Ella Havelka

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Ella Havelka
Born1989 (age 32–33)
Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia
Education Australian Ballet School
Occupationballet dancer
Years active2009–present
Current group The Australian Ballet
Former groups Bangarra Dance Theatre
Website www.ellahavelka.com

Ella Havelka (born 1989) [1] is an Australian ballet dancer who is the first Indigenous person to join The Australian Ballet.

Contents

Early life

Havelka was born in Dubbo, New South Wales, and is a descendant of the Wiradjuri people. She was raised by a single mother. [1] She started ballet at a local studio after she watched a video of Swan Lake . [2] [3] At age 15, Havelka and her mother moved to Melbourne to train at the Australian Ballet School [4] and graduated in 2007. [1]

Career

After graduating from the Australian Ballet School, she was not offered a place with The Australian Ballet. [5] Therefore, in 2009, she joined Bangarra Dance Theatre, an Indigenous Australian contemporary dance company, and made her debut with Fire – A Retrospective, and continued to perform in the company's other productions. [2]

In 2012, Havelka danced Stephen Page's Warumuk – in the dark night, a collaboration between Bangarra and The Australian Ballet, in honour of the latter's 50th anniversary. The following year, she joined The Australian Ballet, at the invitation of artistic director David McAllister, making her the first indigenous person to do so. [6] In 2019, she returned to Bangarra as a guest for its 30th anniversary. [2] [7]

Havelka was the subject of the documentary film Ella , which premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2016. [3] In 2018, arranged by the Australian Consulate-General, she visited Nouméa, New Caledonia for NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee). [8]

Outside of dancing, Havelka learnt weaving when a production requires her to weave her own mat, she later started making and selling Aboriginal woven baskets to raise funds for Oxfam Australia. She also makes jewellery and linocuts. [7] [9]

Awards

Havelka won the deadly Award dancer of the year in 2013 [10] and the Women of Style Award in 2017. [7]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Mitchell, Melissa; Courier, Wentworth (21 November 2016). "Australia's first indigenous ballet dancer's story brought to life on silver screen". The Daily Telegraph.
  2. 1 2 3 Ogayar, Renata (July 2020). "Aware of the journey: Ella Havelka leaps from The Australian Ballet to Bangarra Dance Theatre and back again". Dance Informa.
  3. 1 2 Verass, Sophie (5 August 2016). "From Dubbo to Documentary: Wiradjuri ballet dancer Ella Havelka's groundbreaking story". National Indigenous Television.
  4. ↑ "About". Ella Havelka. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  5. ↑ Brennan, Bridget (10 August 2016). "Ella Havelka's journey to become Australian Ballet's first Indigenous dancer". ABC News.
  6. ↑ Akerman, Tessa (27 August 2016). "Role model as crucial as roles for Evie's dream". Weekend Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T]. p. 3 – via ProQuest.
  7. 1 2 3 "Ella Havelka Honoured". DanceLife Australia. 19 May 2017.
  8. ↑ "Because of her, we can – the inspiring story of Australian ballerina Ella Havelka". Australian Consulate-General in Noumea.
  9. ↑ Albert, Jane (28 January 2014). "Ella Havelka's Woven Magic". Broadsheet.
  10. ↑ "2013 Deadly Awards Winners". Deadly Awards.
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