Talking Pointes

For our bonus episode this season, we’re catching up with the Australian Ballet’s Artistic Director David Hallberg. Last season, David and I spoke about his life growing up in South Dakota, being bullied, training at the Paris Opera, becoming principal at American Ballet Theatre, and being the first American to be invited to dance with the Bolshoi Ballet in Russia. We talked about climbing back from his epic injury, his head space at that time, before taking over the Artistic Directorship of the Australian Ballet right in the middle of Covid. A year later we talk about what it's been like to be artistic director now that theatres are open and audiences are back, about what kind of as dancers he selects for the company, how he decides who will be promoted, the Australian Ballet's 60th anniversary, and life in Australia.

If you’d like to read more about David’s life, find our full conversation in the show notes, or you can read his autobiography called A Body of Work: Dancing to the Edge and Back. For Australian Ballet updates you can find them on Instagram at @ausballet and to continue to follow David’s adventures, you’ll find him on Instagram at @davidhallbergofficial

David and I recorded remotely, with David dialling in from Melbourne, the land of the Kulin people, with recording and production on the land of the Awabakal and Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, to all of whom to which we pay our greatest respects.

This is the final episode for Season 2 of Talking Pointes. We can not thank our guests enough for sharing their stories, their lives, and their vulnerabilities. To our sponsors, Bloch, Fjord Review, and Energetiks, thank you for all of your support, discount codes are available in the episodes, or see my Instragram for details at @byclaudialawson. To our beautiful audience, thank you. A fun and exciting Season 3 of Talking Pointes will be back next year, in the meantime please feel free to get in contact with suggestions or guests for next year.

We’re delighted that David Hallberg’s episode of Talking Pointes is sponsored by Energetiks. Energetiks are a sustainable, Australian Made brand that specialise in creating world class dancewear for the stars of tomorrow. Perform and feel your best at every stage of your dance journey in Energetiks’ premium, high performance fabrics. See their entire range online at energetiks.com.au, and for all Talking Pointes listeners there’s a 20% discount on all Energetiks products—listen in for the code!

Hosted by @byclaudialawson

Produced by @fjordreview

Additional Production @clinttopic

Sound & Editing @outputmedia

Studios @brightsidesydney

@sawtoothstudios

Production dream team ✨

Hosted by @byclaudialawson

Produced by @fjordreview

Additional Production @clinttopic

Sound & Editing @outputmedia

Studios @brightsidesydney

@sawtoothstudios

30 years ago this year, a small independent film, by a first time director, and an unknown cast, hit our screens. That film was Strictly Ballroom. And so, for our final episode of Season 2 of Talking Pointes, I’m speaking with the legendary Paul Mercurio. Paul was born in Swan Hill in regional Victoria and started dancing after he saw his elder sister in a local dance class. With dad off the scene early, the family moved to Perth where Paul continued to train at the John Curtin Senior High School as it was known then, before, at 18, being accepted in the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne. But in a rebel move, he joined Sydney Dance Company before graduating, it was the golden era of Graeme Murphy’s directorship. It was a position he held for ten years, as a principal dancer, muse and choreographer. During his later years Sydney Dance Company, Paul received a call from an unknown director called Baz Lurhmann who asked him to help choreograph on a dance film. It was a call that changed his life. In this wonderfully honest interview, Paul talks about his early years in dance, his “angry man” years as he calls them—where he wrote poetry, smoked weed, and rode motorbikes. We also talk about how Strictly Ballroom came to be, the behind the scene, and how the film changed his life. Finally we talk new careers, raising a family, and his plans for making a more inclusive community in his local area.

Paul and I recorded remotely, with Paul dialling in from Melbourne on the land of the Kulin people. Paul’s episode was produced in Sydney on the land of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, to whom we pay our greatest respects.

We’re delighted that Paul Mercurio’s episode of Talking Pointes is sponsored by Energetiks. Energetiks are a sustainable, Australian Made brand that specialise in creating world class dancewear for the stars of tomorrow. Perform and feel your best at every stage of your dance journey in Energetiks’ premium, high performance fabrics. See their entire range online at energetiks.com.au, and for all Talking Pointes listeners there’s a 20% discount on all Energetiks products—listen in for the code!

Production dream team ✨

Hosted by @byclaudialawson

Produced by @fjordreview

Additional Production @clinttopic

Sound & Editing @outputmedia

Studios @brightsidesydney

@sawtoothstudios

Production dream team ✨

Hosted by @byclaudialawson

Produced by @fjordreview

Additional Production @clinttopic

Sound & Editing @outputmedia

Studios @brightsidesydney

@sawtoothstudios

Today we're speaking with the divine Danielle Rowe. Dani grew up in South Australia, and by 14 she had moved interstate to train [in ballet] under Marie Walton Mann. Within a year of that, she'd been accepted into the Australian Ballet School, and on graduation, she was offered a position with the company, but the accolades didn't stop. Dani rose to principal artist, won the Telstra Ballet Dancer award twice, and represented the Australian Ballet company around the world from London to China. But in a move that defines the superstars trajectory, she wanted more. She left Australia and moved to the US, joining Houston Ballet as a principal artist. Less than a year later, she was offered a contract with a prestigious Netherlands Dance Theater. In this wondrous conversation, Dani and I talk about her career across three continents, how she found choreography, about managing long distance relationships, her want for a family, and ultimately how she became the first female artistic director of Oregon Ballet Theater.

We are thrilled to be sponsored by Energetiks. Energetiks specialise in creating sustainable, world class dancewear for the stars of tomorrow. Perform and feel your best at every stage of your dance journey in Energetiks’ premium, high performance fabrics. Try them out with a 20% discount site-wide using the code DANIELLE20 at the checkout [available until the end of March 2024]. Shop their extensive range online at energetiks.com.au or energetiks.com if you’re listening from the US. T&Cs APPLY.

Team

Claudia Lawson, host @byclaudialawson

Martin Peralta, sound designer @outputmedia

Penelope Ford, producer @fjordreview

Clint Topic, additional sound production @sawtoothstudios

Talking Pointes was recorded on traditional lands of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation, Awabakal and Worimi. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country and recognise the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We recognise that sovereignty was never ceded.

Production dream team ✨

Hosted by @byclaudialawson

Produced by @fjordreview

Additional Production @clinttopic

Sound & Editing @outputmedia

Studios @brightsidesydney

@sawtoothstudios

Today I am speaking with the divine Dana Stephensen. Dana grew up in Brisbane learning tap, jazz and singing, and never dreamed of being a ballerina. But ballet had a way of finding her. And strangely enough, it was a rejection letter from the Australian Ballet School and the disappointment that followed that awakened her passion and changed the trajectory of her life. In this beautifully courageous and candid interview, Dana speaks about her career with the Australian Ballet, managing her thyroid condition and the affect that had on her body image, and being promoted to senior artist after becoming a mum. But more than that, Dana opens up about the birth of her twin girls, navigating the loneliness of motherhood in a pandemic, the pressures of parenting with a public figure, and wondrously re-emerging and returning to the stage.

Dana continues to perform as a senior artist with the Australian Ballet, all the while juggling life with her son Jasper, her fiancé Lachlan Gillespie, and their twin girls Lulu and Lottie. To continue to follow all of Dana’s adventures, you can find her on Instagram @dana_stephensen

For support for peri and postpartum depression in Australia, you can find support through the Gidget foundation or PANDA’s support line, their details are in the show notes, or for further aboard, please contact your local services.

Dana and I recorded remotely, with Dana dialling in from Sydney on the land of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, to which we pay our greatest respects.

Production dream team ✨

Hosted by @byclaudialawson

Produced by @fjordreview

Additional Production @clinttopic

Sound & Editing @outputmedia

Studios @brightsidesydney

@sawtoothstudios

Production dream team ✨

Hosted by @byclaudialawson

Produced by @fjordreview

Additional Production @clinttopic

Sound & Editing @outputmedia

Studios @brightsidesydney

@sawtoothstudios

This week we head to Boston, where I'm speaking with Boston Ballet's legendary principal dancer, John Lam. John has the most incredible story: His Vietnamese parents were refugees who settled in the US and John, together with his brother and sister grew up in relative poverty in California. Traditional family values meant education was key in John's family, but he accidentally found dance as a young boy when his daycare offered it as an extra activity. And from there, the love affair began. John went on to train at Canada's National Ballet School, and on graduation was offered a position at the Boston Ballet. In this wondrous and beautiful conversation, John talks about the joys of dance, about finding his sexuality and the moment he came out to his parents. But we also talk about more about navigating race and racism in ballet, about meeting his husband, becoming a dad to their two boys, and John's hopes that his parents will one day see him dance.

Trigger Warning

This episode discusses ideas around suicide. For help for depression and anxiety, turn to Beyond Blue at beyondblue.org.au

Talking Points is produced on the lands of the Gadigal and the Wanegal peoples to whom we pay our greatest respects. Talking Points is produced by Fjord Review. Remember to subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as they're released. If you like us, please leave a five-star review. On the next episode of Talking Points, you'll hear from Dana Stephenson.

Your host and producer is me, Claudia Lawson, with additional production by Penelope Ford and Clint Topic. Sound production and editing is by Martin Peralta at Output Media. For the latest in all things dance, head to fjordreview.com.

Production dream team ✨

Hosted by @byclaudialawson

Produced by @fjordreview

Additional Production @clinttopic

Sound & Editing @outputmedia

Studios @brightsidesydney

@sawtoothstudios