Owen Gray

Like so many male dancers, I starting dancing because my older sister danced. It was just like that song in A Chorus Line, ‘I can do that’. I was always watching my sister dance so when my mother could she enrolled me into dance classes too.
My sister and I went to Directions Dance Academy (DDA), and I danced there until 2014. At DDA I did ballet, jazz, modern, and tap.
In 2015 I went to Vivienne Winters where they focused a lot more on ballet.
I really enjoyed it! There was something about the structure and order of ballet but also the artistic expression that made me fall in love with it. I kept dancing through high school and I did a few different jobs here and there, doing group work and pas de deux.

When I was 19, I was accepted into Adelaide College of the Arts, where I worked towards my Cert IV, Advanced Diploma and my Bachelor. I completed my training there in 2022.

At AC Arts I had the chance to learn contemporary with different teachers who all had a different approach and flavour. I did classes with Peter Sheedy, Lisa Heaven, Catherine Wells and Kialea Nadine-Williams. Additionally, I got to oppitunities to work with a long list of very talented dance choreographers and teachers including: Alison Currie, Daniel Jaber, Lee Brummer, Tobiah Booth-Remmers, Carol Wellman Kelly, Lisa Synett, and Australian Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director Daniel Riley.

The biggest surprises I got from the AC Arts dance course was that I really enjoy being a creator of dance. Performing is a lot of fun, and you get a kind of glory from it - for being able to show all of the time and work you put into a performance. But for me, I enjoy creating dance with a wide range of artists, and creating performances that are accessible for all audiences, not just people who already are a part of the dance world. I also want to create works that provide view points of different perspectives to get people thinking.
I have learnt so much on my journey in dance, and from everyone who I have danced with. There can be so much more to dance that meets the eye! So many stories and influences can live through one person's movement.

During my final year at AC Arts I did a placement with Dragonfly Dance and did some work with the performing company, and then returned in 2023 to do an internship as a teacher and helping with production for the Student Showcase.