Dancer and choreographer Dean Cross got his start with Quantum Leap. He was with the Canberra contemporary youth dance ensemble from 2000 to 2003 and - now a fully trained dance professional - has returned to choreograph work for the company.
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"I'm very passionate about it,'' the 28-year-old says.
"I've had 14 years with the company; I hope there are 14 more to come."
His latest piece for Quantum Leap is one-third of the triple bill Boundless, which opened at the Playhouse on Wednesday.
Samsara, Cross' contribution, is named after and based on a Buddhist principle of the continuous movement of life: birth-life-death-rebirth.
"I wanted to make a work on something we're all involved in. We're all in that cycle, whatever you believe in. I wanted it to be something everyone could enjoy and something that was beautiful - at the moment we all need a lot more beauty in our lives."
For Samsara, he had nearly 50 Quantum Leap dancers, ranging in age from 13 to 22, joined by a group of dancers over 55 years old from Canberra Dance Theatre's Gold ensemble and four Thai dancers from the Bangkok Dance Academy for an intergenerational and cross-cultural blend.
The other components of Boundless also dealt with "big lofty ideas", Cross said.
Cinders, choreographed by another former Quantum Leaper, James Batchelor, was inspired by Thomas Ernest Hulme's philosophical work Cinders: A New Weltanschauung and the idea that humans interpret the world through symbols and codes and fail to see we are connected to structures both intimate and grand. And Perth choreographer Danielle Micich's The Bigger Picture also features the Thai dancers in a piece about what makes up the world in which the dancers live.
One of the young dancers is 18-year-old Luke Fryer. The lifelong Canberran was a national level gymnast as a child but began to find it a bit much and went looking for another, less arduous, activity. Impressed by a friend's performance in Quantum Leap,he decided to try out for the company.
"I wanted to do something physical - I love music, I love moving."
He began with Quantum Leap in 2011 and Boundless is the fourth major project in which he has performed.
"I've grown so much since I started the first project," he said.
"What I like about contemporary dance is that you don't have to start it, like ballet, when you're three. You can use your own way of moving and your own body to dance. And I can use some of my gymnastic techniques."
Fryer said he planned to study dance at university.
Boundless is on at the Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre until Saturday with a 2pm matinee and performance at 7pm. Tickets $20-$32. Bookings:canberraticketing.com.au or 62752700.
