Relax with Luca and Morgan

Photo by Whitney Wright on Unsplash

Luca Branca (18, winner of the 2022 Prix de Lausanne Young Creation Award) and Morgan Johnson (13) are both students at the Princess Grace Academy, a highly selective dance academy for aspiring dancers in Monte Carlo (click here to read an interview with Luca and Morgan). TWoA asked Luca and Morgan how they like to relax when they are not inside a studio dancing or choreographing. Morgan told TWoA: “Dancing is my main passion, but when I’m not dancing, I like to bake or paint, I love baking and creating things.” According to Luca, “my main hobby is choreographing, I spend most of my free time out of the studio when I’m not dancing trying to choreograph, or to create something. I like to create, I really like to write, it can be a poem, it can be just a letter. I love writing letters to my friends, to my teachers, I really like to write my emotions down. My really strong passion is creating, sometimes I even sing my own melody under the shower, and I like it – and then people hear me, and they say: ‘Can you just dance? Dancing is good for you – don’t sing’ . . .”  Luca feels that “music is almost like therapy, it doesn’t really matter what kind of music or style” – he listens to classical music, jazz, pop, rock and roll, metal and so on: “Music helps me a lot, so when I feel happy, music helps me to feel happier, if I feel sad, maybe I put on some sad music to feel really sad - and then go back to being happier again. Or if I feel mad, I want something really strong. Music amplifies my emotions.” And when the two of them are not creating something? Here are some books and tv series they enjoy:

Luca:

Movie:

“The Theory of Everything,” a biographical romantic drama about the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking with Eddie Redmayne. Set at the University of Cambridge, it tells the story of Hawking’s diagnosis with ALS at age 21 and the love story between him and his first wife.

Series:

“Locke & Key” (Netflix, 16+), a fantasy horror drama series for teens. After their dad’s murder, three siblings and their mom move to his ancestral estate and discover magical keys that unlock secret powers.   

Books:

André Aciman, “Call Me by Your Name,” a coming-of-age novel about a summer romance between a 17-year-old boy and a male student, who is a summer guest at his parents’ summer house on the Italian riviera. 

Vaslav Nijinsky, “Diary,” the diary of legendary dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky (1889-1950). 

Morgan:

Currently watching:

“Girl Meets World” (Disney Channel), an American comedy series about the life of middle-school student Riley and her friends.

Books:

Stacey McAnulty, “The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl,” about Lucy, who has genius-level math skills after being struck by lightning but is struggling to survive one year in a regular middle school.

Misty Copeland, “Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina” (young readers edition), about Misty Copeland’s long journey from an underprivileged childhood to becoming the first African American principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre.

Favourite recipe:

Banana bread (Morgan’s tip: add a bit of allspice and nutmeg)

If you don’t want to miss our next recommendations by young artists, please subscribe to our newsletter!