- (CELLO PLAYS)
- When I dance, I feel a lot of freedom.
I love to jump and I get extreme height and I feel like I'm flying.
Just expressing yourself in those tiny seconds,
little timeframes, is what makes me really happy.
My name is Hugo. I'm born in Hong Kong.
I go to high school and study ballet in Brisbane, Queensland.
- One, and two, and three, and show me this position, please.
- We are very lucky here at Kelvin Grove State College
to be not just a high school,
but also the home of an incredible world-class training campus,
the Queensland Ballet Academy.
It was a passion project in partnership with the director
of the Queensland Ballet Company, Li Cunxin,
known around the world as "Mao's Last Dancer."
- All right. No pressure.
The Queensland Ballet Academy at Kelvin Grove State College
is so unique and is so special.
The model allows the students to have the best possible academic education,
as well as the dance education
and their training all under one roof.
And that's unique in the world.
What I see is this.
Could I go a little bit like a breath?
We have six incredible studios
where the dancers, the students, the teachers
can be so inspired when they walk in.
And also we've got a fitness studio,
where there's pilates or weightlifting, gain the upper-body strength,
and classrooms where they can get dance history.
Almost. That's it. That's it.
I love seeing them practise with passion,
with dedication, with that great work ethic.
The vision for the academy was always to train
the best possible talent in dance,
and not just for Queensland Ballet but for the world.
Go as high as you can. Go up.
- Mr Li inspired me a lot because he also jumps really high.
And I really wanna be like him in the future.
I've seen videos of him dancing and he is an amazing dancer.
Hopefully, one day, I could be good enough and travel,
dance around the world. That is my dream.
- (Dhuha) The students here have a very long day.
So the first half of the day is where they're in their ballet classes.
- And then after lunch,
we change into our uniform and go to school and study.
My friends at the academy is also my classmates.
And they're basically my second family, I spend so much time with them.
- Hands up who's got the answer for the angular distance.
- (Hugo) My teachers at school are all really considerate,
because they know we have a lot of training in the morning.
It's definitely not easy to juggle so many things at the same time.
But you think about the future and what you want to be.
- (Dhuha) The admiration I have for these students is...
words cannot describe.
How are your classes? - Erm, classes are fine.
- So my role here is to support and monitor the international students.
We also do check-ins once a month
just to ensure that he's doing well, not only academically,
but also in his ballet studies, as well.
- (Hugo) I do ballet six days a week
and academic five days a week.
It's really tough, but on the seventh day,
we get to relax and have fun with my friends.
- This is so good. - Family portrait!
- (Dhuha) Brisbane is a fantastic choice for students like Hugo.
It's a safe place. It's a relaxing place.
The weather is fantastic here.
We're so lucky we've got world-class universities here.
We've got one right on our doorstep.
We have world-class attractions here.
- (Hugo) I was doing plie so much, my quads were literally dying.
- Your quads are always hurting.
- (Hugo) Me and my friends have been to Queensland Art Gallery,
and they have this amazing chandelier display that's just breathtaking.
It's so crystally. Is that a real word?
Brisbane, to me, is a city filled with arts and culture,
but at the same time, it can be wild and filled with nature, as well.
You can basically do anything you want here.
You can do outdoor activities, but on the next second,
you could be all dressed up and go to this nice ballet show.
The activities here is really diverse, and I think people coming here
can experience a lot of things they never experienced before.
I was really surprised to see a beach in the middle of the city.
- (Dhuha) Brisbane is always growing and evolving.
For example, we have a new project, Queen's Wharf,
which is going to be in the heart of inner-city Brisbane.
It's an exciting new tourist and entertainment oasis
for visitors and locals right on the river.
- (Hugo) That reminds me of the ferries back in Hong Kong,
similar to, like, the CityCats in Brisbane.
In Hong Kong, everyone's just all rushed.
But Brisbane is just, everyone's so relaxed and chilled.
If you're considering coming to Brisbane to study,
that's definitely a really good idea,
because it's just a really beautiful city.
I hope that I could stay in Brisbane
to continue training my ballet skills
and become a ballet dancer,
even after high school, and keep pursuing that dream.