Kelvin Coe OBE (18 September 19469 July 1992) was an Australian ballet dancer and the first male artist to be promoted from the corps de ballet in 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 ...

principal dancer. He died of AIDS related illness in 1992.

Dancing career

Born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Coe was spotted, at the age of 16, by

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 ...

when she was recruiting for the newly formed

. Within just four years, he became a soloist with the company. He became the company's principal dancer in 1968 and achieved the ultimate position of ''premier danseur'' in 1974. By this time he had achieved fame as one of Australia's top male dancers, whilst at the Australian Ballet and whilst touring overseas in the UK, the US and the USSR. Some of Coe's most notable roles with the Australian Ballet include those of Albrecht in '' Giselle'' (1969, 1976, 1986), as Espada in ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...

'' (directed by

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

), in 1973. Coe performed with many international female artists including

Carla Fracci Carolina "Carla" Fracci (; 20 August 1936 – 27 May 2021) was an Italian ballet dancer, actress and ballet director. Considered one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century, she was a leading dancer of La Scala Theatre Ballet in Milan, th ...

, Valentina Koslova and

Galina Samsova Galina Samsova (born Galina Martynovna Samtsova, 14 March 1937 – 11 December 2021) was a Russian ballet dancer and company director. Early life and training Samsova was born as Galina Martynovna Samtsova (she later simplified the spelling of ...

Maina Gielgud Maina Gielgud (born 14 January 1945) is a British former ballet dancer and a veteran ballet administrator. She was artistic director of The Australian Ballet from 1983 to 1996. She had a twenty-year career as a dancer in Europe and the United Ki ...

Eva Evdokimova Eva Maria Evdokimova-Gregori (December 1, 1948 – April 3, 2009) was a Bulgarian-American ''Prima Ballerina Assoluta'' with the Royal Danish, Berlin Opera Ballets, English National Ballet and guest artist with virtually every major ballet co ...

Elisabetta Terabust Elisabetta Terabust (5 August 1946 – 5 February 2018) was an Italian ballerina and company director. She trained at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and worked for the English National Ballet, London Festival Ballet (now the English National Ballet ...

and

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 ...

. He partnered with Australians

Elaine Fifield Elaine Fifield (28 October 1930 - 11 May 1999) was an Australian ballerina, perhaps best known for creating the title role in John Cranko's comic ballet ''Pineapple Poll'' in 1951. Early life Elaine Fifield was born in Sydney, New South Wales o ...

, Marilyn Jones 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 Ba ...

. Coe and fellow Australian Marilyn Rowe formed a partnership which won them a silver medal at the 1973 Moscow International Ballet Competition. In 1978, the pair became the first Australian artists to appear as guests of the Bolshoi Ballet when they perform the leading roles of ''Don Quixote''. In 1974, Coe danced with the

London Festival Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottis ...

where he performed ''

Les Sylphides ''Les Sylphides'' () is a short, non-narrative '' ballet blanc'' to piano music by Frédéric Chopin, selected and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. The ballet, described as a "romantic reverie","Ballet Theater", until 1955. A compact disk ...

'' and '' The Prodigal Son''. In that year, he also danced with several American dance companies. He later returned to Australia to dance under ballet director Maina Gielgud in the 1980s. In October 1981 Coe, reluctantly, became the artists’ spokesperson during a twenty-six-day strike. He believed the settlement offered to the dancers was poor and resigned in December. Coe joined

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 ...

at 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 1982. In 1985, he returned to the faculty of the Australian Ballet School and taught there until 1991. The Australian Ballet now award the annual Kelvin Coe Memorial Scholarship to promising young ballet artists.

Honours

To mark his contribution to ballet in Australia, Coe was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1980. By the

Gay Community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and ...

, he is remembered in a panel in the Australian Aids Quilt.

References

Obituaries

Noël Goodwin Trevor Noël Goodwin (25 December 1927 – 27 March 2013) was an English music critic, dance critic and author who specialized in classical music and ballet. Described as having a "rare ability to write about music and dance with equal distincti ...

The Independent, 11 July 1992

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coe, Kelvin 1946 births 1992 deaths Australian male ballet dancers Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Melbourne Gay entertainers Australian LGBT entertainers 20th-century LGBT people Deaths from AIDS-related illness