A FLING alumnus has been touring in Europe with one of Australia’s foremost contemporary dance companies.
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Ex-Mumbulla School and Bega High School student Leif Helland toured with Melbourne’s Chunky Move, where he has been performing Anouk van Dijk’s 247 Days in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Remarkably, just over 20 months ago Mr Helland was involved in a car accident which left him with serious injuries including over 20 broken bones and many months in hospital, in a wheelchair, and in rehabilitation.
At 17 years old, Mr Helland joined Fling and was soon undertaking about 20 hours a week of dance after school and at weekends.
After high school he successfully auditioned for a place in the prestigious dance school at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor of Dance in 2011.
In January 2012, he was one of only four dancers to be taken on by Chunky Move’s new artistic director, Ms van Dijk.
He went on to perform as one of eight dancers in the world premiere of An Act of Now in The Festival of Melbourne in October 2012, and as one of six dancers in 247 Days for Dance Massive Festival in Melbourne in March 2013.
Just a few days after the final performance, Mr Helland was involved in the car accident that left him with, among other injuries - a fractured skull, facial lacerations and bleeds in the brain, broken sternum, 12 broken ribs, collapsed lungs, lacerated liver, broken pelvis, broken right leg, left ankle, and severely broken left arm with five separate breaks and many small shattered bones.
During that first week he underwent many hours of surgery during four different operations and at the end of a week was told he probably would never dance at that level again.
Understandably upset, it only took Mr Helland a couple of hours to rally his spirits and defiantly state “who are they to say something like that, they don’t even know me or anything about me”, and so began the long process of recovery and rehabilitation.
Mr Helland had great support from the local community during this time, with constant inquiries and messages of support.
Now, he has also regained full use of his fingers and arm, and is playing viola again.
After returning from this dance tour in Europe, he will be home at the end of February to perform at the Cobargo Folk Festival, along with his brother Sven and sister Sigrid.