Meet 2015 Telstra Ballet Dancer Award Nominee Ako Kondo
Ako was born in Nagoya, Japan in 1991 and at the age of three began her training at Shiho Kanazawa Ballet Studio.
As a youngster, she was told she wasn’t suited to ballet which upset her greatly but, she explains, “something clicked in my head and I was like ‘okay, I’m not going to think about negatives. I’m going to think about positives’”. That’s just as well, as in 2005 Ako won second prize at the Japan Grand Prix and in 2006, she studied at The Royal Ballet School’s International Summer School.
In 2007, she was awarded The Australian Ballet School Tuition Scholarship, which was announced at the Youth America Grand Prix.
Ako toured with The Dancers Company in 2008 and in 2010 she joined The Australian Ballet. She was promoted to senior artist for the 2014 season. This is Ako’s second nomination for the prestigious Telstra Australian Ballet Award.
In her role as Telstra Ballet Dancer Award nominee, Ako collaborated with the acclaimed Sculptor Dion Horstmans. See what inspired them in this short video, then read her exclusive Q&A with TheCarousel.com below.
What beauty products do you use when you’re getting ready backstage?
Most of my makeup products are from Chacott. Chacott is a Japanese ballet brand and they make stage makeup as well. As a ballet dancer, we need to use a lot of makeup, especially when you are doing character roles. Chacott’s makeup products are the most sensitive, delicate and glamorous products I have ever used. Also they are heavy enough to stay on during the whole performance, and sometimes two shows a day!
How do you achieve healthy glowing skin?
Our stage makeup is a quite heavy, and we sweat a lot during the performance on stage, so I always make sure that I put the foundation primer on first. This helps the makeup stay on, and does not give me break-outs afterwards.
How important is a strict diet for a ballet dancer? Tell us what your day on a plate looks like?
I don’t have much of strict diet. But the only thing I really care about is ‘hydrating’. We work eight hours a day starting from a warm up class to rehearsals to the performances. We are constantly sweating so I always make sure that I drink water consistently and also a Gatorade straight after the show.
What do you to relax?
I like to spend time with my puppy toy poodle. His name is Ted. We go walking, play and even nap together! After a long day of rehearsals, I am usually exhausted. But whenever I see Ted, I feel happy and relaxed. I also love calling my mum who lives in Japan. We just talk about what has been happening in our lives and laugh.
What advice would you give to budding ballerinas?
My really old ballet studio teacher used to say that while you always need to work harder, you can only do it if you love ballet. If you don’t love ballet, if you are not passionate, you will never be able to work harder. So I’d say, if you love ballet, just keep challenging yourself, keep working. Sometimes you can get really down because the life of a ballerina is such hard work. But if you love it, you will improve and get better and then you can start to dream big.
What’s the biggest misconception about ballerinas?
When I was young, I used to think ballet was just for Western people, not for Asians. I always thought you need to have long legs, long arms, beautiful hyper extended legs and a small tiny face to be a ballerina. One of my ballet teachers even said to me once that my body was not suitable for ballet. I got told my legs and arms were not long enough, my hips were not turned out and I was too short. But I watched a documentary of Miyako Yoshida (A former ballerina from The Royal Ballet) when I was 14. She said ‘I don’t have long legs like the others but I can move much faster than the others because I have shorter legs than them.’ I was amazed by her. Ballet is not about how high your leg can go up, how many turns you can do, how amazing your feet are, how small your face is. Ballet is about how much you can express yourself with your body. Ballet is an art form.
What was the most creative/enjoyable/difficult/unexpected aspect of your collaboration with Sculptor Dion Horstmann?
I had a great time with Dion Horstmann working on the Telstra films. No one has ever created an artwork by watching me dance. I just kept dancing with my feelings in front of him and he sketched this most creative sculpture for me and then created this amazing sculpture in real life. An artist and an artist meets and creates something together, shares each other’s souls and understands each other. It was such a joy to create this unique sculpture.
What do you love about the fashion/costumes you get to wear in these beautiful productions?
The costumes are almost like vintage dresses. Some of the costume are from 1970’s. When I did my first principal role with The Australian Ballet in 2013, I played ‘Kitri’ from Don Quixote. I got to wear a costume that has been flying around the world. In my first costume fitting, I saw that the label on the costume had so many world famous ballet dancers’ names on it (from the past) including our own Australian prima ballerina, Lucinda Dunn. I love the fact we can carry on the history by wearing the same costume and seeing the names of world famous ballerinas (who previously wore the costumes)– it gives me an extra energy and confidence on stage!
How would you describe your off-duty style?
I like going to the South Melbourne market with my partner and puppy, grabbing some brunch around that area and some fresh blooms from the market! I like to relax when I’m not working.
What do you see yourself doing after your ballet career?
When I was a young ballerina, I saw so many amazing ballet dancers and I got inspired every single time. I want to inspire this generation’s young ballerinas like I was, and teach them what I have learnt through my career as a ballerina with The Australian Ballet.
To find out more about the Telstra Ballet Dancer Awards go to telstra.com/ballet.
