Posts by Juliet Burnett

As with any profession, just because you’ve “made it” doesn’t mean you should sit triumphantly, then complacently atop your podium forever. We’re all constantly learning in this great ride of life. I’ve been dancing professionally with The Australian Ballet for just over ten years now, and though I’ve lots of experience under my belt, there is always room to grow and new horizons to venture towards. In Australia, due to the tyranny of distance, the ballet world can tend to feel somewhat insular, a world away from the world, so gaining both career and life experience beyond the “bubble” is essential for growth. This is why I’ve been especially grateful for the experience afforded me by the Khitercs Scholarship, with which I have already travelled to London (The Royal Ballet), Amsterdam (Dutch National Ballet), Antwerp (Royal Ballet of Flanders) and to my other home country, Indonesia, to get in touch with the traditional Javanese dance and drama that are my family’s legacy. The final chapter of my voyage was San Francisco Ballet. (more…)

A ballet dancer’s office may be a studio or a stage, and they may deal with pointe shoes and choreography rather than computers and paperwork, but three of our dancers have something in common with thousands of commuters across Australia – they ride bikes to work.

There are many worthy practical incentives for commuting by bike: to stay fit, to avoid traffic, and to reduce your carbon footprint. But many bike riders maintain that the prevailing reason they keep riding is for its liberating and sometimes meditative effect.

Madeleine Eastoe says: “Riding in gives me the feeling of freedom before tackling a physical day’s work.” Dimity Azoury agrees, and adds “It’s a great time for warming up, thinking about nothing, winding down after a show and singing!”

For Rudy Hawkes, riding to work is simply the opportunity to indulge in a passion: “I am obsessed with bikes and any chance to ride is time well spent.” (more…)

Senior Artist Juliet Burnett travels to Indonesia in search of her heritage, and brings back a new understanding of movement, stagecraft and the culture that has shaped her.

I have always felt a very special connection with the Indonesian (or, more correctly, Javanese-Indonesian) half of my identity, despite having been born and bred in Australia. I could put this down to Mum and Dad’s at-least-annual visits with my sister Jasmine and I, instilling that connection from childhood with the country and our sprawling family network over there. But that’s not entirely it. There is something that runs thick in my blood, beyond explanation by genetics or family pilgrimages. And I only really became aware of it when I started my career in dance.

During my years as a student aspiring to be a professional dancer, I never thought much about why I wanted a career in dance. I just knew that I needed to dance and couldn’t imagine life without it. Being in a select group as a student in The Australian Ballet School, it wasn’t until I was accepted into the company, where suddenly I was one of nearly 70 dancers performing around 200 shows a year, that I began to feel overwhelmed and was forced to confront the question of why. I was lucky that a huge part of my answer would not only help drive me to achieve the heights I hoped for, but also give me a strong sense of individuality – which is difficult when you feel like one fish swimming in a school of corps de ballet dancers. I had realised that my point of difference stemmed from my Javanese heritage, namely the artistic legacy of my grandmother, Raden Ayu Catherina Ismadillah, who had been the Sultan’s principal dancer in the Jogjakarta court, and of my uncle, Indonesia’s most prolific poet/playwright/performing artist, the pioneer of modern Indonesian theatre and radical human rights activist W.S. Rendra. (more…)