Louis Ho brings you a new take on the passions of Throb Nightclub dancer, Territory local Ricky Borg.
“Natural and unnatural, hard and soft – this represents me and my versatility as a dancer.”
On a fine afternoon I am approached by a devilishly
handsome young man. As our eyes meet, I stand still. I feel as though he is
gazing deep down into my soul.
This fine gentleman greets me confidently, while I nervously introduce myself. The air around us thickens, as if it could somehow sense the presence of two individuals conversing with great intensity.
As we assimilate ourselves back within society that day, there is a conveniently positioned café for us to sit down inside. Before I could offer Ricky Borg a cup of coffee at the front counter, he beats me to it. It is my first time in a café, so I embarrassingly ask what ‘and the lot’ means when served with coffee.
At a table (for the interview), the meal is laid bare. I am intrigued by its presentation. “That’s your cookie,” he says. “You eat it and then drink the coffee,” he laughs. I happily oblige.
Later, during the day, I ask Ricky for a couple of pictures for this blog. He happily obliges again. When it comes to his surroundings [for the below shot], Ricky explains the significance of the chosen location: “The meaning of the trees and the fence is natural and unnatural, hard and soft - this represents me and my versatility as a dancer.”
This fine gentleman greets me confidently, while I nervously introduce myself. The air around us thickens, as if it could somehow sense the presence of two individuals conversing with great intensity.
As we assimilate ourselves back within society that day, there is a conveniently positioned café for us to sit down inside. Before I could offer Ricky Borg a cup of coffee at the front counter, he beats me to it. It is my first time in a café, so I embarrassingly ask what ‘and the lot’ means when served with coffee.
At a table (for the interview), the meal is laid bare. I am intrigued by its presentation. “That’s your cookie,” he says. “You eat it and then drink the coffee,” he laughs. I happily oblige.
Later, during the day, I ask Ricky for a couple of pictures for this blog. He happily obliges again. When it comes to his surroundings [for the below shot], Ricky explains the significance of the chosen location: “The meaning of the trees and the fence is natural and unnatural, hard and soft - this represents me and my versatility as a dancer.”
Louis: What shows do
you perform in at the Darwin Festival?
Ricky: This year I am
performing in the Backyards Unplugged Pool Party event and I’m also performing in the Throb Nightclub Late Show which I guess
is part of the festival.
Louis: How are these two
shows meaningful to you?
Ricky:These two
shows are completely different so I love all these different things about
them. I guess I’ll
start with the pool party. It’s a site specific show. It’s performed at the
pool, instead of a theatre. We are doing our take on synchronised swimming.
Louis: So how do you get the audience captivated and involved?
Ricky: Well, we do sort of hilarious things around them. [Last year] we wore clothes
with high waist-length pants and the swimming caps on. So we like taking on a
beach party where we are sipping our drinks in a characterised way.
[Laughs] We
are doing a lot of that around the pool.
So in the beginning
of the performance, [the audience] don’t know where or how we are doing it. We
travel a lot. So in last year’s performance, we performed at a random time when
the pool was mostly clear. People who do not get the ‘hint’ will get performed.
That’s the fun in it. That’s the pool
party, and now on to Throb. I’ve been employed there for eight years now.
[Laughs]
The thing I love
about it is that I get to entertain a different audience every weekend.
Since I’ve been performing for eight years, the audience keeps on
changing. Darwin is such a transit community. People are always moving around,
not necessary staying here.
Louis: What drew you to dancing and performing?
Ricky: I was in high school when a friend of mine asked me to come to a dance class.
So I went to the dance class, and a few weeks later we did a performance. I
absolutely loved it! After that, they asked me to audition for a track show. So
I went to the audition and got through. I had the time of my life. From there,
I’ve been involved with a lot of work with dance companies.
Louis: Was there any other passion that you thought of pursuing, before your friend
introduced you to dance?
Ricky: Honestly, I had no idea. I hadn’t really found what I wanted to do yet. Before
that dance class, I did not think that I could dance and the like. But when I
went there, it introduced me to a whole new world. From there, I thought to
myself that this was the one thing that I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
Louis: Do you ever take on back-up dancer roles as well?
Ricky: Well, it depends…Back-up dancer implies that you are working in a group, where
essentially there will be a main performer. A majority of the work that I do
are group performances.
In the pool party
show, there isn’t really a main performer out of the group. We are an ensemble
and perform in unison. So, these roles are what I mainly get [being part of group performances].
Louis What do you want to say to the potential customer who comes to the Darwin
Festival and might be interested in coming to see your performances?
Ricky: I would say: “Come down to the Nightcliff pool on Sunday the 25th of
August to the pool party event. It’s going to be a Williams-esque extravaganza,
with lots of splashing about and poolside good times!” [Laughs]
I would also say:
“Get down to Throb on Friday and Saturday night to see Darwin’s favourite divas
and dancers perform in our fabulous shows!”
Louis: What are your future aspirations and goals in life?
Ricky: I’m actually auditioning for a lead dance school in Sydney this year. So what I
want to do when I go down there is to refine my skills. After I do that, I will
become a professional full-time dancer.
I plan on backing
up Beyoncé. I want to go on her world tour. That’s my ultimate plan in life. If
I could do that, I would die a happy man. But realistically, I want to be a
recording artist. I want to work on cruise ships. I want to travel the world
[when there is an] opportunity.
For all the people who have come to support and encourage me, I would like to
do the same for the younger generation with my knowledge [in the future].
-----
After we bid each other adieu,
I noticed that I was still holding a full cup of coffee and my phone (used to
take photographs). I came to the realisation that I left the rest of my
belongings back in the café. From that moment onwards, a new adventure awaited!
---
BACKYARDS UNPLUGGED
- POOL PARTY
When
Sunday 25 August at
2pm-6pm
Where
Tickets
Pool Party Full $20
Concession $15
Family of 4 $50
Concession $15
Family of 4 $50
Bookings
THROB NIGHTCLUB
LATE SHOW
When
Friday &
Saturday- Throughout the Festival at 11pm-4am
Where
Tickets
Available at the
door on the night.
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