Greg Horsman

Greg Horsman
Born1963 (age 60–61)
Victoria, Australia
Years active1982–present
Career
Current groupQueensland Ballet
Former groupsAustralian Ballet
English National Ballet
Royal New Zealand Ballet

Greg Horsman is an Australian ballet choreographer, teacher, and retired dancer.[1] In 2022, Dance Magazine Australia described him as "formerly one of the Australian Ballet's most poetic and classical of principal artists."[2] He and his then-wife Lisa Pavane were a popular partnership during the 1980s and early 1990s,[3] with the Washington Post referring to their "conspicuously poised, elegant dancing" and the New York Times calling them "two perfectly trained and appealing first-class dancers" during a performance of Giselle.[4][5][6] Horsman was appointed Acting Artistic Director Queensland Ballet in July 2024. Horsman has been Assistant Artistic Director Queensland Ballet since 2023 and was previously the Chief Ballet Master and Director of Artistic Operations for the Queensland Ballet since 2013.[7][1]

Early life and education

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Horsman was born in Geelong, Victoria, Australia in 1963.[8][9][7] At age 12, he saw Rudolph Nureyev and the London Festival Ballet perform The Sleeping Beauty in Melbourne. He was already studying ballet under Peter Dickinson at that time but credits that moment as when he decided to commit his life to ballet.[1][7][10] He attended Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School, where he had the opportunity to dance as a guest artist with the Philippine Ballet Theatre and the North Queensland Ballet.[9] He then attended the Victorian College of the Arts and studied under Anne Woolliams.[1][7]

Career

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Horsman joined the Australian Ballet in 1982 and was promoted to principal artist in 1987.[1][9] During this time, he was a guest artist with the Kirov Ballet and the Boston Ballet and was part of Rudolph Nureyev's farewell tour.[9][1] Reported disagreements with artistic director Maina Gielgud saw Horsman and his then-wife, principal artist Lisa Pavane, leaving the company in 1994. They left Australia and joined the English National Ballet.[1][11][9]

London's Central School of Ballet appointed Horsman as artistic director in 1998 and he officially retired from dancing in 1999.,[9][1] He became ballet master at the Northern Ballet Theatre in Leeds in 2001 then rejoined the English National Ballet as a ballet master and répétiteur in 2003.[1][12] In 2006, he returned to Oceania to be a ballet master at the Royal New Zealand Ballet.[1] He spent seven years there and choreographed his first full-length ballet: The Sleeping Beauty.[13][7] In 2013, Li Cunxin, the new artistic director of the Queensland Ballet, appointed him as ballet master.[7]

Throughout his career, he has been a guest principal artist, ballet master, and teacher with the Royal Danish Ballet, the Tokyo Ballet, the Houston Ballet, the Scottish Ballet, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, La Scala Ballet, and the Staatballett Berlin.[14][1] He performed the Sleeping Beauty at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia, where the ballet was premiered in 1890.[10] In 1991, he and Miranda Coney won a Mo Award for "dance performance of the year."[15][16] He won a Green Room Award for Leading Male Dancer in 1992 in recognition of his performance in Romeo and Juliet.[17]

Personal life

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Horsman was married to Lisa Pavane, his dance partner of many years. They have a daughter, Cassandra, and separated in 1998.[18][7][4][11][3] Pavane was the Director of the Australian Ballet School from 2015 until 2024 and has since remarried.[11][19]

Selected works

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As a dancer

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As a choreographer

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Greg Horsman". Queensland Ballet. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Li Cunxin: daring to dream". Dance Australia. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b Cline, Sally (1999). Couples: Scenes from the Inside. Overlook Press. p. 308.
  4. ^ a b c Kriegsman, Alan M. (29 July 1990). "THE STAR BEYOND THE SPOTLIGHT". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  5. ^ Kisselgoff, Anna (25 July 1990). "Review/Ballet; An Australian 'Giselle' With the Fervor of Youth". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  6. ^ Kriegsman, Alan M. (1 August 1990). "The Aussies' Spirited Return". Washington Post. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "News". DanceLines. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  8. ^ a b McMurdo, Don. "Greg Horsman as the Nutcracker Prince and Miranda Coney as Clara the Ballerina in Nutcracker, Australian Ballet, March 1992, 2 [picture]". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Horsman, Greg (ballet dancer) : programs and related material collected by the National Library of Australia". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  10. ^ a b Houghton, Cassandra. "Meet the choreographer: Q&A with Greg Horsman". Queensland Ballet. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  11. ^ a b c Dunn, Amanda (16 January 2015). "Lunch with Australian Ballet School director Lisa Pavane". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  12. ^ Klimentova, Daria (8 August 2004). "International Ballet Masterclass Diary". Ballet Magazine. Archived from the original on 4 April 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  13. ^ "Limelight - Greg Horsman". Dance Australia. 1 October 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  14. ^ "Greg Horsman". International Ballet Masterclass. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  15. ^ "Award Winners". Mo Awards. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  16. ^ "Williamson is Country Performer of the Year". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 June 1992. p. 171. Retrieved 2 September 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Green Room Award winners". The Australian Jewish News. Vol. 58, no. 25. Victoria, Australia. 28 February 1992. p. 28. Retrieved 2 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^ a b Lawson, Valerie (24 June 1994). "THE SWAN SHOWS ITS AGE". Financial Review Australia. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  19. ^ "Lisa Pavane". Royal Academy of Dance. 28 January 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  20. ^ Conway, Dee. "Australian Ballet in 'Etudes', Greg Horsman (photo)". Bridgeman Images. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  21. ^ Kisselgoff, Anna (26 July 1990). "Review/Dance; Cast Changes in Australian 'Giselle'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  22. ^ "Romeo and Juliet, English National Ballet- Wednesday 9th August 1995". Theatre Journeys. 1995. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  23. ^ Constanti, Sophie (29 March 1996). "Dance Cinderella / Alice in Wonderland ENB, Coliseum, London". The Independent. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  24. ^ "Greg Horsman as The Mad Hatter and Marta Barahona as Alice in Derek Deane's production of Alice In Wonderland for English National Ballet". Patrick Baldwin Photography. 2000. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  25. ^ Liber, Vera (9 June 2015). "London Coliseum hosts Australia's Queensland Ballet in Bournonville's La Sylphide". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  26. ^ a b c Parry, Jann (27 July 2015). "A Heads-Up on Queensland Ballet, La Sylphide and company director Li Cunxin". Dance Tabs. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  27. ^ Gray, Michaela (1 August 2013). "Australian ballerina makes homeland debut after 14 years in the UK". Australian Times. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  28. ^ "Coppélia Comes To Life In Perth". Dance Life Australia. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  29. ^ Potter, Michelle (7 June 2021). "The Sleeping Beauty. Queensland Ballet (2021)". Michelle Potter. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  30. ^ "Queensland Ballet: Raw Talent In Three Shows". Scene STR. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  31. ^ "Queensland Ballet - La Bayadere". Dance Life Australia. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  32. ^ Givney, Adelle (8 June 2021). "Review - The Sleeping Beauty". DanceLife Australia. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  33. ^ Potter, Michelle (7 August 2022). "Bespoke. Queensland Ballet". Michelle Potter. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  34. ^ "Peter and the Wolf Opens at the Thomas Dixon Centre this August". Dance Life Australia. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
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