FEATURE - Dancing into her dreams
From Yandina to London and the highly coveted English National Ballet School (ENBS), young Makenzee Speak is dancing her way to her dreams.
by Rebecca Mugridge
“Both my parents [Colin and Sandy Speak] are local, born in Nambour! Mum is a third generation Yandina/North Arm resident and Dad is fifth generation Palmwoods/Ilkley resident.” said dancer Makenzee Speak.
“My Dad is a mechanic-turned-interstate truck driver and is away all week to be home one-and-a-half days on the weekends to fit as much family time in as we can. Mum also works full time, and up until I moved to London was managing my ballet demands full time.
“Home will always be where my heart is,” she said fondly. “Ninderry and Yandina is home and I love our place. Our yard is often occupied by kangaroos and many species of birds.
“It’s a world away from how I am now living in London!”
For Makenzee the pull to ballet came early. “I was four or five years old when I first started ballet, beginning with just one class a week. But after my first end-of-year concert I kept asking, “when can I do that again?”
The artistry and storytelling of ballet is something she loved right away. “The ability to explore a character, a role, and immerse yourself into another world, communicating a story to create a connection with the audience, it’s special. Ballet also requires you to show up for yourself, the continuous process of refining technique and artistry.
“Not many people are able to say they are living their childhood dreams, but every day I find that I am.”
Makenzee is inspired by Marinela Nunez, Yasmine Naghdi and Benedict Bemet.
“Watching their interpretation of characters, the cleanliness of technique and quality of movement always inspires me. And my favourite ballet production would have to be
Sleeping Beauty. It was the first production I ever saw, performed by the Australian Ballet. I still have the program and ticket at home!
“I have also been so fortunate to have supportive teachers over my years of training in Australia. During my full-time training this has included Grant Aris, Amelia Waller, Georgia Mckean, Claudia Dean, Jessica Cove and Corina Poh. Without their support, time, care and belief in me I would not be the dancer I am today.”
Grant Aris has been a driving force behind Makenzee’s success of being accepted into ENBS GAP. Endless hours of teaching her to trust her body and strengthening her technique, to then evolving and refining the details of her artistry.
“‘Ballet is about movement not just positions’, is one of my favourite comments of his, because movement and emotion is what makes an audience really feel.”
Throughout her years of training Makenzee has many wonderful memories.
“In the last 18 months I have been working on a classical variation from Giselle for many national and international competitions. It is a hard variation that has a series of single leg hops on pointe travelling from the corner, before finishing with a menage [series of turns travelling in a circle].
“There was one rehearsal where I was working with my teacher, Grant Aris, on the timing of the menage. So, to help me to move and travel faster he ended up following me around the room saying, “anticipate, anticipate, anticipate!”. It had us all laughing as it worked, so then every time mum watched from the corner she would start repeating the ‘anticipate’ chant!”
During her journey Makenzee has also been fortunate to perform in some well-loved productions.
“When I was younger and performed in The Nutcracker, one of my favourite parts was being a mouse and being wounded in battle. I had to have a very dramatic fall to the ground and get carried off in the stretcher; it was always hard not to laugh under the mouse mask,” she laughed.
“Over the years of doing solo competitions, working with props, I learnt how to remain professional onstage and quickly react so that the audience never knew. Whether it was being able to rip paper artwork at the right time, get a clasp shut on a suitcase in two counts, or pull a dress out of a box without it all falling off the table!”
Now living and training in London, Makenzee is excited about the possibilities of the future.
“After being in London for the past few months, it is evident that there are so many more opportunities for dancers over here. Most European countries have multiple theatres and companies in each city, and travel between countries is also much more convenient.”
With ballet, years of hard work, talent and relentless dedication are only part of it - it’s also very expensive.
“The financial toll is ‘a lot’ especially living on the Sunshine Coast once en pointe, and the need for dedicated classical training had me travelling to Brisbane daily,” explained Makenzee.
“When the decision was made to go full-time ballet training, we were lucky to have an uncle travelling daily to the same suburb. Once he retired, I was 16, my mum’s best friend took me in three days of each week. Daily travel was four hours a day.
“My parents have copped some criticism for helping me continue this journey. All I know is, I probably gave them no option to say no to me. I have wanted this since I was four years old.
“We do not have a dance history, Mum wanted me to be a tennis player or swimmer…sorry Mum!” she smiled.
“My parents would insist on all schoolwork being done each week, and my report card had to be A for effort and behaviour. And chores had to be done each day/week. They’d even try to encourage other extra-curricular activities, and it was always ‘no thank you, I have ballet’.
“Mum and Dad shielded me, initially, from the costs of my dream. But as I got older, we had weekly budget meetings as we would have to factor in tuition fees, transport, 2-3 pairs of pointe shoes a fortnight, gym/recovery, physio, podiatry. No one ever tells you the podiatrist is your best friend for when weekly corn removal is required.
“Also dedicated private tuition to help work on the finer details of a variation for upcoming international competitions, auditions, RAD ballet exams. Travelling around Australia when a scout or company director from overseas was in.
“Often me travelling solo or with my grandma, so that Mum and Dad could both still work to support me, it’s a full family commitment and I am eternally grateful.”
Makenzee has two younger siblings, Johnson, 15, and Lincoln, 13, who have been amazing and patient dance brothers, and are both keen martial artists.
“I have enjoyed helping them with their flexibility exercises, when they let me!” Mackenzee laughed.
“Once I knew I was accepted into English National Ballet’s Graduate Artist Program, we had a serious discussion on setting a program with my teachers that allowed me the opportunity to also have a couple of part-time/casual jobs. By doing this I was able to save the required funds needed for my UK Youth Mobility Visa.
“Dad and Mum are supporting me for this 12-month contract with ENB GAP. Rent and outgoings in London (sharing with another Aussie) is the same as a monthly mortgage payment here in Australia!
“They also give me a weekly allowance for groceries, travel and incidentals. My mum’s best friend even set up a Go Fund Me to help me live this dream.”
And she is off to a stunning start in her career - Makenzee was just selected to perform in the corps de ballet of George Balinchine’s Symphony in Three Movements with the
English National Ballet Company.
She truly is dancing into her dreams.
If you want to support Mackenzee, her Go Fund page is: gofund.me/e45afaf40, and her dedicated Instagram page is:_makenzee.speak_
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