Meet Jack Lister
Studied: The Australian Ballet School.
Presently: Associate Artistic Director at Australasian Dance Collective
Did your original career aim change from when you started to when you graduated?
I suppose the goal posts have continually kept shifting. Since graduating, I have danced in ballet and contemporary companies, choreographed around the world, directed and edited films, conceived campaigns for commercial clients, and recently I have taken up the role of Associate Artistic Director of ADC. Put simply, I collaborate. It was never about conquering each of these fields and moving onto the next, rather broadening my skill sets, and listening to what I was craving artistically. It has been a vast and unpredictable 10 years in and around the industry, with some high highs to offset some sobering lows.I’ve learned so much from simply being open to collaboration, receptive to new ways of thinking, and dreaming with the people I am creating the art alongside. A great idea may be just that, but I strongly believe that, with our medium, nothing happens in a vacuum.
Did anything that first looked like a setback turn out to be an opportunity instead?
A couple of years into my training at the Australian Ballet School, I vividly remember not being the most technically proficient dancer, almost losing my place at the school. I worked my ass off to stay and it was a great wake-up call for many reasons: to show myself and others I could work harder and smarter, but also to listen to the parts of myself that I wasn’t championing. Throwing myself into my technical studies coincided with my first foray into choreography and moving in a way that I wanted. I felt equally grounded and free.
Retrospectively, I realised it was an identity which I was craving; something individual, something instinctual. I have remained much the same in my career, allowing my curiosity to be a guiding light, instead of becoming my own saboteur. Sometimes it’s good to stand face to face with defeat and see what rises to the surface.
Watch his video @_dance_australia
Jack is one of many talented graduates featured in our Full-Time Studies Guide in the current July/Aug/Sep issue. Buy your copy from your favourite retailer or subscribe or buy online here. Print is for keeps!