22/11/2022
Anzac Corkery - “I was born I Lismore Base on 14th June 2006 and I’ve grown up living in Ballina and Alstonville. I went to St Joseph’s primary school in Alstonville and I’m now at Woodlawn College in Lismore for High school.
I started dancing when I was 5 and I’ve never stopped. I’m 16 now so have been dancing for 10 years.
My sisters were already dancing so my parents just sort of chucked me in there and I’ve loved it ever since. I do a bit of everything in dance but Tap is where my heart lies and I would love to still be doing that genre when I’m older.
I guess I was lucky I had a male dance teacher who was my mentor as not many boys dance at all. Now I’m seen as the mentor for the young boys coming into the dance school. I also teach Tap dance to 10 - 12 year old kids which I love and I really enjoy getting into the teaching role. I train about 17 hours a week plus competitions when they’re on.
I started competing in solo comps in 2017 and won a few local eistedfords and then expanded into Brisbane, Gold Coast and I won those too. Last year in December I won the Nationals in Tap Dancing for my age group in a competition called Get the Beat. I had to get a wild card entry into that as I hadn’t participated in any of the Australia wide comps but they know me from previous competitions so I had to dance above my age group. I was dancing against 19 year olds and I won which was cool.
(Anzac’s Mum Lisa - “Anzac has Autism Spectrum Disorder level 2, my 4 kids do. Dance has been his therapy. It’s a massive achievement for any dancer to make the world finals, let alone someone who struggles daily with the limitations of ASD, so we are so proud of Anzac. I’m a single parent and the cost of classes and costumes is huge. With 3 of my 4 kids dancing is about $30K a year with the lessons, costumes, Private lessons for their solos, it is huge but my kids love it and take it seriously and I feel it’s important for their wellbeing.”)
I find dancing such a good release from school and family life. It’s a bit of escapism, just getting out and being creative. The friendships I have made, like decade long friendships and I’m only 16, is the best thing.
I would get the same satisfaction performing in Singapore as I do performing on a street in Byron. I’ve just got my busking licence so I can dance in the streets. I have everything I need to busk, speakers, Tap boards and shoes, everything I need, so if you are in Byron and see me, chuck a few dollars in the little hat. All the money I make from busking will go toward the trip to the finals. I’ll most likely be performing at the fundraiser as well.
Winning the Nationals got me qualified to go into the World Finals in Singapore this December and we are currently fundraising to get me there. My mum is putting on a trivia night at Plateau Sports Club in Alstonville on the 3rd December at 6pm. There’ll be raffles, a silent auction and fun games. You can book a ticket or a table and you can contact my mum Lisa on 0435 233 869. Please come and have some fun. I would really love to get to the World comp. I need about $8,000 but haven’t raised any as yet so any donations would be very helpful.
For the first few years I danced mainly for fun and I wasn’t too invested. What made me take dance more seriously was, in 2016 I went down to Sydney with my Mum and we went to a Prince concert at the Sydney State theatre. We started with nose bleed seats, really bad, right up the back but we slowly scammed our way down to the front, standing at the side. I was 9 at the time and I was having the best time dancing and Prince happened to notice me. He pulled me up on stage to dance so I was the last person in the world to dance on stage with Prince. For someone like Prince to notice me then I think I have a chance at the World titles.
I go into Year 11 next year so looking forward to that. I’m also doing pretty well in the whole school thing so academically I’m giving it my all as well.
(Footnote - Lisa said she hadn’t set up a GoFund me because she said she didn’t like getting money for nothing. I encouraged her to set one up because I think it would be so amazing to have someone like Anzac representing our little neck of the woods in the World Titles. We need positive stuff right now so I have attached the Gofund me. If you can’t make the Trivia night there is another option. Even the cost of a coffee will help get him there. Thanks HOL xx
https://gofund.me/303b2fe2
