The internationally acclaimed Bangarra Dance Theatre External linksaid its workshops in public schools are a great way to “keep in touch with the talent” among First Nations students.

Campbelltown Performing Arts High School (CPAHS) hosted this year’s first secondary Aboriginal dance workshop, a collaboration between Bangarra Dance Theatre and the NSW Department of Education Arts Unit.

The workshop attracted First Nations students from 10 schools, including CPAHS, Menai High, Ingleburn High, Camden South High, Kirrawee High, Mackellar Girls High and Jerrabomberra High.

Bangarra youth program coordinator, Sani Townson, said the initiative was an important one for the world-renowned dance company.

Mr Townson comes from the Samu, Koedal and Dhoeybaw clans of Saibai Island in the Torres Strait.

“We treat this as a feeder program, so we keep an eye on the talent in NSW,” he said.

“At the same time, we are scouting for 25 to 30 positions in the NSW public school Aboriginal Dance Company. When we see these students, they come from different levels of dance

“This is a favourite part of my year. We see that talent and we nurture that talent. The exciting thing is when you come across new talent. You see a spark in them.

“The talent is insane. It’s not an easy job picking 30.”

Ashley Napoleoni, from the NSW Department of Education Arts Unit, said the CPAHS event was one of 10 face-to-face workshops across the state during the year.

“This is the first one for 2025 and then we have two days of online workshops that have 12 sessions in each,” Ms Napoleoni said.

“The face-to-face workshops are only open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, while the online ones have the option to invite their non-indigenous peers.”

The program started in 2011 as a collaboration with Bangarra’s youth programs team to help disadvantaged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth and provide opportunities to succeed in performing arts careers.

“The program has grown from just a couple of workshops in the state that might have had up to 10 kids in them and now last year we had 800 students that participated in the face-to-face program,” Ms Napoleoni said.

“I think we had about 600 to 700 students participate online. The online workshops were really successful last year and reached a lot of the central schools that we can’t get to face-to-face.”

Ms Napoleoni said many of the workshop participants had no formal training in dance.

“Last year there were 65 per cent of students that had no formal dance training. They were students who had an interest in performing or cultural movement. You’d never be able to tell once the team has worked their magic with them.

“The piece always looks professional. We performed at the State Dance Festival and the School Spectacular as well. We also take about 200 students across the state to perform as part of the Aboriginal Dance Ensemble for the Schools Spectacular.

“This isn’t the audition for either of those companies, but it is a bit of a stepping-stone to get the kids interested in things like that.”

Campbelltown Performing Arts High School relieving Head Techer, Performing Arts, Olivia Melville, said the benefit of the workshop provided Aboriginal students at the school an opportunity to perform a repertoire from Bangarra.

“We have about 100 (Aboriginal) students out of a total cohort of 900 students,” she said.

“We have a big Aboriginal Education Unit. We already do a lot of programs within it.”

But the benefits students derive from the workshops go beyond dance.

Mr Townson said the workshops helped students learn to support each other through “different kinds of choreography”.

“We’re a family at Bangarra,” he said.

“When they come together, there’s 25, 30 kids. They create a whole family and then it’s a different kind of friendship.

“The other benefit is you see how they progress during the five or six years they’ve been with us. I think the hardest thing for us and them is when they leave us because they’ve spent all this time with us.

“We’ve nurtured them, and we get them to become amazing performers. It carries on in their schoolwork as well, not just with us.

“We really encourage them to finish (school) so that they can get a degree too.

“Working with youth, it’s an amazing thing to do because then you’re showing this lot what’s available in the arts.

“Working in the arts as a performer or any other part of the arts, whether it be choreography, lighting, set design, or anything like that. It’s pointing them in a direction where our arts industry is a viable entity for employment.”