MOUNT Gambier dancer Keana Soper is living her dream after being accepted as part of internationally renowned dance crew The Lab.
Ms Soper’s 45-second video submission won The Lab’s selectors over, aligning the Hype Dance Studio director with the Los Angeles-based creative agency.
Now in her third week of The Lab training alongside around 60 new members from across the globe, Ms Soper said she had already learnt more than expected.
“We train twice a week together and because of time zones for me it is at 6.30am on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” Ms Soper said.
“So far we have had four different choreographers who have taught us new moves but there has also been teachers who gave us more of the psychology behind dancing and different learning types, communication and much more.”
Ms Soper said she was learning skills which would be passed down to students at the studio.
“It has allowed me to get to know people from across the world and choreographers that are world renowned,” Ms Soper said.
“Unless I was training in LA personally, I would never have had this opportunity in the first place so it has been surreal.”
A long-term fan of The Lab, Ms Soper said she drew most of her inspiration from the dance crew performance seen on television.
Brought to tears after receiving her confirmation email, Ms Soper said her selection was unexpected.
“When I did hear back I was home alone and read the email and it was just such a shock because I thought they would have rejected my application,” she said.
“I never expected the sessions to be what they are as they do go quite deeply into the world of dance, I honestly thought I would just be watching them dance and learning from that but there is so much more to it than that.
“It is fantastic because what we learn is helping me with my teaching and I can further that onto my students, it has allowed me to recognise different behaviours in my students and how to better respond to those behaviours to further push them and help them grow.”
