of my career.  Thanks to my association with the Australian Girls Choir as their NSW Choreographer for the past 8 years, I have been invited on 2 International Tours landing me and my choreography in some stunning locations such as Prague, Venice, Paris, Rome, Thailand and soon to include London, Scotland and Ireland.  On such tours we take 55 girls who are hosted with locals in each country and frequently come together for performing arts workshops.  Sharing a dance session with foreign speaking dancers and non-dancers alike, watching host and billet smile at each other without speaking the language but laughing and moving to the music in a universal language is quite a humbling and rewarding experience.  Choreographing Bindi (Irwin) and the Crocmen saw me traveling with them in 2007 to LA and New York, and seeing my choreography on stage in New York was quite overwhelming, exciting and a real career highlight.  And when I peaked through the wings backstage, I couldn’t help but smile at all the little bodies standing up in the audience copying Bindi move for move. 

Tell us about your teaching experiences in remote and regional Australia.
Girls From Oz is a really exciting philanthropic initiative developed by directors and staff of the Australian School of Performing Arts. A not-for-profit organisation, it is premised on a strong belief that all young people should be able to access and enjoy the benefits of the Performing Arts, regardless of economic position, geographic location or residential status.  In 2007 we toured to regional Queensland working with students in schools, workshops and even singing over the airwaves at the School of Distance Education, Longreach.  This year sees us heading up to engage in more performing arts workshops, this time with remote Queensland communities including indigenous students on Thursday Island and in Weipa.  It is very likely that Christine Anu will join us on this tour which will see us sharing music and dance with various communities with the aim that the learning and experiences gained are mutually beneficial.  Girls From Oz also continues to offer support and ongoing workshop opportunities to these communities to help continue educational development for the students and teachers alike.  From my perspective, it is an extremely enriching facet of my career, exposing me to incredible people, situations, experiences, hardships and successes that are a daily occurrence for many remote communities in harsh Australian outback conditions.  The generosity and appreciation of the communities was at times so overwhelming, especially as my own learning curve was taking a very steep incline.

Tell us about Raw Energy Dance (RED) and how you are able to help build children’s confidence through the performing arts.
Raw Energy Dance (RED) is a focused dance fitness program for girls and boys from Kindy level through to Year 12. I created the concept of RED 16 years ago in NZ, launched it 10 years ago in Sydney, and went nationwide in 2008.  While RED is primarily used in educational schools including private, public, Montessori’s and dance clubs, RED also has external clients such as Aus Girls Dance.  Over time and with experience I developed RED into several packages to choose from that cover curriculum, musicals, disco night, Open Day demonstrations and even teacher in-service training days so that the school can sustain their own interest in dance without outsourcing.  Within the curriculum program students develop strength, flexibility, anatomical knowledge, musicality, rhythm, co-ordination and compositional skills.  What I realised after a few years of loving working with students of all abilities in schools, is that this is exactly what I would have loved as a student their age, whether I attended outside dance classes or not.  A chance to release, explore, challenge boundaries, surprise and achieve new skills, all the while dancing to music that is fun, inspiring, recognisable and they can sing along to.  As an instructor, not a day goes by that I’m not inspired by watching a young student attempt and achieve a move that is difficult for them, or name a muscle with a hard name, or perform a sequence of moves unassisted.  I’m 100% passionate about sharing the love I have for health and fitness through dance with the youth of today.

How do you inspire and motivate your students/dancers?
I continue to learn myself through Pilates with Catherine Magill and Jennifer Preston (both highly articulate and demanding instructors), Stretch class with Dean Walsh at Sydney Dance Company (who knows every inch of the human body) and just recently I have taken up Tango with Pedro at Patio de Tango (who has introduced me to a world of dancing from the most authentic part of my soul). From all of this learning I’m continuing to gain insight into what makes an inspiring teacher.  I take the knowledge I learn, particularly relating to the anatomy, focus, and pass it on to my students through my own teaching methods.  Dance is an extraordinary internal process that has an external outcome.  We feel something so deeply inside and are literally moved, and this is what I ask from my dancers.  Dance from within, and then show me that motivation through your movement, your performance, your expression.

What is the one thing you want your students to take away from your class?
Passion, an empty water bottle and a big grin!  Whether you’re a hobby dancer or a budding professional, the love of dance must be a constant.  To stay in this industry, the passion and love need to be genuine.

What tips do you have for dancers serious about teaching or choreography as a profession?
- Do you absolutely love teaching and creating dance?  The only answer here should be yes!
- Learn from teachers you admire and would like to emulate - therefore always continue your training.
- Know what age groups you particularly enjoy working with.
- Create a vision board for you as a business – where will you be 5 years from now?
- Take time to build a solid and good reputation. This may take years, and it’s worth it.
- Look after your body.  Rest it often so that you are able to give quality, not quantity.
It’s immeasurable what I have gained from this career, and I hope that same for you.

Last remarks…

I am a freelancer, so I don’t own or run a studio and for me that is important to maintain the freedom and diversity of styles and dancers I see each week.  Everyone is different, but I can certainly say that the key to my longevity in this industry has been the extraordinary opportunities to teach and learn from such varied and interesting dance students from all around the globe!