Former combat engineer James Wilfred-Derby is participating in the Ballet for Veterans and says it has had a profound impact on his mental health.
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00:00 After a decade in the army, including a tour of Afghanistan, James Wilfred Darby returned
00:06 to life as a civilian.
00:09 Like many others, he found it difficult to adjust.
00:12 Having been medically discharged was just a heavy weight on me that I struggled with
00:17 for quite some time.
00:19 When the 41-year-old sought help in dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, his psychologist
00:24 handed him a flyer for a new program combining movement, balance and creativity.
00:30 I picked it up and was having a look at it and I was like, yeah, nah, this isn't for
00:35 me and I've never done any sort of even dance in my life so I was like, this is just, I'm
00:40 going to be hopeless at it.
00:42 Despite his doubts, he decided to give the Ballet for Veterans program a whirl.
00:47 After the first lesson and meeting everybody here, I was hooked.
00:51 It was great.
00:52 The former combat engineer was one of 12 to take part in the program.
00:56 It's a research project between Queensland University of Technology, the Australian Defence
01:01 Force and Queensland Ballet.
01:04 And results from the 12-week pilot far exceeded all expectations.
01:08 Particularly in the psychological domain where certainly we saw terrific improvements or
01:15 reported improvements amongst all the participants.
01:19 While it may seem like an unlikely pairing, the history of ballet is steeped in military
01:24 tradition.
01:25 Yeah, look, the military and the creation of ballet are ancient bedfellows.
01:32 For this veteran, ballet has been life-changing.
01:35 It's just given me overall confidence in my life and I'm just, I feel happy with things.
01:42 So much so, he's determined to work on his new craft.
01:46 Yeah, he's improved heaps.
01:48 He can jump, he can pirouette, all the boutique steps, he's mastered.
01:53 Lieutenant Colonel Maher's research is in the process of a final examination.
01:57 It's hoped the results will generate increased funding so that the dance can go on.
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