The WRAP
The first ballet I saw... “Would have been while I was a student in
Tasmania, and it would have been one I was in because a lot of ballet
didn’t come to Tasmania. It could well have been The Nutcracker.”
I love ballet because... “It’s the ultimate art form. It involves all other
art forms [and] is sublime in its ability to cut to the truth without
words. It marries two of
my favourite things—
music and movement.”
Nutcracker The Story of
Clara [Murphy’s modern
reinterpretation] is... “An
attempt to tell a story of
how dance reached our
shores, and to look at how
enriching immigration
has been for Australia.”
Where I like to holiday...
“Sicily [left]. I love staying
with friends when I can.”AS HIS RE-IMAGINING OF TCHAIKOVSKY’S
THE NUTCRACKER SASHAYS BACK TO
THE STAGE, CHOREOGRAPHER G R AEM E
MURPHY’S LOVE OF DANCE EXTENDS
BEYOND HIS WORK—EVEN INTO THE GARDENMy hotel of choice is... “Grand Hotel
Et Des Palmes [left] in Palermo. From
an historic point, it’s great.”
Being named a Member of the Order
of Australia was... “An incredible
honour to be recognised, because
dance is often an unrecognised art
form, yet I think dance is doing great
things to lift people’s spirits.”
Where I call home... “Coogee [in Sydney, below].”
The first thing I do after I wake up...
“I rush to [get] coffee, but I can also
rush [to] gaze at the ocean and see
what it’s doing today.”
I take my coffee... “A double shot,
with just a bit of almond milk to
soften it. I sip it, and I enjoy it.
That’s my one for the day.”
I never leave home without...
“My wife, Janet. We travel together,
we create together, we’ve danced
together. It’s completely entwined.
It’s the strangest and most wonderful
relationship ever. We have been symbiotic all our lives,
we’re totally interdependent [laughs].”
My biggest secret... “I don’t have many secrets—my ballets have
always told almost everything that you’d ever want to
know about me, they’re very autobiographical.”
My hidden talent... “I’m a creative and
choreographic gardener. I dance around the
garden planting strange things that should
never be seen next to one another.”
My favourite restaurant... “Is home.
Because of my nomadic life, it doesn’t
happen very often.”
My signature dish... “Something spontaneous
when I haven’t pre-planned or shopped,
and just raid the fridge.”
Where you would find me on
a day off... “Probably at the beach,
I am the last of the beachgoers.”
My signature drink... “I love a vodka martini.
I love to use Hartshorn Sheep
Whey Vodka [from Tasmania].
It has to be the right amount of
vermouth, it has to have just
a blush of Campari, and it has
to have a twist of orange.”
My favourite book... “The one I’m reading
is always my favourite because I get to
finish a book so rarely.”
In my spare time... “I just wrote a script.
And it was an experience many dance
people don’t get to have.”
My creative icon... “I love the work of
[French writer, artist and filmmaker]
Jean Cocteau [right].”
It’s never too late to... “Plant a tree.”178 I n STYLE JUNE 2017
The Pulse