Vanessa's Eighth Entry

Sunday was the first time for me to perform two styles foreign to me – Broadway and old school Hip Hop. I was actually really positive and upbeat in rehearsals – it's the only way to get through it. I had a lotta fun with the Hip Hop. The choreographer told us to be very vocal when we danced it, and we were. I was saying stuff the whole time, I was like, 'Yeah boy! C'mon!'. When I did our first bandanna trick, I was like, 'Yeah it worked!'. With the bandanna tricks, Supple said nine times out of ten, it doesn't work, so when it did, I was so happy!

With the Broadway, I did my best to encompass the style and be the character as well as all the technical stuff. I think I evidently need some acting lessons because these kind of things are heaps of different to Ballet acting, which is more like mime. It just feels a lot different to what I'm expected to do here.

I'm still to find that confidence and believe in myself, it's even more difficult when I'm put down so much, I just need to find the strength from within.

On Monday, because of the judges' comments, I was so ready to leave, but I'm really, really happy with everything that I've learnt. I've grown so much. I'm just really grateful to have been given this opportunity.

I was surprised when it was Rhiannon who had to leave. Everyone loved her, and the JFH that she danced with Graeme really suited her and I think she did extremely well.
It was hard to see Henry go, because we've been through so much together, and I was hoping to dance with him again.

For the duo that I'm doing this week, it's very unusual but extremely fun. We've had lotsa lotsa lotsa lotsa laughs in rehearsal! Through doing the style, I've learnt so much more about performing, and about how to be in character. I've never been taught that before. Having a thought process behind every little thing that we do, I've realised how much it helps and how it makes sense of everything.

The other piece that I'm doing – I'm actually quite embarrassed to do it. Like the other piece, it's playing a character that doesn't sit too well with me, but I have to believe it and know it. Hopefully it will shock people in a good way!

My mum messaged me this morning and said she's looking forward to seeing my inner sex kitten, so I just have to give myself permission to do it, which is the hard bit! And it's going to be even harder because my grandmother is coming too!

The challenge for me this week is to let go of my inhibitions and not to be so afraid, to believe in myself and to perform.

My best friends are: so kind and genuine and giving. They really inspire me to become a much better person.

Vanessa's Seventh Entry

Dancing with Jack was fun. Every person brings a different energy into the room. It's kind of like finding the connection with someone else – I'd gotten used to working with Henry and knowing him better, in rehearsals and when we perform. The Contemporary piece we had was very beautiful and I really enjoyed it. I loved the music -  'Kiss from a Rose'. There were a few lifts which we had to practice quite a lot – it was more of a timing thing that would make them work, but we pulled them off pretty well. I was supposed to wear a lovely red silk dress, but the day before the performance, Jet, the choreographer, decided she liked the rehearsal dress better. It was green, so I wasn't exactly the rose, I guess I was the vine that the rose would blossom on! The costume change was actually good, I liked how the green dress moved and silk would have been lot more difficult to do lifts with because it's so slippery. Overall I was really happy with Jack and my performance. It was funny how at the end when I turned around the straps fell off my shoulder – the costume ladies were like, 'That was good timing Vanessa!' It wasn't planned but it looked like it could have been.

I really like the solo that I made up, but as soon as I finished dancing I just wanted to do it again; I felt it was the worse that I'd ever done it. Oh well, it's over!

Monday was so emotional, I actually burst out crying as soon as I was safe, I was so relieved. It's like you've been holding your breath and then you're like, finally I can breath! Jemma and Anthony are such beautiful people and amazing dancers, and I was very lucky to meet them and dance with them in the group performances.

This week the days have been really, really long because we have two duo dances to rehearse, but I was able to stay really positive all throughout and it just helped so much. When we first start learning the routines it's always a bit much – there's too much information for my brain, but I need to remember it will all be OK, and to trust myself that I will get it. I've never done either of the styles, so at the very first rehearsal, there was not one single step that I knew. It's great learning new things, and great that I've been given the opportunity – amount learnt in the short time, just so amazing!

In answer to your questions:
Krafty: My starsign is Libra.
If I could dance with anyone in the Top 20: I'd love to try doing a Rumba with Henry, because now I really, really, really love Ballroom dancing, I think the Rumba is so beautiful!

Vanessa's Sixth Entry

The Easter break came at the perfect time. I was able to just relax – wait, was I? I was planning to relax, but I wasn't able to relax that much. I was thinking, 'Yes, I'll get really centred and calm and go outside and be with nature', but the weather wasn't so sunny, and my family and friends all wanted to catch up – I was really busy. It was so nice to spend time with them – I haven't seen them or been with them since the show started. I went out with my friends, and one of them was like, 'I know it's you Ness, but every time I look at you it's like you're the girl from TV'. Being in here, I don't know what's happening in the world, and Easter I was out. It hit me how big the show was – all these people knew me, knew my name – everyone was coming up to me and saying, 'Hi Vanessa'. I'm still a bit shy – I don't wanna be rude, but it's weird how everyone knows me! I think this process is helping me overcome my shyness.

It was great to learn a different style that I haven't done before. I think Capoeira is an amazingly beautiful and exciting martial arts style, however it would have better suited a different environment. It is very martial arts based, and they were looking for more dancing, I could see where those comments were coming from. It was very difficult doing Capoeira to Britney Spears, it was a challenge. We worked so hard, Henry and I together, to make that performance what it was. It was really fun doing the self devised piece. I was really glad we were able to do that in the same week as Capoeira, to show the two different sides of us. As it was Ballroom based, it was kinda like learning two different styles in one week. We haven't had a dance with a real storyline and we really wanted that.

My new partner is great to work with, but in rehearsals maybe we laugh too much! I felt like Henry and I had developed a very close connection - we understood each other, we knew how each other danced, how we worked to pick up chorey. We really understood and fed off each other's energy, and then it was like, 'OK, change!'. So now we have to find that connection in much shorter amount of time. This piece has some moments where it's really close – it's like, ‘'Oh! Hi!'.

Top 10. Wow. Being in the show is something you can watch but you don't really know what it's like till you're doing it – everything involved, the whole process. I couldn't compare it to anything that's happened to me in the past. I've learnt so much on the way, the whole experience has been amazing. I really want to seize every moment that I have now – everything is a precious opportunity to grow and learn and share. It's such an exciting time in my life, and I wanna enjoy every minute and put my whole self into it. 

The movie I could live in is: A fairytale, cuz I like happy endings.

Vanessa's Fifth Entry

I think the African Samba is the best routine I've done so far on the show – it was amazing working with Jason Gilkison, he really pulled out the tiger from me. I really enjoyed the whole process of learning the Samba, and I'm glad that that passion and determination showed in the performance. I was happy with the judges' comment and the response from the audience. It gave me a lot more confidence, and kinda helped me to believe in myself more. Made me realise it's OK to open up and discover new sides of myself.

Even though I felt like I'd done an excellent performance with Henry, on Monday night I was still prepared to DFYL - you never know what's going to happen. When we were told that we were safe I was sooo relieved! I would have loved Laura to stay, she's such a beautiful person and she's grown so much in this competition. And Sermsah's so unique – the competition is not the same without him.

This week when I walked into the rehearsal studio, it was a huge surprise to find out what style we would be doing. And when it was demonstrated, I was like, 'I don't even know if I could do that if I was given a few years to learn it'; it was that amazing and breathtaking, and something that requires a lot of courage and practice with crashmats.

During the rehearsal I tried one of the tricks and my shoulder popped out of its socket – always something! Looking forward to week with no injuries! But I put it back in and kept dancing. All good now, I just do the trick on the other side. It's really great learning this style - completely new for me, but it'll prepare me for when someone tries to attack me.

In high school I was: I only went to proper high school in Years 7 and 8, so I guess was a really good girl – I was really quiet and really hardworking. Maybe a bit of a teacher's pet!

Vanessa's Fourth Entry

I was really happy with Henry and my performance of Contemporary Disco. First Matt said I looked like I was relaxed and enjoying it, then Bonnie said I was superb – I was like, ‘Yay, nice comments from the judges!' And then it came to Jason, and he said Henry outdanced me. During rehearsal, I had been helping Henry with the dance – he wanted the turns and the jumps to look the same. So I had tried to work with him so we'd look more together. So it was good hearing that because maybe I had helped Henry dance better in Contemporary. Some people say I think too much about other people, and maybe I should think more about myself because it is a competition.

There were many things in that routine I'd never done before and that were completely new to me. I really enjoyed working with Sarah and learning those steps. In my interviews I kept saying how fun it was, until Sarah told me not to use the 'f' word so much!

Dancing For My Life a second time was actually less nerve racking than the first time. I was happy to have the opportunity to dance again and share my dance with everyone. Being the first girl declared safe was a relief. I was very surprised that Marko and Stephanie left – they were the fun, the entertainment – they made me laugh all the time. It's gonna feel a bit quiet without them. I actually thought Marko had a really good chance of winning this competition because he is so versatile, so it was a complete shock that he left.

This week I'm so excited to work with the choreographer I have – he's a genius. He's trying to get me to look completely different to how I've danced so far. Jason Coleman made the comment I look like a light dancer, so my choreographer is trying to get me to look a lot more earthy and animalistic. I'm gonna have to use my imagination a lot to get this style right. The choreographer told me to see myself as like one of those big mummas who plays around with guys' feelings and in the end is one of those people who breaks everyone's hearts – that's not the storyline as such, that's my character. It's different! I thought maybe I'll pretend I'm Stephanie – I can see her performing this really well!

In answer to your question Bean, about what the hardest thing about being on the show is: Monday nights, and saying goodbye to my friends. My emotions are like, I'm happy I can continue in this journey but I really feel for the people who have to go. At the same time, I know many opportunities will arise for them – they are all excellent dancers and I know that they'll go far. I'm very happy that I was able to dance with them.

You can always make me happy by: being happy yourself! When I feel people are being genuine, it really touches me. Lots of things make me happy – there's so much to be grateful for.

Vanessa's Third Entry

This week I was really excited to work with the choreographer, because I had seen her work last week and I really loved it! In our first rehearsal we went straight into learning all of the lifts, which was a little bit of a shock to the system at 8am in the morning! But we went for it, and they were actually really fun lifts for me anyway cuz I got to fly through the air and be a cello with Henry playing me!

On the afternoon of the first day, we got together to practice in the gym and during that I somehow did something to my foot, because for the rest of the day I couldn't walk. I was literally crawling on my knees because I couldn't put any weight on my foot! That evening I saw the physio, who strapped and iced my foot and said to rest it, but I'm allergic to the cold, so I had an allergic reaction to the icepack! I went to bed hoping my foot would all be better, but the next morning, I couldn't walk. We had our last rehearsal starting at 8am. I called the physio, really scared I'd be on crutches, and she said, ‘Don't dance, just mark it.' But I danced; I just couldn't do the jumps. It was the last time we had with the choreographer so I had to, I just didn't do anything that would aggravate my foot. So I couldn't walk but I could dance! But luckily that night I went to my spiritual centre, and by the morning my foot was fine. No pain at all – I was over the moon, just in time for me to perform!

I actually really enjoyed doing Animation Hip Hop. Nacho Pop was so easy to work with, always very encouraging and supportive. I've been very lucky I've been given all these different styles, because I found that I've learnt so much, and grown more than I ever imagined. Every style I've done so far has been completely different but I love the challenge! I know that I have a lot more to learn and improve on. I know that it's inside of me. I hope I have courage to bring it out and do my very best.

Ideal person to play me in a biopic: Ziyi Zhang, from the House of Flying Daggers.

Vanessa's Second Entry

Performing the Salsa for the Sunday night show was challenging but fun. The night before I had food poisioning - I was up all night with my head in the toilet! The night before I slept for an hour but I had a nightmare - in my dream I threw up, and then I had to Dance For My Life and I forgot it. Then the whole day I was trying to settle my tummy. The Salsa is all turns and really fast, it's the worse thing to dance if you're really sick. I had done my best to look after myself - I'd drunk lots of water and eaten dry toast.

The day before the performance I had been practicing and trying to get the sexy style that people said I needed -  that was different for me. I'm not used to dancing like that. I was really happy with the performance - all the lifts and the dangerous things, we pulled them off! When his leg was around my neck, I was thinking, “Please don't hit me!” But it was fine. When we did the vertical lift, when I'm lying across his shoulders, I was thinking “Just be strong!”. But I was so happy I could learn that style, because it wasn't in my comfort zone.

That's happening even moreso this week  - when we picked out the dance style, I was actually very, very, very scared and terrified, as I hadn't heard of the dance style before, and we had to dance it in a couple of days. At the first rehearsal I was reminding myself to stay positive, to be open, to let go of my ballet training and be a sponge, learn as much as possible. The choreographer was saying I was doing everything right, but I thought he was just being nice, I didn't feel like I was getting it at all. So when they came to video our rehearsals, I was crying for the whole hour, I was so fragile.

It's so real - all the emotions – but it's also surreal; having Courtney and Khaly go, having to do this completely new dance, this dance from Mars. I was trying to keep everything in and it all burst out! After that everything was all good, it needed to come out. I really liked working with choreographer. I trust him, what he says now, I've learnt to trust myself more. I can do it, if he says I can do it, I believe him.

Biggest misconceptions about dancers: People think dancers are up ourselves and show-offs, but we just wanna touch and inspire people and share this wonderful feeling we have with others.

Vanessa's First Entry

Hello everyone,

I hope you enjoy reading my blog! At the moment I'm just taking the competition as it comes and enjoying it. I've learnt so much already. There have been lots of surprises, like the dances we've been doing or during the Top 100, when we thought we were finished and then we had the group corry and then we had to Dance For Our Life! During Top 100 I thought we'd do something close to my style, which is Lyrical Contemporary, but we started with Boogaloo, which I'd never heard of, then Ballroom, which was the most fun, then Funky Jazz! I surprised myself with how I handled it. I thought I would get really emotional, but I put my trust in God, and felt His presence the whole time. I felt like He was happy that I had found my calling, In the past I tried to give up dancing to become a spiritual minister because I thought that was the best way to become closer to God, then I realized God gave me these talents to use, and dancing is what I love and I didn't have to give it up. I feel closer to Him when I'm dancing, and it's way to express my love and gratitude and joy for God. During the auditions I felt I had a closer connection with Him. It was nice.

What was hard was during that week, I'd make friends and they'd go the next day. Even now with the Top 20, it takes a while to open up with everyone and it's hard to see everyone because of our schedules. I love Demi, she's cool. She's really easy to get along with, even thought we're very different.

I share with Camilla. It's good – we never have the same schedule, unless its group corry, so we don't see each other till evenings. I get up early; do some Pilates, depending on what my schedule is! This week I'd like some more dancing time – it's not too full on at the moment, they're easing us into it, which is very kind of them.

My partner and I both work really hard. We're doing a dance very different to both of our styles. I loved the choreographers, they were the nicest people but they knew what they were talking about. They were champions in their own right, and they had a great eye for what we were doing wrong. My partner and I have strong foundations in different areas so we can help each other with different things. We're different in personality types – he's a bit louder than me – I think everyone is. I'm probably one of the quieter ones of the group. I feel more comfortable with one-on-one. My dance partner makes me laugh – he likes dancing in his underwear, which is white - he loves showing off those sexy hairy legs – ha ha!

Fave dance movie: Centre Stage; I can relate to it in many ways!