Australia's best dancers get dirty
12 February 2010 By Lauren Rago
“5, 6, 7, 8 and right turn. 5, 6, 7, 8 quick march. Left, left, left, right, left, twist, kick and jump.” This is the interpretative drill heard throughout HMAS Cerberus on 1 February as 20 dancers from Network TEN’s So You Think You Can Dance experienced the Navy for a day.
Defence Force Recruiting (DFR) Navy Marketing recently embarked on a media sponsorship package with the popular So You Think You Can Dance reality TV show. Each year DFR purchases advertising space in high rating TV series. This year they went one step further and developed a cost effective and powerful package that presented unique integration opportunities with the show’s Top 20 Dancers.
The Top 20 Dancers undertook the mud run, high ropes course and a PT session at Cerberus to further develop their teamwork skills; boost confidence; test physical fitness and have some fun. The experience was filmed and aired on the program’s Top 20 Showcase episode where the best dancers are introduced to Australia. Initially a little apprehensive at the sight of the activities planned for them, the Dancers committed whole heartedly and enjoyed the experience.
“I think they’re mad,” Kieran McMahon, a ballroom latin dancer from Melbourne, laughed.
“You can see the camaraderie with the Navy people; you can see how they would all help each other,” Matt Geronimi, also a ballroom latin dancer, said. “It helped with overcoming fear so was good for us all. Competition dancers have their own different fears, whether it is learning other genres, the stage or the camera. It showed us if you put your mind to something you can do it.”
“I think the mud run prepared us for long rehearsals in that you don’t give up, you dig deep,” Kieran said.
Leading Seamen Trish Muller and Nathan ‘Nato’ Adamson were the Navy Physical Training Instructors who lead the dancers for the day. “They were motivated, they were upbeat and they willing to do everything,” said Leading Seaman Muller. “They had a lot of confidence on the high ropes. They were very fit looking people.”
Rene Ritchie, a contemporary jazz dancer from Tasmania, was the first to tackle the high ropes course. “It was so scary. I was shaking. But it was really good. I definitely think you need to have courage to join the Navy. I actually feel really honoured to be here and do this stuff,” Rene said.
When asked about their thoughts on the Navy, all the dancers had good things to say.
“I never thought about joining, but I think I would enjoy this kind of environment. You would focus on building strength of all kinds and I think you would grow up heaps,” Heath Keating, a jazz lyrical dancer from the Gold Coast, said.
All the stars agreed the meals at the Senior Sailors Mess were ‘awesome’ and that the uniforms looked pretty cool. “When they walked past some trainees from Recruit School and saw them doing the exact same style of PT as they did, the dancers were impressed and pretty pleased,” Lieutenant Commander Dave Zanker from DFR said.
DFR selected So You Think You Think You Can Dance for a number of reasons. As well as being a high rating program amongst their primary target audience, there are obvious shared values between the two fields. Teamwork, perseverance and determination, being there for your mates and the importance of physical fitness are relevant to both dance and the Navy training environment.
“It is very important the public and DFR’s target audience are aware of the role fitness plays in the Navy and how valuable it is to the individual and the organisation,” Commander Elizabeth Mulder, Director Navy Reputation Management, said. “We want to remind people that fitness is part of daily life in the Navy, for work and for play.”
Dancer Heath will look back on the experience with pride. “During the group photo at the end of the mud run I thought this is a moment, this is one of those moments in life you always remember and look back on,” Heath said with a smile.
The activities filmed at Cerberus aired on national television on So You Think You Can Dance on 10 February 2010. Leading Seamen Trish Muller and Nato Adamson will also continue to support the Top 20 Dancers’ fitness regime by taking them for weekly PT sessions in Sydney. These sessions along with Navy branding will appear on a dedicated Navy section at the TEN So You Think You Can Dance website.
