Manning dancers receive one-on-one mentoring from The Australian Ballet

"I received an email from Hannah Fulker at The Australian Ballet asking if I was interested in nominating five students to participate, and of course I said yes," said dance school principal Andrea Rowsell.

The free virtual mentoring program, sponsored by Telstra, included two online mentoring sessions with an Australian Ballet artist or teacher, classical repertoire to learn, a Q and A with their mentor and the opportunity to engage with The Australian Ballet community.

In the first week the students learned the repertoire before getting to know their mentor, rehearsing the repertoire and receiving feedback and homework from their mentor in the second week. Week three saw a final rehearsal and feedback as well as a Q and A with their mentor.

The dancers then recorded their final performance and sent it to The Australian Ballet.

They also had other tasks, such as taking a photo of themselves in front of their town sign.

The students selected were Mia Paske, Mahalia Adamson, Jasinta Birchall, Coco Solomon and Wil Hellstedt.

The four girls had this year made the finals of prestigious NSW ballet competitions held by the Royal Academy of Dance. For Mia and Mahalia it was the Isobel Anderson Memorial Awards and Jasinta and Coco the Joan and Monica Halliday Awards.

However days before the finals, the competitions were cancelled due to COVID-19.

"When they asked me to pick five I almost had to give it to these four first," said Andrea. "They got to that stage and it was taken away from them so it's a reward for getting so far."

Wil has been part of Interstate Program with The Australian Ballet over a number of years. "He's also in the minority and those in the minority have to have as much encouragement."

Andrea invited the dancers to come into the studio to individually rehearse the variation.

"The Australian Ballet was prepared for them to do it in their house but asked if I would be willing to let them use the studio space.

"I said yes. They can't do it to their maximum ability otherwise.

"It's a good thing to come out of the COVID," said Andrea. "Five kids who have been inspired amongst trying to dance in their kitchen."

The students all get a recording of their sessions as a keepsake.

"What they've learned in a week is a principal variation and for kids in isolation, they've done pretty good," said Andrea.

"They've also all learnt a lot about their mentors.

"I got to watch Mia because her mum couldn't be there and it was delightful to see the response from Mia to (mentor) Dimity. She was so engaging with her."

Andrea has also watched back sessions with Coco and Mahalia.

"It's broken down barriers. They're very approachable and weren't intimidating at all.

"It's been such a treat."

Following the three-week program, Andrea has now been invited to select four more dancers to take part in the same program.

Thirteen-year-old Wil Hellstedt from Old Bar had the chance to be mentored by soloist Nathan Brook.

"I found it very helpful and very inspirational and great for motivation in the future," said Wil.

He said speaking to a male dancer was beneficial.

"It's easier to relate to them and you have someone to look up to."

He learned the male variation Peasant Pas from Giselle, something he was already familiar with after preparing for an audition for The Australian Classical Challenge.

"There's a lot of jumping. It was hard to get the stamina back after the COVID break."

While at home, Wil dances in his living room, which he said is a limited space.

"The dogs also run through. They like the dancing but they come at the wrong time."

Mia Paske, 14, also from Old Bar, was mentored by principal dancer Dimity Azoury.

"It's been amazing. She's such an amazing mentor. Straight away she was encouraging and gave me some really good feedback.

"She was just so lovely in general as a person."

The girls were all asked to learn the Peasant Pas De Deux from act one of Giselle.

"It's the last dance Giselle does in the ballet where she's happy," said Mia, whose makeshift home studio is in her garage, with a ballet barre and mirrors added by her dad in recent weeks.

"It's been hard, but everyone is in the same situation.

"We're lucky enough to have the studio."

Mia said she learned a lot from Dimity.

"She explained that every dancer has their strengths and weaknesses and you have to work at your weaknesses and your strengths.

"Anything good needs hard work and she emphasised that again. I've been lucky enough to have the opportunity."

Australian Ballet soloist Valerie Tereshchenko was the mentor for 14-year-old Mahalia Adamson from Old Bar.

"It was really good to be taught by a professional and learn things they have learnt in their career and also what they were looking for while doing the dance," said Mahalia.

"Miss Andrea let us come in to the studio but we've also done it at home."

Mahalia didn't know the Peasant Pas De Deux variation before this opportunity.

"It was a challenge. There's some tricky bits in it and it was quite fast," she said.

Thirteen-year-old Jasinta Birchall from Taree was mentored by Megan Connelly, a ballet mistress and rehabilitation specialist who is also a former dancer with The Australian Ballet.

"She helps dancers who hurt themselves get back."

"It's been so good," said Jasinta of the mentoring experience.

"I've enjoyed all the corrections she's given me. It's very fun to do it."

While Jasinta said she felt the variation was quite easy to learn, getting all the steps right was a bit hard.

"The only correction was to use my upper body a bit more."

At home, Jasinta dances in a small lounge room space.

"I'm so thankful to be able to practise in here (at the studio) sometimes."

Coco Solomon, 12, from Old Bar was mentored by Australia Ballet coryphée Jacqueline Clark (a rank above the corps de ballet).

She said she liked the chance to do something special, even though she has been stuck dancing at home for the past few months.

"I really liked learning the new variation," said Coco.

"My mentor gave me a lot of confidence.

"I thought I was pretty bad at it but my mentor said I was doing pretty well and that was encouraging."

Coco has a playroom at home that has been converted into a dance space and said it was good to use the dance school's studio during the program.

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