Jaden Lal is a Melbourne-based artist trained in vocals, dance, acting and choreography. He has been singing since the age of 9 and has been dancing since 12. Jaden has greatly impacted the competition and commercial scene in Melbourne by influencing male and coloured artists throughout the community to take an interest in the arts by showing encouragement to young dancers, as well as being a part of different programs and attending dance workshops.

Jaden has trained in many places around Melbourne, which has given him many different resources and methods to create his practice based on the many other styles.

Jaden first started taking singing lessons at the age of 9 through his school The Lakes South Morang College. He worked with Mark Ruessel and Jane Smith for 5 years training in contemporary, classical and musical theatre techniques, allowing Jaden to have a wide range of expertise and utilise his voice in many aspects. Shelley Scown and Peter Myers further tutored him at the Northern College of the Arts and Technology, where he further trained in contemporary vocals and learned jazz and jazz improvisation. Jaden further went on to complete a Cert III in Music Performance and completed VCE Music Performance. The teachings from these industry professionals allowed Jaden to access his voice while also utilising his movement.

Jaden started dancing at Dance Discovery Lalor as a recreational dancer training in acrobatics, ballet and jazz for 5 years. This was his first initial experience with structured dance training and this led him to find an interest and passion in dance. Jaden then went to The Northern College in Arts and Technology training under Li-Anne Di Stefano and Melissa Yvonne Pham, specialising in commercial contemporary and jazz. At this institution, Jaden further completed his Cert II in Dance and VCE Dance. He also was a part of BC Talent which was a training program dedicated to dance tricks and technique, which is a staple in Jaden’s dance style, tutored by Brett Beckhurst and Phoebe Belles. Through this training, Jaden was accepted into an internationally known training program called Dance Prescription which was a huge achievement for Jaden. This program focused on jazz and lyrical technique Led by Lisa Ellis, and this was further supported by weekly ballet privates with Anne Ludwig. Jaden is currently completing his final year at The Victorian College of the Arts, executing a degree in Fine Arts (Dance).

National Photography

Teaching Statement

Gregory Lorenzutti

When teaching, I always like to focus on what the group of dancers may need while also being able to give my practice to the participants. Therefore, every workshop or class I teach is different and catered to the dancers, allowing them to take the class at their own pace.

The timeline of my class normally stays the same, yet it would be different for different groups. I always start with a group warmup, which consists of cardio and stretching, sometimes also including acro release and contact release. This will allow the dancers to build up a sweat and get the muscles ready for rigorous movement, allowing the class to perform to their full potential. I would follow this with a slow exercise focusing on mobilising the back, hips and legs, allowing movement into these specific areas these movers typically find these body parts quite tight after dance rehearsal or shows. A foot articulation exercise would follow this focusing on the notions of turnout and feet execution. This would prioritise how the dancers utilise the entire foot including their ankles and the line from the hip to the ends of the toe. It also allows the dancers to activate their piriformis muscle, VMO and side glutes by utilising turnout and extending the feet away from the body. For example, when executing a tendu, the dancer can focus on the heel pressing into the floor and the line created by the leg, while painting turnout even when the feet are not under the main body. Next would be a plie exercise incorporating a port de bras and tendu/degage promoting the flexion of the knee and utilising the back and arms in different balance points. I would then move on to a more fast-paced and travelling movement phrase that allows for the fast twitch muscles to activate and musicality to come into play. This allows the class to promote freedom of movement and softness, while also focusing on accuracy and technique. Following this movement phrase, I would move into a battement and petite allegro exercise that will employ the slow and fast twitch muscles and the feet, constantly referencing previous exercises. This would follow into a grande allegro exercise which would not only incorporate big jumps but also the utilisation of the back and arm position to aid in movement. I would then teach a final phrase that incorporates all of the values and muscles learned in the previous exercises and allow the dancers to reflect on the class and bring in artistry into this exercise. I would finish off the class with a cool down focusing on light stretching and a small meditation allowing the body and mind into a neutral state.