Name: Guada Bañez
Age: 22
Favourite movie:
Aladdin
Favourite TV show:
How I Met Your Mother
Favourite musician:
Jamie Cullum
Favourite colour:
Pink (not just on Wednesdays)
Favourite dance style:
Hip-Hop
Smooth or crunchy?
I'm allergic to peanuts :( Nutella!
Where are you from? Where did you grow up?
My family is from the Philippines, but I was the first Australian-born Bañez! I grew up in Melbourne, around the North Balwyn/Doncaster area.
How did you get into dancing and/or performing?I was a self-led established performer by age 3 or 4, performing to sold out crowds in various venues such as my living room, kitchen bench, and my bed. When I retired from the coffee table stage (tbh still haven't), my parents decided it was time to take me along to an Open Day for the ballet class my school friends were all enrolled in. I went and LOVED it, so the teacher handed me an enrolment form, which I BEGGED my mum to sign. I was notorious for never finishing my dinner, so she told me she wouldn't sign it until I finished my dinner. I've never eaten my dinner so fast and have never looked back since!
What's your favourite/best performance you've been involved in? Any other highlights?
I was lucky enough to play my dream role of Kim in PLOS' production of Miss Saigon last year! I also loved challenging myself in StageArt's Saturday Night Fever where I got to play violin/keys in the orchestra AND dance at the same time. Tom Gleisner also called us "quadruple threats" in the promo video so basically I was on Channel 10's Thank God You're Here.
Where have you studied?
I studied dance at Victorian Ballet School. I started my Bachelor of Music (Jazz Voice) at Monash University, before moving on to study my Bachelor of Arts (Music/Psych) and Bachelor of Secondary Education at Monash.
What's your experience with Attitude been like?
I am loving it so far! The chorey in this show is stunning and really makes you appreciate the art of dance - it's amazing how much a dancer can affect the audience just by moving various body parts - that is so evident in Xave's choreography, beautifully executed by some passionate and talented dancers.
What do you do for work?
I teach dance at Victorian Ballet School.
What are your interests outside of dance?
If I'm not at a show or rehearsal, I'm at the piano or with a uke in hand, either messing around or composing something. I'm also extremely passionate about Netflix with cookie dough ice-cream.
What inspires you?
I can't go past a great song.
Tell us some fun facts about you:
I have a little Bichon Frise puppy dog who is actually now 10 years old but still a pupper in my eyes! I tell people his name is Pierre because he's a French breed, but the truth is I named him after the lead singer of Simple Plan when I was 12.
My beautiful Filipino Catholic parents took me to get blessed when I was a baby. Apparently I had a third eye that could see spirits that were haunting me.
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