Some rebellious teenagers sneak out of their house to see their friends. Or go to a party their parents don't know about, or better yet, a concert. Sani Townson snuck out of his state for a dance audition.

The Koedal, Samu, Dhoeybaw dancer got on a plane from Townsville to Eora (Sydney) to audition for dance college, NAISDA.

To his disbelief he was accepted and had to explain to his parents just exactly how he got in.

Now the youth program coordinator at Bangarra, Townson is putting out his first original work titled Kulka.

Kulka is part of three new works from Bangarra as part of their new show, Dance Clan.

Townson said this piece was all about paying homage to his grandfather.

"It's just the knowledge that he's passed on to me on how we are given our totems, and our clanships," he said.

"So I've had this idea in me for a really good while and what I am exploring is diving deep into my grandfather's native tongue.

"I know my mother's native tongue, I can speak it but I can only understand but not speak my grandfather's tongue.

Townson also drew inspiration from his Torres Strait heritage and weaves traditional dance into his choreography for Kulka.

"On both sides of my family we have flag dancers and there are a lot of flag dances which happen within the Torres Strait too," he said.

"And I've always loved the motion and their movement so I've taken that on board."

As the youth program coordinator, Townson also works with Bangarra to encourage young adults to pursue a career in dance.

His time is spent coordinating workshops and choreographing dance classes and routines.

"We are very passionate when it comes to working with youth and putting them into the arts industry," Townson said.

"Because you can get a career from this.

"My tagline is, I love to dance to music all day long and you know I've danced that long that it's given me a free plane ticket to go and see other countries."

Bangarra Dance Clan opens at Studio Dance Theatre in Eora from February 3-18.