Thenumberoffemale

classical choreographers

inAustraliaisverysmall.

Karen van Ulzen tries to

find out why.

NAugust,theAustralianBalletwillperformAliceTopp'slatestballet,

Little Atlas,inMelbourne.Toppisacorypheeandtheballetisherfifth

creation for the company.Little AtlasfirstpremieredinMayinSydneylast

year,commissionedforamainseasontriplebillonthestrengthofother

worksshehascreatedforthecompany'sannualchoreographicseason,

"Bodytorque".Tohaveaballetina“mainstage”seasonisabig

achievementinalargecompanywhichregularlycommissions

choreographicgreatsfromaroundtheworld.Little Atlasreceived strong

reviews –Limelightmagazinesaidithadthe“wow”factor.

Toppisararity–afemaleclassicalchoreographer.Inanartformthat

is otherwise so dominated by women, it is strange that female

choreographers are so far and few between. In Australia, you can count

them on one hand. As Topp herself says: “I have been in the company

for11years,buthaveneverhadtheprivilegeofactuallyworkingwith a

womanchoreographer.”Thelastworkthatwascreatedforthe

Australian Ballet by a woman wasMirror Mirrorin 2000.

Whyisthisso?It’snotasthoughwomencannotchoreograph.The

contemporary scene is teeming with creative women, leading their

owntroupesandcreatingtheirownwork.Inthepast,womensuchas

LaurelMartynandNinettedeValoischoreographedalmostasa

matter of course.

The creator ofMirror Mirror, Natalie Weir, was at that point the

Australian Ballet's choreographer-in-residence. She is now the artistic

director of Expressions Dance Company in Brisbane. Expressions is

contemporary, but Weir choreographs successfully in the classical field

aswell.MostrecentlyshewasinvitedbytheQueenslandBalletto

choreographWe Who are Leftforits“LestWeForget”programlastyear.

ShehasbeeninvitedbytwoUScompaniestochoreographall-female

seasonsinthenearfuture.Andallthiswhileraisingthreesons!

Weirdoesnothaveaclearanswerforwhyshehassofewfemale

colleagues. “Maybe it's because the females working in the ballet

companies generally are focused on their careers as dancers,” she

speculates, “and when they retire from their dancing it's usually,

not always, to have a family. So they don’t fall into pursuing a

choreographic career.”

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JUNE / JULY 2017 | WWW.DANCEAUSTRALIA.COM.AU

WHERE ARE THE

I

WOMEN?