Damian Smith is an Australian retired ballet dancer who was a principal dancer at the

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...

. He is now the artistic director of The National Ballet school in Melbourne.

Early life

Smith is from

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area ...

and is of Indigenous descent. He is the youngest of six children, and his mother, a teacher, took care the children after his father died. Smith decided to start ballet at age 9, after seeing a performance, and was offered free tuition from the Robyn Hick School of Dancing. He then trained at The McDonald College in Sydney. At age 16, he accepted a scholarship to train at School of American Ballet in New York City.

Career

Smith joined the

in 1998. He was promoted to soloist in 1998 and principal dancer in 2001. His repertoire includes full-length classics, works by Frederick Ashton,

Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. E ...

and George Balanchine, and he created roles with choreographers such as Helgi Tómasson and Christopher Wheeldon. As a guest artist, he had performed in the US, Australia, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and Germany. In 2014, Smith left the San Francisco Ballet after the company's appearance in

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a ...

, Paris. He performed at several galas afterwards. In 2016, Smith danced his final performance in Sydney. He appeared as a guest artist with

The Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur and direc ...

to dance Wheeldon's ''

After the Rain pas de deux ''After the Rain'' is a ballet choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon on New York City Ballet to music of Arvo Pärt, including ''Tabula Rasa'' (first movement, ''Ludus'') and '' Spiegel im Spiegel''. The ballet premiered on January 22, 2005, a ...

'' with

Robyn Hendricks Robyn Hendricks is a South African ballet dancer who is a principal artist with The Australian Ballet. Biography Hendricks grew up in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. She started ballet late, at the age of eight, after her grandfather recognised ...

. Smith is currently the artistic director of The National Ballet school in Melbourne.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Damian Australian male ballet dancers San Francisco Ballet principal dancers Australian expatriates in the United States 21st-century Australian dancers 21st-century ballet dancers School of American Ballet alumni Living people People from Newcastle, New South Wales 1970s births Australian people of Indigenous Australian descent