The boy from Brazil
Dateline: sometime in July last year. The Pride Week award ceremony -“ an unexpectedly boozy night. I -“ along with my equally trolleyed mates -“ go shamefully slack-jawed when the Midnight Shift’s newest dancing discovery strides onto the stage. His name is Marcello, we learn, and he’s goooooorgeous.
Since then, Marcello Costa has gone on to become one of gay Sydney’s most recognised faces and torsos. He’s lent his dancing prowess to many a nightclub show and drag act.
But that’s not the extent of this man’s talent. He’s been fully trained in ballet as well as classical, jazz and modern dance, and this week he gets to show off his more artistic side in the new Bondi Ballet production, Beyond Bondi.
Having worked in Las Vegas, New York and throughout Asia, Costa moved to Sydney from Bangkok a little over a year ago -“ prompted by a desire to live somewhere where he could perform which also had a decent climate and good beaches.
I thought it would take some time [to get established], but I started with knowing one person and then another person would get me a job, he says. It didn’t take that long. It was quick.
Costa says he loves performing both in the theatre and in nightclubs.
When you’re performing it doesn’t matter which crowd is watching you, he explains. For dancers, the best thing is to see someone watching you and really appreciating your job.
When you’re onstage it’s like you are acting. And sometimes people think that you are that person while you are dancing, Costa continues. I’m quite a shy person, but on the stage I’m totally different. When they see me on stage they see me like that and when they come to talk to me after they find that I’m not like that. Sometimes people think that I might be a snob or stuck up, but I’m not that kind of person. It’s just that when you’re shy, sometimes you can leave the wrong impression.
Beyond Bondi marks the second time Costa has performed with Bondi Ballet -“ a company renowned for showcasing the more contemporary and exciting side of dance. The show features five works (including three world premieres) and starts with Costa dancing the role of a Bondi lifesaver.
Penrith audiences got their chance to see the production last week, in a performance Costa describes as a little bit tense.
It was tense because one of the girls got injured and another person had to learn the whole thing in two days, he says. We were very tired but still had to keep up the energy.
Fortunately, that’s something at which Bondi Ballet -“ and Marcello -“ both excel.
