WILLY WARD

He just wants to fucking dance… and we think he should!

DNA: How did you first discover your passion for dancing as an artform?

Willy Ward: I was actually a bit of a late bloomer. I started dancing when I was 17 and had moved back to Dubbo from Gilgandra where my father’s family are from. Dance was very popular at the time with movies like Step Up and Stomp The Yard coming out and there was a dance program at the local high school.

I started dance as an elective subject and took a liking to contemporary dance and ballet, which was very different to what most kids wanted to do, which was hip-hop and stuff like that.

I was initially hesitant about enrolling in dance classes because it wasn’t something that was popular in my family where everybody was very sporty. But I’ve always felt inspired using my body. I was a hyperactive child so dance became my outlet for that.

I also discovered the local youth centre had a ballet studio that I could use for free when it wasn’t being used for classes by the woman who became my first real dance instructor, Susan Duffy. I’d just muck around and try out things I’d seen in movies and Susan walked past one day and noticed me through the studio window. She asked if I wanted to join her classes as she didn’t have any male students, and so I started dancing with them and ended up performing at several Eisteddfods with them.

When did your dance career start in earnest?

I moved to Brisbane in 2010 to begin a diploma of dance at the Aboriginal Centre For The Performing Arts and started studying under all these amazing teachers: Penelope Mullen, who really took me under her wing, Fiona Cullen, Vanessa Mafe, and Nik Hills. Nik choreographed a beautiful piece for me for my debut in Brisbane.

I studied there for two years and also did some classes with the Queensland Ballet.

When Penelope was doing a show in Perth, she invited me to go with her and I auditioned for Ochre Dance Company and ended up dancing for them for several months. I quickly discovered that I really liked the dance scene in Western Australia. A lot of really talented dancers have come out of WAAPA (the Western Australia Academy Of Performing Arts) and gone on to dance for the Sydney Dance Company, which was the big career goal for me at that time, so I thought why don’t I try my hand at WAAPA.

Penelope advised me that I should probably just keep dancing to get more shows under my belt, but I wanted to keep learning.

I had a thing of comparing myself to ballerinas – the female form is just so exquisite and they dance in pointe shoes – they’re the hardest working dancers of all – so I strived for that level of perfection. But, half way through the course, I began to feel that I would never achieve the kind of mastery that I wanted. People could never turn their eyes away from me when I was on stage but I felt like I wasn’t good enough and so I ended up dropping out and went on a complete hiatus from dance for five years.

What drew you back to dance?

My passion for dance was reignited by a chance meeting with a long-lost friend in Sydney in 2019. I was attending the Sissy Ball during the Mardi Gras Festival, and I ran into my friend Eric Avery who is a fabulous violinist and dancer. He asked me if I was still dancing.

I said no. He asked if I remembered Veronica and Thierry Bain from New Caledonia? I’d auditioned for Thierry in 2011 for a show featuring Indigenous performers that he had taken back to New Caledonia. They’d really wanted me to take part but I had other commitments so I couldn’t go. Eric was still in touch with them all these years later and they invited me to go to New Caledonia again. Of course, I accepted this time.

I resumed dance classes at Carriage Works [in Redfern, Sydney] and then booked my flight. Arriving in New Caledonia I was welcomed with open arms. These people I hadn’t seen for so many years… it was like they had been missing me all this time. Day by day, every time I went into the rehearsal space, there was more of it. We did the shows and, on the last night, I performed a dance solo to finish and during curtain call this little boy ran up on stage from out of the audience and wrapped his arms around me. I still don’t know whose kid it was but it was so emotional that I couldn’t stop crying because I knew, in that moment, that this is what I should be doing with my life. Inspiring people through dance.

Now that I’m older I’ve come to accept that I’m not perfect and that there are lots of talented people out there making great work who are comfortable in their imperfection. I think my past need to be perfect ended up stopping me from reaching the places that I wanted to be. Back then I always compared myself to other people and that’s something no artist should ever do. You have to be free to find out who you are and to find your niche and what you can do well. I have something other people don’t have, just like other people have things that I don’t have. We’re all different.

Your background is Italian and Irish, and Wiradjuri, who are one of the largest Indigenous groups in Australia. Why do you think so few Australians are aware of that?

I don’t think a lot of Australians are familiar with Indigenous cultures in general and our Wiradjuri culture is one that has almost been lost and extinguished. There are now efforts to revive Wiradjuri as a spoken language in Australia and I would love to see that. I still identify as Italian, I still identify as Irish – these are still parts of me – but I would love to see that sort of cultural revival and be able to speak in my own tongue – one that was

I had a thing of comparing myself to ballerinas – the female form is just so exquisite – they’re the hardest working dancers.

>> almost lost – to have that sense of belonging the way that other peoples can take from being able to speak in their own language, like Italians can speak in Italian or an Irish person might speak in Gaelic.

There has been a lot of discussion around sexual racism in the gay community recently. Is that something you’ve experienced?

Yes, that is something I’ve experienced. There’s racism in just about every community but I guess it’s pretty common in the gay community. When I lived in Perth, the minute I told anyone that I was Indigenous, I’d get an instant block online or they’d stop talking to me. And that’s happened to me wherever I’ve lived. My attitude to it is this; I have lots of friends who love me and partners who’ve absolutely adored me. I embrace who I am as an Indigenous person and what other people think of me is their problem not mine.

In July last year, Australians turned out in very large numbers for Black Lives Matters protests across the country. Was it heartening to see your fellow Australians want to stand

up and be counted like that?

It was, and yet I still see the number of First Nations peoples behind bars and the statistics around black deaths in custody; these issues that continue in this country after so many years. These are my people and it’s barbaric that it still happens. I want to believe that people are inherently good and that the legal system works and that the government works to make everyone’s lives better, and yet black people continue to die here in such large numbers.

Indigenous peoples still have a long way to go

to being treated the same as other cultures. Our issues often seem to get swept under the rug. And not just Indigenous Australians but South American Indigenous people, North American Indigenous people – Indigenous cultures all over the world. We aren’t given the same voice. And we have to struggle harder to be heard.

How was your experience shooting with Christian Scott for this DNA story?

Christian is an amazing person. He’s professional. He makes you feel comfortable. Before the shoot I was nervous. I’d brought all these clothes with me – that we mostly didn’t end up using because I was pretty much naked most of the time! That was something I was initially on the fence about, but Christian had a pair of heels he wanted to put me into and slowly, bit by bit, my clothes started coming off. This was my first experience modelling, and I would absolutely love to do more.

What’s next for you?

I want to become a Pilates instructor alongside my dancing. I go four to five times a week and it’s become an obsession. As the live performance world returns as covid restrictions ease, I will take any chance of performing that I can. I just want to be on stage inspiring people again. I’m interested in getting into the more burlesque side of dance. My good friend Dale Woodbridge is in Briefs. He grew up down the road from me. If I can find a good act to put together to put forward to Briefs I would love to audition for them. •

MORE: Findy Willy on Instagram @ ward_willy

My need to be perfect stopped me from reaching the places I wanted to be.

Sexual racism is common in the gay community. When I’ve told anyone I’m Indigenous I get an instant block.