Corinne Yee - Director of the Asia Pacific Dance Association

DIRECTOR OF THE ASIA PACIFIC DANCE ASSOCIATION

Shaping many young talented and versatile dancers, the Asia Pacific Dance Association( AP DA) poses a strong influence in the dance education scene in the

Asia Pacific region. Most notably known in Hong Kong for its JazzAddict syllabi, the APDA offers students a fresh, innovative and fun way of learning dance technique.

Hong Kong Dance Magazine sat down with the founder and director of the APDA, Ms. Corinne Victoria Yee, taking a look into her program and mission for dance development.

Going in depth, Corinne discusses the programs held by the APDA, and touches upon their dance examination system as well as how it leads to future careers. Fit for this generation of young dancers, we learn about La Beauté Ballet, Lucidity, Urban Ignition, Encore Theatre Dance, Tap Evolution and the JazzAddict dance syllabi offered under the APDA.

Inspiring a new generation of dance students and teachers, let’s tune in as Corinne turns up the volume on dance education!

Could you tell us about yourself and your role at the Asia Pacific Dance Association (APDA)?

I actually had a studio for 20 years, and in that time I felt there was a real need for something that had a bit more of a comprehensive syllabus and that was more relevant to this industry now, and because of that “Jazz Addict” evolved, which was our first syllabi.

We now have 6 disciplines within the Asia Pacific Dance Association. Those include hip hop, ballet, contemporary, “Encore Theatre Dance”, and our new tap syllabus which is called “Tap Evolution”.

These genres are all now available in not just Australia and New Zealand, but also the UK, South Africa, Hong Kong of course, and China.

What is an appropriate age to begin training under the various APDA syllabi?

We start our little ones at 4 years old for jazz, ballet and tap. For contemporary, hip-hop and theatre dance they start just a little bit older. You can start really at any age up to about 10 at the same level as their peers, but once they reach over the age of 10, then they tend to have to do some work to catch up to the technical level of the other students. So really, the best age for students to start dancing is somewhere between 4 and 10, as an ideal age.

What is the highest level that can be achieved in the syllabi?

“Solo Seal” level, which is a pre-professional level. That takes them through to around the 18 year old level and then from there they would be expected to go onto full-time school or start auditioning, or they go down the teacher track and do the teacher training program.

What are the benefits of learning from teachers who are certified under the APDA?

Certified teachers obviously will give us reassurance that the teachers have a good grounding in what they've learnt in their training. In our curriculum, teachers have to do a health and safety section, they do a business and communications section and obviously teaching management practice. And they’re examined on all of these topics in an oral examination.

They also sit a practical examination, where they come into the examination with the students and they are examined on a number of factors with their teaching style and skills. They also have to be first aid trained and they have to do a number of hours with a senior teacher so that they've done assistant teaching. Being certified as a teacher, means that the studios know that the person in front of the class is not only professional in teaching, but also in many other aspects including health and safety, communication, and dealing with parents.

Another feature is that they need to get 75% to pass, not 50, so we set the bar very high to make sure that the standard of teachers out there are of good quality.

How does the APDA syllabi prepare students for a professional dance career?

The syllabi prepare them, as most syllabi do, with a strong technical foundation and training as they work their way through to 15 grades. All the technical work is in there, as well as the performance training which comes in the amalgamations or the enchaînements in ballet, in their dances and the student choreography. So there's a lot of focus and emphasis on performance as well as technique.

Then, as they get to the “Solo Seal” level, they have to sit an audition amalgamation, whereby the examiner carries out an audition type process with them, so they get prepared for what could happen in an audition and a real life situation. They also have to choreograph their own work. So they have a lot of preparation for the industry.