Ella Havelka (born 1989) is an Australian ballet dancer who is the first

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

person to join

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 ...

Early life

Havelka was born in Dubbo,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, and is a descendant of the

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

people. She was raised by a single mother. She started ballet at a local studio after she watched a video of '' Swan Lake''. At age 15, Havelka and her mother moved to Melbourne to train at the Australian Ballet School and graduated in 2007.

Career

After graduating from the Australian Ballet School, she was not offered a place with

. Therefore, in 2009, she joined

Bangarra Dance Theatre Bangarra Dance Theatre is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance company focused on contemporary dance. It was founded by African American dancer and choreographer Carole Y. Johnson, Gumbaynggirr man Rob Bryant, and South African-born C ...

, an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

contemporary dance company, and made her debut with ''Fire – A Retrospective'', and continued to perform in the company's other productions. In 2012, Havelka danced

Stephen Page Stephen George Page (born 1965) is an Australian choreographer, film director and former dancer. He is the current artistic director of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, an Indigenous Australian dance company. Page is descended from the Nunukul peopl ...

's ''Warumuk – in the dark night'', a collaboration between Bangarra and

, in honour of the latter's 50th anniversary. The following year, she joined The Australian Ballet, at the invitation of artistic director

David McAllister David James McAllister (born 12 January 1971) is a German politician who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People's Party. He is the current Vice Pre ...

, making her the first indigenous person to do so. In 2019, she returned to Bangarra as a guest for its 30th anniversary. Havelka was the subject of the

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

'' Ella'', which premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2016. In 2018, arranged by the Australian Consulate-General, she visited

Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and ...

, New Caledonia for NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee). Outside of dancing, Havelka learnt

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

when a production requires her to weave her own mat, she later started making and selling Aboriginal woven baskets to raise funds for Oxfam Australia. She also makes jewellery and

linocut Linocut, also known as lino print, lino printing or linoleum art, is a printmaking technique, a variant of woodcut in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for a relief surface. A design is cut into the linoleum s ...

Awards

Havelka won the

deadly Award The Deadly Awards, commonly known simply as The Deadlys, was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. The event was held from 1995 to 2013. Description T ...

dancer of the year in 2013 and the Women of Style Award in 2017.

References

External links

Official website

Australian Ballet profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Havelka, Ella Living people 1989 births Australian ballerinas Dancers of the Australian Ballet People from Dubbo Indigenous Australian dancers Wiradjuri 21st-century ballet dancers 21st-century Australian dancers Australian Ballet School alumni