There were many gifts given on David Hallberg’s birthday, seven of which were promotions that Hallberg himself gifted to dancers at an all-company meeting. Yuumi Yamada, Lisa Craig, Lucien Xu, Isobelle Dashwood, Jacqueline Clark, Riley Lapham, and Callum Linnane were all promoted.
Hallberg said, “Each promotion is the recognition of their individual focus and fortitude in their careers as professional dancers and equally, their contributions to the healthy culture of the company. Their talent exemplifies all aspects of the artistic vision I have for the company, and I look forward to seeing them all flourish in their new roles with vigour and confidence in their abilities.”
Congratulations to these artists!
Jacqueline Clark – promoted from Coryphée to Soloist
Lisa Craig – promoted from Corps de Ballet to Coryphée
Isobelle Dashwood – promoted from Corps de Ballet to Soloist
Riley Lapham – promoted from Corps de Ballet to Coryphée
Callum Linnane – promoted from Soloist to Senior Artist
Lucien Xu – promoted from Corps de Ballet to Coryphée
Yuumi Yamada – promoted from Coryphée to Soloist
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Jacqueline Clark
Jacqueline was born in Sydney and began dancing at the age of five. She studied with Sydney Festival Ballet and SCEGGS Redlands before finishing her studies at The Royal Ballet School in London. In 2006 she joined Ballet Ireland; in 2009 she joined The Royal Ballet. She joined The Australian Ballet in 2015.
During the recent Sydney season of New York Dialects, Jacqueline danced the First Theme in George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments.
Lisa Craig
Lisa was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, and started ballet classes at the age of four. She studied under Caroline Claver before joining The Australian Ballet School, where she was chosen for an exchange program with Canada’s National Ballet School and the School of American Ballet. She toured in Don Quixote with The Dancers Company in 2011 and 2012 before joining The Australian Ballet in 2013.
Isobelle Dashwood
Isobelle was born and raised in Toowoomba, Queensland. She began dancing at the age of six and trained in Queensland before winning the Robert and Elizabeth Albert Scholarship and a full scholarship to study at The Australian Ballet school; she began her studies in 2013. During her time at the school she participated in a month-long exchange with Canada’s National Ballet School and received an award for excellence in both classical and character dance. Isobelle joined The Australian Ballet in 2016.
During the recent Sydney season of New York Dialects, Isobelle danced Choleric in George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments. She was also a Telstra Ballet Dancer Award nominee in 2019 and 2017.
Riley Lapham
Riley grew up in Wollongong in New South Wales, and began dance classes at the age of six. She trained at the Beverley Rowles School of Dance and The Australian Ballet School. She joined The Australian Ballet in 2019
Riley received the Friends of The Australian Ballet Australian Ballet School Scholarship in 2018.
Callum Linnane
Callum Linnane grew up in Ballarat, Victoria. At the age of seven he began training in all styles of dance at the Ballarat Centre of Music and the Arts; he started ballet classes with Lauren Young at the age of eleven. Callum was accepted into The Australian Ballet School in 2008 and graduated dux with honours. He joined The Australian Ballet in 2015 and won the Telstra Ballet Award in 2016.
During the recent Sydney season of Counterpointe, Callum danced the Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux.
Lucien Xu
Lucien (Yipeng) was born in the XuZhou, China. His father started him in dance lessons to build his strength. At age eleven Lucien was selected to study at the exclusive Beijing Dance Academy Secondary School. In 2014 and 2015 he received full scholarships to train at The Australian Ballet School, going on to tour with The Dancers Company several times. He joined The Australian Ballet in 2016. In 2019 he participated an exchange with The National Ballet of China.
Lucien was a Telstra Ballet Dancer Award nominee in 2018.
Yuumi Yamada
Originally born in Northern Japan, Yuumi moved to Australia when she was 16 to study at The Australian Ballet School. She toured with The Dancers Company in 2015. In 2016, she danced in The Australian Ballet’s production of Swan Lake and in its regional tour of Giselle, before joining The Company in 2017.
During the recent Sydney season of Counterpointe, Yuumi danced the Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux and the Second Pas de Deux in William Forsythe’s Artifact Suite.