Featured alumni making waves

Milla Loock

In 2016 Year 9 Gifted and Talented Ballet student Milla Loock left the College to commence full-time Ballet at Dynamic Performing Arts in Perth at the age of 13 under tutelage of Suzanne Arrigo.

Milla then ambitiously and successfully auditioned with Tanya Pearson Ballet Academy in Sydney to continue her full time training at the age of 14. At 15 she traveled to London and spent four weeks completing a Ballet Scholarship at the Royal Ballet School and English National Ballet School.

Milla again successfully auditioned for Hamburg National Ballet School aged 17 and spent two years as a pre-professional ballet dancer, graduating in July 2022. Milla was awarded the Prix de Lausanne Young Choreographer Award in Feb 2022. You can watch her award winning choreography performed by Anita Ferreira here for the 2023 Competition.

Milla is now aged 19 and is a member of the Bundes Jugend Ballet Company under Company Director John Numeier.

Keep up with Milla on social media

@ballerinamilla

Meesha Williams - Advice for Studying Abroad

Thinking about pursuing further education abroad? 2015 grad Meesha Williams shares her experience and advice below. Thanks for getting in touch Meesha, we’re so proud of you!

“After JCCA I went to UWA and won the prize for the highest mark in an English dissertation, and I received an email asking whether I had considered applying to The University of Oxford in the UK. I ended up applying and just graduated from Oxford this year with a first-class master’s degree in creative writing. As I understand it, Australian students can also apply to study in the UK, or elsewhere, as an undergraduate - so some JCCA students may want to pursue that path after finishing WACE exams.

“I send this not to toot my own horn but in the hope that other JCCA students can be aware that studying abroad at top-ranked Universities is an option for them.

I found studying in the UK was a really rewarding experience, and I hope other JCCA students get to do the same!”Meesha Williams.

Grace Crogan

Congratulations to 2019 graduate Grace Crogan, winner of the Inspirational Australians Podcast Regional Service Award in the 2023 Western Australian Young Achiever Awards!

The Young Achiever Awards encourage, acknowledge and reward the valuable contributions that young people are making throughout Western Australia. The Awards Australia Regional Service Award aims to recognise WA’s regional and rural young achievers and community contributors, acknowledging those who are helping to reshape and inspire their local communities. Grace’s nomination focuses on her extensive volunteer efforts over the past 8 years, contributing towards arts events and regional access to arts offerings, youth involvement, governance and leadership for the State’s arts scene, and disaster recovery efforts.

Grace advocates for the value of arts offerings in regional places. She is a volunteer Executive Board Director and Secretary for Regional Arts WA and Chair of its Youth Sub Committee. She gathers voices of regional young people around the challenges they experience in their unique communities, access barriers, and their needs that can be addressed through arts and cultural activities.

JCCA Alumni Murray Bartlett has been recognised for his talent with an Emmy nomination for his work in biographical drama miniseries, Welcome to Chippendales. For this role he is nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or TV Movie.

Bartlett took out the gong for the same award last year for his role, Armond, in the first season of The White Lotus. For his portrayal of Armond, Bartlett received nominations at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and Independent Spirit Awards and won at the AACTA Awards, Critics’ Choice Television Awards, and Primetime Emmy Awards.

The 52-year-old is also in the running for Best Guest Actor in a drama series for his appearance in The Last of Us.

Murray graduated from the drama program at JCCA in 1988 before continuing his education at NIDA in Sydney. He scored his first big break in as a guest star in the HBO series Sex and the City in 2002, which he followed up with long-term roles in the US soaps All My Children and Guiding Light.

It has been a pleasure to watch Murray’s career progress and we wish him the very best this awards season!