Hot Talent Watch
Jordan Grant
Fresh from the success of Phly Crew and the second season of The Dream Dance Company, Jordan Grant is setting himself new challenges in both dance and life. From Pokémon to Rockets … Find out what makes Jordan tick.
***
Q: What have you been up to in the past year?
The past year has been a busy one – 2016 has been good. I started the year doing a Phly Crew show and NIDA… it was really fun. Then I did The Dream Dance Company and toured with that…. That’s been fun.
Q: Who are some of your most influential mentors right now?
In my immediate circle, James Barry and Neale Whittaker are my biggest influences ever. I call Neale ‘dad’… he’s practically my dad! … and people like Marco Panzic and Stephen Tannos … the things that they do in, and for, our industry are really inspire me. So there’s quite a few people that inspire me and even everyone that I get to dance with on a daily basis.
Q: What would be the theme song for your life at this moment?
I like that question! I feel like it would change a lot… mostly it would be the Pokémon theme song, and then every now and then there would be a Katy Perry or Britney Spears song in there somewhere!
Q: Why Pokémon?
Just because it’s a great song really and I feel like it just applies to my life so well… “you’ve just got to catch them all” really if you think about it.
Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I’m starting to university! I’ve told quite a few people recently, and every time I tell people they’re really supportive and ask what I’m doing. They’re always really surprised to learn I’m studying aeronautical engineering… so learning to build rockets and stuff, and that I want to work at NASA one day. Everyone is usually surprised to hear that.
Q: So how will study fit around Phly Crew and everything else?
It will be a difficult year. But we are having a scheduled day every week for Phly Crew and… yeah I’ll just have to make it work I guess … just balance my time.
Q: What should every dancer try at least once in their lives?
In Dance, I think everyone should try being on stage… then you know if it’s something you’ll want to do this for the rest of your life… that’s when you know. I haven’t had as much experience as some people being on stage or in theatres, but even being on stage with the limited time I’ve had… I’m like… ‘yeah that’s where I want to be!’
Dancing in the studio and jamming with my friends is one of my favourite things to do, but the end goal is to be in theatre. I want to be on stage. So everyone needs to try that.
And every dancer needs to step out of their comfort zone; because then they know how they’ll deal with that in other situations. Stepping out of my comfort zone is something that helped me with life overall really. A random example is… someone calls you up and asks you to teach a class this afternoon, and just being able to give it a go at the last minute and say yes is a big deal. I’ve learned that in this industry is everything is thrown at you and you just have to deal with it as best you can. And be confident!
Q: What can we expect to see from you in the coming year aside from studying at uni?
I’m hoping that everyone will see a lot more individual creativity from me. I’ve got some projects lined up in my head, not set in stone yet, but things that I want to try and accomplish individually. I’m still going to be doing heaps of stuff with Phly Crew but I just want to experiment and see where that goes.
