Meet the Coryphées: Hugo Dumapit

I realised I wanted ballet to be my career from when I was around 15-16 years old. It was at the same time that I began auditioning for The Australian Ballet School, and, for me, being accepted into The School was the next step towards becoming a professional dancer.

Growing up I had the opportunity to watch a lot of performances from a young age. I remember I loved watching Daniel Gaudiello and Kevin Jackson perform and I would also spend hours watching videos of Ángel Corella, Carlos Acosta and Sergei Polunin.

People might not know that ballet's origins go back to 17th Century France. Royalty and the upper classes would perform elaborate dances in court, known as ballet de cour (court ballet).

I love to DJ as a hobby. For me, it’s another way to explore and express myself creatively that’s completely different from classical ballet. It also allows me a greater appreciation for a wide range of music on the opposite side of the spectrum.

It’s been my hobby for about four years now and the genre’s I would play the most would be house, techno and disco. I'm quite passionate about electronic music, and I often attend music festivals and concerts for local electronic artists when I have time.

Recently, I’ve really loved dancing to the music in Stephanie Lake’s Circle Electric. Robin Fox created the techno soundtrack which is such a cool piece of music and so different to what I'm used to dancing to, it’s been an amazing experience.