A lifelong passion honoured by South Australian Ballet

Bolton Clarke Hillside Gardens retirement village resident Judy has been recognised for her contribution to the South Australian arm of the Australian Ballet.

The ex-ballerina has been tied to the ballet community for as long as she can remember and says the awards were an unexpected honour.

“I am now an Honorary Member of the Australian Ballet and a Life Member of the Friends of the Australian Ballet South Australia,” Judy said.

“To get both awards is so very special to me and ballet was just something that I never fell out of love with.”

Her lifelong passion for ballet started at the ripe age of 11 in the early 1950s after her mother decided Judy’s sister was destined to be a ballerina.

“Joan is younger than me and she was always running around the house barefoot but up on her toes, so mum decided she was a ballet girl.

“Because she was too young to go into the city by herself my mum sent me with her on the tram and I thought I would just go and sit but I was able to do the classes with her.

“After a year she gave it away and went horse riding, but I stayed on and two years later I was sent as an understudy for the Borovansky Ballet, which was a really well-known Russian ballet.

“The girl on stage couldn’t do the step so with shaking legs I went up, did the step and I was in – that was the most wonderful experience to be in a professional ballet.”

Once Judy started her family, she found she had no time to dance but after 20 years and three children, she fell straight back into it.

“In the early 90s, a lady I knew started Friends of the Australian Ballet South Australia and she asked if I would go on the committee.

“I have just retired after 30 years and that’s where the lifetime membership came from – during my time with the committee we would organise people like principal dancers and costume designers to come over to Adelaide and talk about their careers.”

Now in her 80s, she still enjoys watching ballet and occasionally shows off her moves to her fellow Hillside Gardens neighbours. Most importantly, she gets to enjoy dancing with her daughters, granddaughters and a great-granddaughter.

“My daughter did a bit of ballet and different types of dancing with her daughter and now, my great-granddaughter is doing ballet and I’m always invited to her concerts.

“Because I’ve done it for so long, I can see the choreography, all the steps and the feelings the dancers put into the roles – I go more into it which is really beautiful and warming for me.

“Ballet is now more athletic but it’s enjoyed more by the general population because the dancers are able to build more of a rapport with audiences so I think that lets people know that it’s not as secular as they might have thought previously.”