Hidden in suburban Canberra is a dance school that’s remarkable not only for its 40-year history and world-class alumni, but also its founder, 70-year-old Jackie Hallahan (who teaches six days a week).
Jackie’s been dancing since she was five and at 70, she can still execute ballet’s fundamental foot and hand positions while still finding time for 6:30am Pilates classes and admin after work.
Dance Development Centre’s longevity and its star roll call of former students – The Australian Ballet, English National Ballet and Royal New Zealand Company to name a few – is testament to Jackie’s teaching prowess.
Full-time students place their dancing ambitions in Jackie’s hands, forgoing conventional education and instead doing long-distance education. Their lofty dance aspirations are fuelled by freeze-frame pictures of past students in full flight, like Paul Knobloch, who is The Australian Ballet’s on tour repetiteur.
When I caught up with Jackie in Spence, she was poised beside a ballet barre, taking her full-time students (aged 14-18) through their warm-ups to a soundtrack of classical piano.
“They come in different shapes and sizes and different skill sets but in the end, there is a certain, how can I put it, a certain characteristic of being committed to their dance as well as driven,” Jackie said.
“[Paul Knobloch] obviously had that. They have to have a commitment and at the moment I have 10 full-time students here every day, they do their schooling through distance education. Each one of them is different from the others but all of them have the want to be a dancer.”
Half of Jackie’s teachers are her former students (one is her daughter) and many of her alumni have gone on to professional careers in major ballet companies.
“It’s my whole life, I love it, absolutely,” Jackie said. “I get a real buzz out of seeing the growth and the joy in all the students that I teach. The older I get the more I see that it’s a real investment in them.”
Jackie admits that it’s a big responsibility when people put their career path in her hands but it’s why she turns up to the studio every morning.
There’s no secret to Jackie and her team’s proven teaching success, she simply believes in her students.
“I believe they can achieve what they want to achieve,” she said. “I try and provide a pathway for them. I always have everything in place, stagecraft for the piece, so that when they go on stage they’re confident and that’s the most important thing. If you don’t have that self-belief, you probably can’t do much else.”
Dance is the only job that Jackie has known, apart from motherhood, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Dance is wonderful because it provides you with so much in your life,” she said. “It provides you with discipline. To me, there’s things that drive you and I think it’s very important to follow what you feel is the right pathway for yourself and that’s what I’ve been doing.”
Dance Development Centre will hold a 40th birthday gala at the Canberra Theatre Centre in December. Find DDC on Instagram, Facebook and dancedevelopment.com.au
