COAST GIRL’S GAMES GIG
team is heading up the choreographic Gold Coast dancer Kate Wormald ceremony. This is her story. for the Commonwealth Games opening
KATE Wormald is used to the spotlight.
About a decade ago, millions of Aussies knew her name as they tuned in weekly to watch her bust a move on So You
Think You Can Dance.
Nearly 10 years on from the reality show in which she placed fourth, Wormald has moved back to the Gold Coast.
Now when a billion people tune in to watch the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony at Carrara Stadium on April 4, she will be working hard behind the camera.
That’s because, this time, Wormald’s the boss.
“I’m the associate head of choreography, so I oversee and plan every segment,” she said.
“I’ve been working with our head of choreography Nathan Wright. We’ve actually worked together on and off for two decades … I’m originally from the Gold Coast and he’s from Brisbane, that’s how far back we go.
“We have been away for the past 20 years living in Sydney and London and other places but when this opportunity came up I said to him ‘we have to do this’ because it’s so rare for something like this to happen in your home town.”
The ceremony, which will feature thousands of volunteer dancers and a couple of big names, whom Wormald would not divulge, has been in the works since mid last year. “It’s 1000 per cent (more exciting) when it’s in your home town,” Wormald said.
“Just the other day we put together something we’d been working on for nine months and it all came together before our eyes ... every time I see it I get emotional because I’m such a proud Gold Coaster. “It wouldn’t be possible without our incredible choreographic team though. “We’re doing massive hours but it doesn’t feel like it, especially knowing that we have such a short amount of time left to finish everything.” She may have spent the better part of two decades chasing her dreams in big cities, but Wormald is as Gold Coast as they come: she lives at Robina, her husband manages Burleigh mainstay Rick Shores and she studied at Somerset College, just a few years before Margot Robbie walked the same corridors.
“One of my dear friends was Margot Robbie’s drama teacher,” she said.
“After I left school at Somerset I moved to Melbourne at 17 and started working for Channel 9 at the Logies and a few other (events) then I moved to Sydney to do Happy Feet and loads of musicals.
“Choreographing
Happy Feet 2 (which starred Robin Williams and Pink) was a 2½-year project which is definitely a highlight of my career.
“So You Think You Can Dance was also fantastic because it drummed up a lot of work for people in our industry and also made the public more aware of how hard dancers train.
“There’s a massive hub on the Gold Coast for dancers now … I think people are starting to support arts a bit more.
“There’s an electricity in the air with everything that’s about to happen with the Games and Festival 2018.”