ENTERING SHOW BIZZ

My life moved on and I was married, gave birth to a beautiful son, and divorced while still quite young.  Although I had passed my 'use-by' date to become a ballerina, I was not too old to pick up dancing again.  I joined a dance academy and enrolled in the classical ballet and modern dance classes.  Initially I was very nervous, but soon embraced the fact that I was dancing again.

I was surprised and excited when I was given the opportunity to perform in a floor show with 4 girls at a city nightclub.  I couldn't believe it!!!  My debut into the professional dancing world!!  New routines to learn, costume fittings and getting paid to dance.....WOW!!!  We were called the 'Silhouettes Ballet' and performed two shows a night, 6 nights a week. The early show at 10.30pm and the late show 1.30am.

The Club was rather sleazy and was a popular club for opal miners from the mid north.  It was fascinating to observe the prostitutes disappearing during the early show and return during the late show.  Apparently they had rooms down the street at the local pub.

I will never forget one evening while performing, I noticed my sunday school teacher in the audience with a group of men.  After the show I approached him and said, 'Well, fancy seeing you here'.  He mumbled something about the guys wanting to come to the Club......Not really what one would expect from an upstanding member of the church who used to hold bible reading classes.....

 These pics were taken at the commencement of my first gig at the Latin Quarter..

Moi, Brenda, Pam, Marilyn and Maria

The Silhouettes Ballet

It was exciting to  meet and work with the different artists who performed in the floor-shows.  Also having to adapt to everybody using one small uni-sex change room. Definately a far more exciting life than sitting in an office all day. 

During my gig at the Latin Quarter I remember walking in to the Club one night and the manager gave me a sheath of flowers which were for me. They were lovely and I said 'Who are they from?'  He replied that he had no idea, and the card just had my name on it and not the sender.  Anyway I thought I must have a secret admirer and I was the envy of the other girls.  The following night another sheath of flowers were there for me, and the following night, and the following night. Every evening for two weeks I received flowers and to this day, I do not know who sent them.  I might add, that my house looked like a funeral home for some time. 

As time went by two of the girls moved on to other pastures.  One to Sydney to dance and the other to get married.

Then there were three....

I loved letting loose in the Can-Can, screaming and really going for it.  I can recall one particular evening when we did the jump-splits and I bent my front leg underneath myself to get up and the heel of my shoe got caught in my net stockings.  As gracefully as I could muster, I tried and tried to get up while the girls continued dancing around me giving me funny looks as if to say 'What's wrong with you....GET UP.' After what seemed like ages, I eventually ripped my tights with my shoe and  rose to the occasion.....

NUREYEV AND FONTEYN PARTNERSHIP

Perhaps one of my greatest regrets in my life is that I never experienced the thrill of watching these wonderful dancers dancing together.

Fonteyn and Nureyev were extremely close as partners even though they were very different. The two had different backgrounds and personalities. They also had an almost 20-year difference in age. Despite their many differences, however, Fonteyn and Nureyev were close, loyal friends.

The couple remained close friends through Fonteyn's retirement and health struggles with cancer. Speaking for a documentary about Fonteyn, Nureyev said that they danced with "one body, one soul." He said that Fonteyn was "all he had, only her."

Here they are dancing the Pas de deux from Act 4 Swan Lake. 





RUDOLPH NUREYEV

Probably the most famous male dancer in my lifetime was Rudolph Nureyev. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been able to follow his career. He was born to dance and  to share his magnificent talents with the world.

RUDOLPH NUREYEV
Born March 17^th 1938 in Russia
Died January 6^th 1993 in France

Nureyev was born on a Trans-Siberian train near Irkutsk, Siberia, Soviet Union, while his mother Feride was travelling to Vladivostok, where his father Hamit, a Red Army political commissar, was stationed. Nureyev auditioned for the Bolshoi ballet company and was accepted. However, he felt that the Kirov Ballet school was the best, so he left the local touring company and bought a ticket to Leningrad.

By the late 1950s, Nureyev had become a sensation in the Soviet Union. Yet, as the Kirov Ballet was preparing to go on a European tour, Nureyev's rebellious character and a non-conformist attitude quickly made him the unlikely candidate for a trip to the West, which was to be of crucial importance to the Soviet government's ambitions to portray their cultural supremacy. However, in 1961, the Kirov's leading male dancer, Konstantin Sergeyev, was injured, and Nureyev was chosen to replace him on the Kirov's European tour. In Paris, his performances electrified audiences and critics.

Nureyev was seen to have broken the rules about mingling with foreigners, which alarmed the Kirov's management. The KGB wanted to send him back to the Soviet Union immediately. As a subterfuge, they told him that he would not travel with the company to London to continue the tour because he was needed to dance at a special performance in the Kremlin. When that didn't work they told him his mother had fallen severely ill and he needed to come home immediately to see her. He knew these were lies and believed that if he returned to the USSR, he was likely to be imprisoned because KGB agents had been investigating him.

Nureyev's first appearance in Britain was at a ballet matinée organised by The Royal Ballet's Prima Ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn. The event was held in aid of the Royal Academy of Dance, a classical ballet teaching organisation of which she was President. He danced Poeme Tragique, a solo choreographed by Frederick Ashton, and the Black Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake.

Dame Ninette de Valois offered him a contract to join The Royal Ballet as Principal Dancer. His first appearance with the company was partnering Margot Fonteyn in Giselle on 21 February 1962. Fonteyn and Nureyev would go on to form a partnership. Nureyev stayed with the Royal Ballet until 1970, when he was promoted to Principal Guest Artist, enabling him to concentrate on his increasing schedule of international guest appearances and tours. He continued to perform regularly with The Royal Ballet until committing his future to the Paris Opera Ballet in the 1980s. n 16 June 1961 at the Le Bourget Airport in Paris, Rudolf Nureyev defected with the help of French police and a Parisian socialite friend – Clara Saint. Within a week, he was signed up by the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas and was performing The Sleeping Beauty with Nina Vyroubova.

Nureyev's influence on the world of ballet changed the perception of male dancers; in his own productions of the classics the male roles received much more choreography. Another important influence was his crossing the borders between classical ballet and modern dance by performing both. Today it is normal for dancers to receive training in both styles, but Nureyev was the originator and excelled in modern and classical dance.

The Genius of Nureyev.

You Live as long as you Dance

Rudolph Nureyev

DAME MARGOT FONTEYN

Dame Margot Fonteyn, (1919-1991)

I was mesmerised by Margot Fonteyn when she danced in Australia  -  a truly magical moment in my life.

Dame Margot Fonteyn was born in Reigate, Surrey, England, and named Margaret Hookham. After marriage and recognition by the Crown for her important role in modern British ballet, her full name eventually became Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias. She studied in London with the Russian teacher and dancer Seraphima Astafieva. In 1934 she became a member of the Vic-Wells Ballet (later the Sadler's Wells Ballet, then the Royal Ballet); in the following year she succeeded to dance many roles formerly danced by the famed British ballet dancer Alicia Markova. By 1940 Fonteyn was prima ballerina of the Sadler's Wells Company.

Fonteyn's dancing was characterized by technical proficiency and musical sensitivity. Her most famous role was Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty. She also created roles in many ballets by the British choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton. In 1954 she became president of the Royal Academy of Dancing, and in 1956 was made Dame of the British Empire. Through the 1960s and 1970s, Fonteyn performed regularly with Soviet-born dancer Rudolf Nureyev during his tenure with the Royal Ballet. In 1979 the Royal Ballet granted Fonteyn the rare title prima ballerina assoluta.

Margot Fonteyn retired from the stage at 60 years old. 

Fonteyn died of cancer on 21 February 1991.

Genius is another word for magic, and the whole point of magic is that it is inexplicable.

Margot Fonteyn



GROWING UP

Looking back at my younger years, I believed I had the dedication and drive to achieve my dream.

I can recall sitting in High School classes, stretching my leg out into the aisle and checking my turn-out and pointing my toes, thinking I don’t need to know about maths, history etc., because I am going to be the next Margot Fonteyn.

However, I was not prepared for the ‘hormone impact’……

For some time I endeavoured to concentrate on both ballet classes and boys, by having my boyfriend pick me up after my private and class lessons before going out with him.

I struggled with being pulled in opposite directions for some time before realising that something had to give.  Either give up ballet classes or give up my boyfriend.  What a dilemma!!!  It wasn’t a sudden break, but gradually I reduced my classes until I left completely. 

So much for my dedication and commitment to the dance…….

However I continued following the careers of my favourite ballet dancers, Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev.

STEPPING ON STAGE AT 5 YEARS OLD

I made my stage debut at the tender age of 5.

Mother sent me off to the local calisthenics club where I learnt marching, exercises, clubs, rods and dance routines.  Whilst I enjoyed the classes I particularly liked the dance routines.

Each year the club, made up of sub-juniors, juniors, intermediates and seniors would perform a concert at the Adelaide Town Hall.  At the end of my first year, the routine for the sub-juniors was ‘Run, Rabbit Run’.  Our costumes were very cute with long ears and a fluffy bob-tail.  My role was to hop across to the other side of the stage, stop and look around for the farmer with his gun then hop back to where I entered and beckon the rest of the bunnies on stage because the coast was clear. 

My dream was to become a ballerina when I grew up so I started ballet classes with the Thargoh School of Ballet with Eileen Hogarth.

 I was in heaven!!! 

Yes, it was demanding.  I learned the discipline of holding my body correctly and the repetition necessary to master the steps.

Each year Miss Hogarth would present a pantomine performed by her pupils.  A great deal of time and work went into the dances, rehearsals, costumes etc.  Alice in Wonderland was probably my favourite.  I was cast as the Mad Hatter which was great fun. 



Not my most attractive moment







The March Hare, Door Mouse and
the Madhatter

I also danced in a beautiful yellow chiffon costume. I believe we represented wheat blowing in the wind.

  A very graceful dance.

FROM THE BOROVANSKY BALLET TO THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET

History of the Australian Ballet.

The roots of the Australian Ballet can be found in the Borovansky Ballet, a company founded in 1940 by the Czech dancer Edouard Borovansky. Borovansky had been a dancer in the touring ballet company of the famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova and, after visiting Australia on tour with the Covent Garden Russian Ballet, he decided to remain in Australia, establishing a ballet school in Melbourne in 1939, out of which he developed a performance group which became the Borovansky Ballet. The company was supported and funded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd from 1944. Following Borovansky's death in 1959, the English dancer and administrator Dame Peggy van Praagh was invited to become artistic director of the company. J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd decided to disband the Borovansky Ballet in 1961.


In 1961, J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust received federal subsidies towards the establishment of a national ballet company. These organisations established the Australian Ballet Foundation to assist with the establishment of a new company, which in 1962 became the Australian Ballet. Peggy van Praagh, who had been kept on a retainer by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd through the intervening year between the disbanding of the Borovansky Ballet and the establishment of the Australian Ballet, was invited to become the founding artistic director of the company. The majority of the dancers employed by the fledgling company were drawn from former members of the Borovansky Ballet.

The first performance by the Australian Ballet was Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, staged at Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney on 2 November 1962. The principal dancers in the first season were Kathleen Gorham, Marilyn Jones and Garth Welch. Van Praagh also invited the Royal Ballet's Ray Powell to temporarily became the company's first Ballet Master, with Leon Kellaway (brother of Cecil Kellaway), a former dancer with the Covent Garden Russian Ballet, as the company's first ballet teacher. In 1967 van Praagh established the Australian Ballet School, which was formed specially to train dancers for the company and remains the company's associate school to this day.