One person who is trying to change this is Lucky MJ Garduce, the artistic director of Rock Funk Rock Dance Company. Trained in hip hop studios in Shibuya in Tokyo, Garduce is one of Melbourne’s hottest hip hop dancers, dance instructors and choreographers. Garduce is the head choreographer and director of hip hop theatre show Lucky Break, an inspiring tale of overcoming obstacles, personal growth, unemployment and homelessness as told through lead character Lucky.
So with the same name, is the character based on Garduce herself? “We are named the same but have no other connections,” Garduce clarifies. “I always get asked, ‘Are you Lucky?’ to which I almost always reply, ‘No, I make my own luck.’ I simply wanted to write up a new Lucky whose name will actually bring him luck somehow.”
Set a few years ago when the world’s economy was hanging by a thin thread, Lucky Break starts off with a fresh-faced Lucky who is keen to make his mark on the world. “Lucky is a naive, ambitious young man ready to conquer adulthood and start his career only to enter a cold-hearted labyrinth created by economic crisis.” Garduce explains, “He comes across characters and challenges leading to a decision he has to make which will define his true path and open his own door of opportunity.”
The genesis of Lucky Break stems back to an article in The Age newspaper in March 2009. “It speaks about Australia surging to its highest level of unemployment in five years, with Victoria suffering the most,” the director elucidates. “It brings up several politicians pointing fingers, with the main blame leaning towards a recession. I saw it as a starting platform to put my characters in. People blaming people is what it always seems to be about. But what are they doing about the people who are actually suffering from it?”
Garduce herself has never experienced homelessness first hand, thanks to a caring family who has always supported her, but has met a few less fortunate than her. “In my previous work place, I came across people who had no homes. Two of them came by regularly and I heard their stories of hardship and how they got to where they were. Some people straight away assume some involvement with drugs or alcohol, but really anyone of us can easily slip through the cracks.” Garduce points out, “Not everyone is blessed with skills, education or family to catch our fall or a support group to point our flaws and fix our direction.”
In terms of unemployment, the Melbourne-based dancer has gone down that path herself. “It didn’t take long for me to start questioning my fate,” Garduce reflects, after a backpacking trip in 2006 saw her unemployed for five months following her return home. “I began feeling depressed. I felt like a burden to my parents. I felt incompetent. I think sometimes a chance is all it takes to survive this game we call life.”
Garduce and the Rock Funk Rock Dance hope that the story, from the point of view of a promising young man who ends up homeless, will change people’s stereotypes on the disadvantaged. “Everyone has a story – it’s terrible to stereotype,” she stresses.
