WEBVTT

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(bewitching music)

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- I've gotta say, the first time I saw that portrait,

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I was just in awe, really.

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He caught a moment that's sort of not, I guess,

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what people would think necessarily as a former dancer

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and artistic director because we tend to be on.

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And it was sort of more of a pensive moment,

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and I really liked that 'cause I feel like

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it's this side of me that sometimes people don't get to see.

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I guess I've done a lot of portrait photographs in my life.

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Peter was amazing 'cause he made it so comfortable

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like I didn't even really notice

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that he was taking the photos.

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We were just talking, and it almost felt like

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it wasn't a photo session except for the fact

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that I had really good make-up on,

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and someone had done my hair really nicely, so (laughs).

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And I think what was really nice is 'cause I was

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involved a little bit in helping them make the shapes,

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I mean we did lots and lots and lots

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of moving photographs to make the piece around me.

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And so I was sort of involved in that

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'cause I couldn't help myself but go,

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"Why don't you try this,

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"and why don't you throw that leg up?"

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So that was sort of fun.

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I was one of those weird kids

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that just always wanted to dance.

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And my family, you know, fantastic, very wonderful people.

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Mum and Dad, Dad was an accountant, Mum was my mum.

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And I have brothers and sisters that there's

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no artistic sort of dance background in our family at all.

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So I was sort of this mutant child

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who used to dance around the house all the time,

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and I used to dance in front of the TV when the TV was off,

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so I could see myself moving around.

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I didn't really have a plan B.

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I started training when I was seven.

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I saw some ballet on TV, which was Rudolf Nureyev

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doing Don Quixote with the Australian Ballet,

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and I went, "Oh, that's the sort of dance I wanna do."

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It's not until you step off the stage

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that you realise how amazing it is

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because, you know, the curtain goes up,

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and even if you feel like you haven't done your best,

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there is this sense of great appreciation.

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And it really humbles you

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that people can react to you in that way.

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We have such a privilege to do what we do,

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and then to have the extra acknowledgement, I guess,

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of an audience to be so generous

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with their response is quite amazing.

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So it is something that you never forget,

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and it's addictive, I've gotta say.

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Something that your sort of miss

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when you stop dancing, you know?

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When I finish my day at the office now

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and get up from my desk, there's no one applauding anymore.

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It's like, but I feel lucky that I had that experience.

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(symphonic music)

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I had a number of career-ending injuries,

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which luckily I managed to get through.

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When I was 26, I blew a disc in my back.

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And after nine months of really slow rehab and therapy

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and getting myself back into dancing again,

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I danced for another 11 years.

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So it was an extraordinary experience.

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And then the next time I had a big period like that was

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when I tore my cruciate ligament in my left knee.

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I think those injuries really taught me a lot

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about myself and my endurance,

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and I guess my passion for dancing.

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But it also set up the career that I now have.

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So when I was off, I would

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do things around the ballet company.

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I'd go to sponsorship functions, and patron functions,

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and be around the administration.

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So it sort of began my passion, I guess,

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for the other side of the organisation,

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the non-performance side.

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And now, as artistic director,

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I think I did my apprenticeship through those injuries.

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Kids loved to dance.

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You know, you go to a pre-primary class

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and you put music on and they all start dancing.

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And then somehow throughout school-age

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and teenagers we sort of lose that.

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You know, we've told to sit down and not move,

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and anyone that just spontaneously dances,

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it's sort of seen as being a bit weird.

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But I think anything that brings dance

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out of people is really fantastic, and I love that.

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When you go and see a performance,

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it's not just what the artists do on stage,

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it's how you interpret it, so it's interactive.

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And it can be very seductive, and it's very physical,

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but it's also very emotional, and, I think, quite visceral

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that you actually have this opportunity to see

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people without words telling complex stories.