Meet Ella Havelka
Ella Havelka during The Australian Ballet’s 2016 Swan Lake tour in Beijing, photo by Lisa Tomasetti
Ella Havelka is a Wiradjuri woman and the first Indigenous dancer to join The Australian Ballet. Describing an old video tape of Swan Lake as the initial inspiration for her journey through dance and ballet, Ella began dancing in Dubbo before joining The Australian Ballet School in 2007. After graduating from ABS, she danced with Bangarra until 2012, appearing in Mathinna, of earth & sky, Belong, Spirit and Terrain. In 2012, Ella performed in Australia and New York with Bangarra and The Australian Ballet in Warumuk – in the dark night, a collaborative work created by Stephen Page for The Australian Ballet’s 50th anniversary celebrations. She joined The Australian Ballet in 2013. In 2016, Ella was the subject of an eponymously titled documentary centring on her dance journey, which was released at the Melbourne International Film Festival. In 2019 Ella guested with Bangarra for its 30th anniversary program; she was named most outstanding dancer in Dance Australia Magazine for her performance in Jiří Kylián’s Stamping Ground, part of that program.
During Reconciliation Week this year, Fashion Journal chatted to Ella about her career and the different worlds of working with both The Australian Ballet and Bangarra. Read the interview here.
If you want more Ella, listen to her conversation with Libby Gore on the ABC’s This Weekend Life here.