Sunshine Coast Community Dance Network
An Interview With Tiina Alinen
We recently inverviewed Tiina Alinen, one of the founders of the Sunshine Coast Community Dance Network. She talks about her background, current projects, her future and dance on the Sunshine Coast
What is your dance background?
I was born in Mount Isa, Queensland and studied ballet at the Shirley Stewart School of Dance before accepting a position at the Australian Ballet School. After graduating I worked with Tasdance for two years. From there I took a year off dancing full time due to an injury and accepted a position as lecturer in contemporary dance at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
I went on to study contemporary dance further in New York and on my return accepted an invitation to dance and teach with Leigh Warren’s Australian Dance Theatre. After that I chose to leave performing full time to pursue motherhood and continued to teach and choreograph in Queensland.
How did you become involved with the SCCDN?
In early 1996 I moved back to the Sunshine Coast after living in Brisbane for three years and lecturing in Contemporary Dance at QUT. My reason for relocating was to give my young children the experience of living on acreage in a regional area and to enjoy my time with them while they were children. This decision included turning down a renewed contract with QUT dance program. Instead I chose to work in a regional area with no offer of work in sight. Not a good financial decision but one filled with adventure and a love of dance, in whatever form that would emerge.
I soon learnt that I was not going to get work with the local dance studio’s after only one response to sending my resume out. I then turned my attention to what was happening in schools in the region having worked with TasDance, a dance in education company for two years earlier in my career. To my delight, I very quickly started meeting some very interesting people. Roy Oorloff, Jo Byrne, Kate Perry, Cath Gray, Linley Boyle, all involved in teaching and promoting the arts in schools in this region.
The pioneering Kate Perry began a network to bring teachers together to offer upskilling workshops in dance to support their work in schools. Roy Oorloff soon after was appointed the regions Key Learning Arts Regional Officer (under the Keating government) and was based at Nambour Nambour School. He was a tremendous support to me as an independent dance artist working in schools. Together we wrote many funding proposals to offer diverse dance experiences to the youth in this region. It was then the phrase ‘offer diverse dance experiences’ was born and theoriginal network’s name was changed to the Sunshine Coast Community Dance Network.
I saw myself as the link between professional artists, youth and the education sector. I was the one without a continued source of employment, I had time on my hands so I created projects to help promote dance in this region and challenge myself professionally.
What is your philosophy about teachers of dance keeping involved in the artform?
I strongely encourage teachers of dance to involve themselves in creative projects themselves, to keep experiencing the ‘art’ of dancing which in turn supports the ‘art’ of teaching dance. I began community dance classes years ago to offer teachers a place to go and be dancers themselves. I also have invited teachers to be performers in dance projects initiated by the SCCDN.
What are your thoughts about how dance has developed on the Sunshine Coast?
The profile of dance has come a long way but there is still work to be done. Julie Chenery (past executive officer) of Ausdance Queensland was a huge support to the SCCDN in this regard. Having that state and national support helped Coasties see that there is more to dance than a stylised western technique, dance is for everyone! Celebrating national dance week became a focus for the network (dance month) and financial support came from the Maroochy and Caloundra Shires for many years through their regional arts development fund.
The profile of contemporary dance has developed through projects incorporating dance in art galleries in the region, outdoor public spaces and community workshops. There are too many to mention from over the years. Perhaps with time a gallery can be put on this website so your audience can view the wide scope of dance activity that has happened in this region. It is exciting to see more artists choosing to live and work here.
What are you up to now?
I have just returned from teaching contemporay dance at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts for their winter school. They invite international teachers each year to expose their students to a range of teaching styles. Lucky students.
I am about to join dance artist Jean Tally at the Australian Choreographic Centre for some professional development in digital technology for live performance and after Easter I am off to the New Zealand School of Dance to be their guest contemporary dance lecturer for term two. To finish the year off, I will be performing and choreographing with Expressions Dance Company for the project ‘Either side of 40’.
I feel so blessed to have had the time on the Sunshine Coast to develop as a person, a mother and as an artist. I continue to work locally at The SCADA Centre (Sunshine Coast Academy of Dance and Dramatic Arts), Cooloola Institute of Tafe and NIAOTA, (National Indigenous Academy of Performing Arts).
And finally, I had the pleasure late last year to combine two loves of mine, where I live and people who dance, in a community arts project entitled ‘Movement in Landscape’. Have a look at the website on www.alinenarts.org.
