Australian Ballet Dancer Amber Scott On Being A Principal Dancer
In this interview with beautiful Australian Ballet dancer Amber Scott, the principal artist gives an insight into some of the more personal aspects of her life.
Amber joined the Australian Ballet in 2001 and quickly made her mark, being promoted to the most prestigious rank of principal artist after just a decade. She has performed numerous ballets, both classical and contemporary from some of the world’s most revered choreographers including Britain’s Wayne McGregor (Chroma, Dyad 1929) and Christopher Wheeldon (After the Rain); and Australia’s own Graeme Murphy (Swan Lake and Romeo&Juliet and Stephen Baynes (Swan Lake, Beyond Bach); and from the older, more traditional classical sphere John Cranko’s Onegin, Kenneth Macmillan’s Manon and Serge Lifar’s Suite en blanc.
After so many years performing on stage to audiences all over the globe it may surprise viewers to learn Amber still gets nervous, perhaps more so now than when she was a younger dancer. She tells Jane Albert some of the techniques she uses to stay focussed and make the most of her nerves.
The career span of a ballet dancer is notoriously short, often more so for women who decide to have children (although plenty return after giving birth – witness former principal artists Lucinda Bell who has two daughters and Olivia Bell, who has twins!) Ever the astute dancer, Amber has already put plans in place for her own life after dance.
Taxing physically, a professional dancer’s life is also relentless time-wise. The Australian Ballet’s 60-plus dancers work six days a week, often including nights when they’re performing. Nevertheless there is time for romance, and Amber reveals the identity of her off-stage (and on-stage!) prince, a reality that takes the romance of ballet to a whole new level.
Who is he? You’ll have to watch to find out.
Credits:
All performance vision and photographs courtesy of The Australian Ballet.
Swan Lake – Stephen Baynes
Suite en Blanc – Serge Lifar
After the Rain – Christopher Wheeldon
Molto Vivace – Stephen Baynes
CHROMA (2006)
Choreography: Wayne McGregor
Restager: Antoine Vereeken
Music: Joby Talbot and Jack White III
Costume design: Moritz Junge
Set design: John Pawson
Lighting design: Lucy Carter
Reproduced for The Australian Ballet by Simon Bennison
