A FRESH START

A FRESH START

Jessica Chen & Aleeya McFadyen-Rew

These days many kids on their third birthday get a bike with training wheels or a crazy amount of barbie dolls. You probably can’t see where I’m headed, but over a decade ago on her third birthday Aleeya McFadyen-Rew started dancing. There weren’t many dance studios in New Zealand as there are now and her first class was held in a church hall. Now fifteen at Chilton Dance Centre and Chilton Ballet Academy (CBA) she holds various dance accolades and a number of trophies and ribbons. I’ve also recently had the privilege of attending Winter School with Aleeya and can say that I’ve never been happier with my decision to interview her as she is an authentic and beautiful dancer. 

After chatting about the dreary Wellington weather on a Saturday afternoon we started by talking about how many styles of dance she’s done. Which is (not surprisingly) A LOT. Eight (at least) to be exact; contemporary, ballet, jazz, hip hop, tap, lyrical, character and even ballroom. Talk about a wide variety! “My favourite competition dance I’ve ever done is probably my contemporary one I have at the moment which is actually based on the character of the Joker”. Aleeya plans on making a career out of dance, contemporary specifically (her favourite and the best style in her opinion). Which is totally understandable considering she recently got accepted into New Zealand School of Dance’s (NZSD) full-time contemporary program for 2022. NZSD’s Winter School also happens to be her favourite dance seminar along with the Kairos Dance Convention which includes more modern dance workshops (hip hop and contemporary etc). 

The NZSD contemporary associate says that she is constantly inspired by her dance teachers and Crystal Pite; her favourite contemporary choreographer from Canada. One of her favourite dance performances Aleeya has seen was by The Dream Dance Company when they travelled to New Zealand. “I think the best thing about dance is that it’s a way for you to not focus on other things in your life. School is especially stressful for me so dance is a way for me to just ‘move n groove’ and forget about the things like school.” When asked what she enjoyed most about being part of Chilton Ballet Academy she said it was the fact that she got to dance during the day as well as doing academics.  

If there are any fellow dancers out there I’m sure you would agree it was pretty hard to get out of bed and to find the motivation to go to zoom classes. This was one of the things Aleeya has found particularly hard during her many years of dance during lockdown. Like many of us she also went through the ‘indie phase’ during lockdown, along with the pink princess turned gothic phase when she was younger. Her sense of fashion doesn’t come from anyone in particular “mostly just my Pinterest boards and various pieces I’ve thrifted”. Something that is on her wardrobe wish-list is a pair of Dr Marten boots. On the topic of wardrobe I also took the liberty of asking Aleeya about some of her not so good stage costumes. “A card. I was literally a card once with a front and back of paper and l wore a red unitard underneath and fishnet tights- it was just not it.” Now to me, that does not sound like a very movement accommodating costume.

Like many of us, McFadyen-Rew said she would be the most starstruck if she met was Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp who is quite the craze at the moment. Speaking of crazes, her favourite trend at the moment are haircutting trends. “I love the TikTok videos of people cutting bangs, getting buzz cuts and styling/dying their hair in different ways.” I can assure you we will be seeing Aleeya on big stages and dancing for various companies (even overseas) in the future. But for now we say bonne chance for your future endeavours Aleeya and au revoir to you lovely readers.

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Here's to a fresh start,

Jess X

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