When you think of Canberra, not many people think of our booming arts culture. Politicians, public servants, even roundabouts, maybe, but not usually artists, music, theatre, and dancers.
Leena Wall, Director of Fresh Funk at the Tuggeranong Arts Centre, Canberra’s leading hip-hop and contemporary dance program, has been breaking down that ACT stereotype since 2000.
What started as a simple one-class-a-week youth program, is now considered to have changed the landscape of dance in the ACT.
“At the time, we just called it Street Dance, it was like a short course for 12-15 year olds on a Saturday,” Leena says. “It had quite a big response, that first term, a full class without really having to do anything … and suddenly we had a consistent dance program on our hands down here.”
“That was the first taste of anything hip-hop. There was no hip-hop or street dance at all in the ACT at that time. I was the first person to be doing that here.”
The heart of art in South Canberra
Nestled against the shores of Lake Tuggeranong stands one of the ACT’s oldest community arts facilities. Open six days a week, Tuggeranong Arts Centre is a creative hub and gathering place which connects people, creates new experiences, and celebrates the arts in Canberra’s south, all while being funded by the ACT Government.
Today, over 300 dancers are enrolled in Fresh Funk, participating in an annual program of 18 term-based classes, regular masterclasses, 2 large scale shows, and 2 Fresh Faced Choreographers Initiatives.
With experience spanning over two decades, and multiple states and territories, Leena has ensured her dance programs have something for everyone. Leena strives to break the preconception that passionate artists need to pay huge amounts of money, or move to Australia’s cultural hubs like Melbourne or Sydney, to pursue a successful career in the arts.
“I think it’s an old-fashioned thought now, but at some stage there was that thought that ‘the arts was in the city’, you know, and that was it. Well, no, the arts is everywhere,” she says.
“I think people can be quite surprised by what is actually on their doorstep, sometimes it’s just about getting out, to look around, or to get involved.”
Fresh Funk prides itself on its success stories, with multiple ‘Freshies’ going on to work professionally in the dance sector.
“You turn on The Voice and one of our boys is dancing behind Jason Derulo on the TV. Or for the Rugby League Grand Final, when Macklemore was performing, one of our girls was dancing behind Macklemore in Sydney.”
“Some of these people are people who, as kids, if Fresh Funk didn’t exist they wouldn’t have become dancers. Because they didn’t come from families that necessarily had the income to spend on kids dancing.”
When speaking on the non-profit nature of Tuggeranong Arts centre, and the for-purpose funding provided by the ACT Government, Leena emphasised the immense community-focussed need for arts as the driving factor behind artsACT funding.
“The Arts Centre’s role in our community is to benefit our surroundings. We are funded based on what we can offer to our community, to bring things to the community that may not always be accessible,” she says.
“From the jump, it was a community focussed program. It has always been super affordable because the Arts Centre is non-profit, so it’s a very different feel to a commercial entity where opportunities may be afforded to those who can pay for them.”
“A lot of our projects are actually free. We could charge and make money, but we work against that,” she says.
“The arts doesn’t have to be some hoity-toity thing. Arts is art. You’re still making incredible art, wherever you are.”
Fresh Funk offers classes for children as young as 18 months, to older dancers above the age of 55. Visit the Tuggeranong Arts Centre’s webpage to find out more about how you can participate in the ACT’s community arts culture.