watch this face - ross hannaford
The Age - 25 May 2007 - The Melbourne Magazine - Deborah Blashki-Marks

Ross Hannaford knew he wanted to dance when he was five. Now, at 22, the VCA graduate is focused on his career in musical theatre.

As a five-year-old boy watching his three older sisters put on their tutus and leotards and head off to dance class, Ross Hannaford was determined not to be left behind, so he started dance lessons too. "In my first concert they had me sing and dance to YMCA in a multi-coloured rainbow leotard," says Hannaford, who was the only boy in his class. "But even at five I knew I wanted to dance. Mum and Dad thought it was great and dance became my life."

By 19, the former Camberwell Primary schoolboy was travelling the world on tour with We Will Rock You, the rock musical tribute to Queen, singing Bohemian Rhapsody alongside the real band when it joined the musical's cast at Sydney's Lyric Theatre in 2004. As an ensemble understudy in the musical, Hannaford had to learn the parts of nine characters and be on call to slip into a role if somebody was sick. "Sometimes I was thrown on halfway through the show," he recalls. "It's an amazing adrenaline rush. You have to be very strong mentally. It can play with your head."

Hannaford, whose roles invariably require him to sing as well as dance, has rarely been out of work since he was nine, when he was cast to play Tiny Tim in the musical Scrooge at the Princess Theatre. More recently, the 22-year-old was selected to play the role of Theo in the musical Pippin in Sydney, the first production of the new Kookaburra national musical theatre company.

But Hannaford's excitement at the role was tempered by the death in April of his mother, Marlene, after a 10-year battle with breast cancer. "I wanted Mum to come to the opening night of Pippin. She was frail but she said she'd be fine and that she'd hold on for me," he says. "It happened so quickly. It snuck up on us even though we knew she was sick. She died halfway through Pippin's opening night."

Hannaford, who still lives at home, was incredibly close to his mother. "She will live in all of us forever no matter what happens," he says. "She had six kids; we lost my little brother when he was three days old. But that's life; it makes us all who we are."

Of his electrician father, Geoff, a former Vietnam SAS soldier, Hannaford says: "Dad taught me perseverance and dedication. He did everything he did with absolute perfection and worked so hard to provide for us. I learnt so much about how to persist from Dad."

The young performer put his father's lessons to work at the Victorian College of the Arts School of Dance, which accepted him when he was 12 after a tough audition. "I danced up to seven lessons a day for six years and studied dance anatomy and theory. It was the best time of my life because I could be creative and do my study," says Hannaford, who took conventional school classes as well, studying for VCE alongside his VCA dance subjects. "You have to have the right body, the right attitude and an obsession with dance just to survive the gruelling hours and physical strain," he says.

Hannaford graduated from the VCA with a Diploma in Musical Theatre (2004) and a Diploma in Shakespeare and Contemporary Text (2006). During his time at VCA, he achieved the "Solo Seal", a high level qualification in classical dance in the prestigious Royal Academy of Dance's syllabus, although he chose not to pursue a career in classical dance in favour of one that would allow him to use broader skills.

When he was 18, Hannaford was invited by Cirque Du Soleil to attend a workshop in Montreal where he helped develop characters for a new production. "It opened my world up. They put on their music and I just danced. Last year they asked me back to workshop a specific character who introduces the crowd to the performers. They pushed me hard. I had to learn to clown. It was a great experience." He hopes to work again with the company. "The workshop showed them what I can do."

Travelling goes with the territory for Hannaford and he has danced around the world although, because of his mother's declining health, he recently rejected an offer to tour for two years with a musical. "I've always believed you have to balance life choices with your profession and for me right now I don't want to be too far from my family," says Hannaford. "Mum is always a reminder that you must live a fulfilled life and live with no regret. I'm doing my best to do that."'



Note: Above photograph appeared with the original article.
Thanks again to nuingiliath !