Spotlight on
Kim Adam

Written by Teagan Lowe

Kim Adam is the irreplaceable, admirable and incomparable pocket-rocket of dance. Kim’s effervescent nature, teaching style and outlook on life is utterly infectious and makes her a sparkling diamond in Transit Dance’s crown. With open arms to all who pass through Transit’s doors, Kim offers each person their own unique opportunity to learn, grow & thrive through her interactions & teachings. 

Kim moved with her tight-knit, loving and compassionate family from Adelaide, to the entertainment capital of Australia - Melbourne, when she was just 11 years old. Relying solely on each other for support, Kim’s family took the move in their stride & banded together through her schooling & later her full time dance years at Tony Bartuccio’s. Kim attributes her determination and impactful work ethics on these beginnings with her incredible family and friends by her side. “My parents have had the greatest impact on my life. Their teachings and support have shaped who I am.” 

Casting her mind back on her earlier years as a tiny dancer, Kim reflects “There were many teachers that have impacted me, but I would say from my earlier training Jillian Fitzgerald gave me lessons that I still hold on to and teach to my students. Jillian was tough but installed resilience and the notion that hard work gets you places.” In her teachings at Transit the students are fortunate enough to have these principals instilled and nurtured by Kim, as she is elated and “most proud when I see my students recognise their own attributes and strengths.”

Being the bubbly, gorgeous human that she is, Kim loves nothing more than injecting her passion for life into her passion for dance. “I am passionate about a lot of things both professionally and personally. Within my work I am passionate about creating works and creating opportunities for my dancers to find style and love within their dance.” This is so very apparent with the level of professionalism that is found throughout all of Kim’s routines, shows and productions. Kim strongly believes that the more effort she also puts into her work with the students of Transit, the more each student is then able to be the most successful versions of themselves, as both performers & as people. 

Kim’s relationship with the Artistic Director of Transit Dance, Paul Malek, was one that sparked many moons before Transit exploded onto the dance map. Kim & Paul started ‘Collaboration the Project’ back in 2009, with a vision of a new dance company which assisted in giving opportunities for trained and pre-professional dancers to perform. Being the creative superstars that they are Kim & Paul, between the years 2009- 2017, curated, created & choreographed shows for the dancers to perform. Having ‘Collaboration the Project’ as a platform offered them both the perfect opportunity to work creatively and also feed the industry, something they are both passionate about to this very day. 

But their collaboration efforts didn’t end there - Transit was born & Kim has been part of the Transit family ever since. During its initial conception, Transit was a Contemporary based institution, so Kim focused heavily on technique and choreography with the students. After working collaboratively with Paul over the years, it became clear to the heads of Transit that Kim’s distinct & compelling performances were able to capture the attention of wide audiences. This along with her ability to be a mentor, teacher & coach to all that entered her studio, made her the ideal choice to become Head of Performing Arts in 2017 when the course was implemented. 

Kim is always pushing the bounds of dance discipline within her role at Transit & accredits this to her learnings of stamina & determination within the industry. Kim aspires to pass these lessons on to each student that she has the pleasure of working with. “I have learnt that I want the best out of every situation and it takes hard work, what you put in is what you get out. I hope this is something that I pass on to my students.” Kim loves to instil discipline to all that she gets the opportunity to teach and mentor. She believes “You are not born with these qualities and you have to work at it, but you can do it in a supportive and fun manner.”

Kim’s love of performance & creating opportunities for others to perform has turned Transit Dance into a performance powerhouse. How lucky Melbourne is to be able to access shows from the incredible talents of Transit Dance all year round. As Head of Performing Arts Kim believes that “The performances are to be a big aspect of the students' training, as at the end, once in a dance contract, this is what they will be doing! At Transit we have many performance opportunities for the students. But in between all of that, I meet with students to chat about goal setting and the direction they are going in with their journey.” Kim’s humility & ability to be able to connect with each student, allows her to be an open book with a wealth of industry information free flowing for all that are willing to partake. 

When speaking of her role & what unexpected highlights are found within working at Transit, Kim had this to say “Highlights that have been perhaps unexpected is the love and support I receive from my students which gives me the confidence to explore and create beyond what I thought I was capable of.” There’s a lot to say about a human that has endlessly succeeded in her field, and yet will find more time & effort to keep growing, learning & adapting in their profession to ensure the the student’s get the utmost from her….I mean, if that isn’t the epitome of humility and grace, then I don’t know what is. 

Kim’s growing success in the dance industry is ever expanding as she is continuously invited to conduct workshops, masterclasses, adjudicate, examine and choreograph shows at the most elite levels that our industry has to offer. Her awards list is forever growing, and her drive for creating & choreographing world-class performances is life-long. 

Although all of these huge tasks come with significant creative, administrative & personal responsibility for our pocket-rocket, Kim always says that life has to be fun, you must find the humour and see the lighter side. “Life has to be fun. We can be hard workers and work to achieve our goals but fun should never be far away.” And we truly think that this sums the ray of sunshine up, that is Kim Adam, just perfectly. 

Click here to learn more about our Kim Adam’s Performing Arts course