Garth de Burgh Welch (born 14 April 1936) is an Australian
dancer
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...
and
choreographer
Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...
.
Early life and training
Welch was born in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
. He was educated at the
Anglican Church Grammar School
The Anglican Church Grammar School (ACGS), formerly the Church of England Grammar School and commonly referred to as Churchie, is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in East Brisbane, an inner suburb of Brisbane, ...
. His initial dance training took place under the guidance of the respected teacher
Phyllis Danaher
Phyllis May Danaher MBE FRAD (27 July 1908 – 31 May 1991) was a dancer, teacher of dance and choreographer.
Early life and education
Danaher was born on 27 July 1908 in Bulimba, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, to William Patrick Dana ...
.
Dancer and choreographer
Welch began his career in ''Call Me Madam'' for the J. C. Williamson organisation. He came to the attention of
Edouard Borovansky
Edouard Borovansky (24 February 1902 – 18 December 1959) was a Czech-born Australian ballet dancer, choreographer and director. After touring with Anna Pavlova's company, he and his wife, Xenia, settled in Australia where they established the ...
and joined the
Borovansky 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 direct ...
in 1954. Welch achieved within a relatively short time the rank of Principal Dancer with the company. He also danced with Western Theatre Ballet (later
Scottish Ballet
Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1969, ...
) and the
Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas
Jorge Cuevas Bartholín, known as George de Cuevas (1885 – 22 February 1961), was a Chilean-born ballet impresario and choreographer who was best known for the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas that he formed in 1944.
Life and career
Cueva ...
before returning to Australia at the invitation of Dame
Peggy van Praagh
Dame Margaret van Praagh (1 September 1910 – 15 January 1990) was a British ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher, repetiteur, producer, advocate and director, who spent much of her later career in Australia.
Early life
Peggy van Praagh ...
as a Principal Dancer with the
Australian Ballet
The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson's, J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teache ...
in 1962. He remained in the position until he left the company in 1973. While at the Australian Ballet, Welch danced the lead in all the major classical ballets in the company's repertoire and created roles in Sir
Robert Helpmann
Sir Robert Murray Helpmann CBE ( Helpman, 9 April 1909 – 28 September 1986) was an Australian ballet dancer, actor, director, and choreographer. After early work in Australia he moved to Britain in 1932, where he joined the Vic-Wells Ballet (n ...
's ''
The Display'' and ''Yugen'' and in
John Butler John Butler may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*John "Picayune" Butler (died 1864), American performer
*John Butler (artist) (1890–1976), American artist
* John Butler (author) (born 1937), British author and YouTuber
*John Butler (born 1954), ...
's ''Threshold''. He partnered the Australian Ballet's principal dancers including
Marilyn Jones,
Kathleen Gorham
Kathleen Ann "Kathy" Gorham (7 September 1928 - 30 April 1983) was an Australian ballerina.
Early life
Born in Narrandera, New South Wales, the second of four children of Marcus Gorham, an Irish-born railway employee, and his English-born wi ...
and
Marilyn Rowe
Marilyn Patricia Rowe (born 20 August 1946) is the first graduate of the Australian Ballet School to be appointed its director, in 1999.
Dancing career
Rowe was born in Sydney, New South Wales and became a principal artist with The Australian Bal ...
, and partnered guest artists including Dame
Margot Fonteyn
Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells T ...
.
In the 1970s he worked with
Ballet Victoria both as a choreographer and as associate artistic director. During that time he danced ''Hilarion'' and later ''Albrecht'' to
Natalia Makarova
Natalia Romanovna Makarova (russian: Ната́лия Рома́новна Мака́рова, born 21 November 1940) is a Russian prima ballerina and choreographer. ''The History of Dance'', published in 1981, notes that "her performances set ...
's ''Giselle'' in Ballet Victoria's staging of ''
Giselle
''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, ...
'' Act II in 1975. In 1976 he appeared as the ''Blackamoor'' in ''
Petrouchka
''Petrushka'' (french: link=no, Pétrouchka; russian: link=no, Петрушка) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1911 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; ...
'' for the appearances by
Valery Panov
Valery Matveevich Panov (russian: Валерий Матвеевич Панов; born 12 March 1938) is a Belarusian-Israeli dancer and choreographer. Born and raised in the Soviet Union, he trained in Leningrad and performed with the Kirov from ...
and
Galina Panov for Ballet Victoria.
Welch was Artistic Director of the
West Australian Ballet
West Australian Ballet is the State ballet company of Western Australia and is based in Perth, at the Western Australian Ballet Centre in Maylands.
The company was founded in 1952 by Madame Kira Bousloff (formerly of the Ballets Russes) and ...
from 1980 to 1982 and throughout the 1980s and 1990s taught extensively across Australia. In the 1980s Welch also worked with the
Sydney Dance Company
Sydney Dance Company is a contemporary dance company in Australia. The company has performed on stages around the world, including the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Joyce Theater in New York, the Shanghai Grand Theatre in China, and the ...
. In 1984,
Graeme Murphy
Graeme Lloyd Murphy AO (born 2 November 1950) is an Australian choreographer. With his fellow dancer (and wife since 2004) Janet Vernon, he guided Sydney Dance Company to become one of Australia's most successful and best-known dance compani ...
created the role of ''von Aschenbach'' in ''After Venice'', and Welch performed this role to singular acclaim in Australia, Europe and New York. With the Sydney Dance Company Welch also performed in Murphy's ''Late Afternoon of a Faun''. In the 1990s Welch returned to musical theatre and appeared in ''The Game of Love and Chance'' in 1990, ''How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying'' in 1993 and ''Nijinsky at Twilight'' in 1998.
Welch choreographed ''Variations on a Theme'' for the Australian Ballet in 1964. Since that first piece, he has created many more works for the flagship company as well as pieces for the West Australian Ballet,
Ballet Victoria,
Ballet Philippines
Ballet Philippines (BP) is a ballet company in the Philippines founded in 1969 by Alice Reyes with the support of Eddie Elejar and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Proficient in both ballet and modern dance,Jacinto, J. 2007. The Ballet Com ...
, the
Royal New Zealand Ballet
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is a ballet company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was originally known as The New Zealand Ballet Company.
History
New Zealand Ballet was established in 1953 as an independent charitable trust by Royal Danish ...
, the
Queensland Ballet
The Queensland Ballet, founded in 1960 by Charles Lisner OBE, is the premier ballet company of Queensland, Australia and is based in Brisbane. Queensland Ballet is one of only three full-time, professional classical ballet companies in Australi ...
and the Sydney Dance Company. His major works include ''Othello'', made originally for the
Australian Ballet School
The Australian Ballet School is the premier ballet training facility in Australia, located in Melbourne.
History
The Australian Ballet School was founded in 1964 as the primary training facility for The Australian Ballet by Dame Margaret Scot ...
in 1968, and staged by the Australian Ballet in 1970; and ''KAL'', his first full-length work, made for the West Australian Ballet in 1979.
Awards
* Welch was inducted into the Australian Dance Awards Hall of Fame in 2002.
Family
Welch married fellow Australian Ballet Principal Dancer,
Marilyn Jones and they had two sons, also dancers.
Stanton Welch
Stanton De Burgh Welch (born 1969) is an Australian dancer and choreographer. He currently serves as the Artistic Director of the Houston Ballet.
Early life
Welch was born in Melbourne to Marilyn Jones and Garth Welch, two prominent Australian ...
, choreographer, is Artistic Director of the
Houston Ballet
Houston Ballet, operated by Houston Ballet Foundation, is a professional ballet company based in Houston, Texas. The company, consisting of 59 dancers, produces over 85 performances per year.
History
Tatiana Semenova (1955–1967)
Houston dev ...
[Australian Ballet Resident Choreographers - Stanton Welch , http://www.australianballet.com.au/thecompany_residentchoreographers.htm ] and his other son Damien Welch was a principal dancer of the Australian Ballet.
References
Books and articles
* Martha Bremser (ed.), International Dictionary of Ballet, Volume 2 (Detroit: St James Press, 1993), p. 1533 (list of works choreographed by Garth Welch)
External links
Garth Welch Collectionat the
Australian Performing Arts Collection,
Arts Centre Melbourne
Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central M ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welch, Garth
1936 births
Living people
Australian male ballet dancers
Members of the Order of Australia
People from Brisbane
People educated at Anglican Church Grammar School