Paul Hammond (ballet dancer) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Paul Clement Hammond OAM

Order of Australia

The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...

(born 16 December 1922) is a former Australian ballet

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

dancer, teacher and choreographer.

He was born in Sydney and started dancing at the age of 17.

Biography

As a teenager, Hammond studied ballet

Ballet

with Mischa Burlakov, Helene Kirsova and Leon Kellaway. From his early twenties, Hammond held numerous senior roles with premier Australian ballet companies. As Principal and Soloist with the Kirsova Ballet, Australia's first professional ballet company, Hammond danced the principal roles in various productions including Les Sylphides
Les Sylphides
Les Sylphides is a short, non-narrative ballet blanc. Its original choreography was by Michel Fokine, with music by Frédéric Chopin orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. Glazunov had already set some of the music in 1892 as a purely orchestral suite, under the title Chopiniana, Op. 46...

, Hansel & Gretel, Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...

and Harlequin. He went on to become a Leading Soloist with the Borovansky Ballet

Edouard Borovansky

Edouard Borovansky was a Czech- born Australian ballet dancer, choreographer and director. After touring with Anna Pavlova's company, he and his wife settled in Australia where they established the Borovansky Ballet company...

- the precursor to the Australian Ballet - for over a decade, and danced in major roles in a range of productions including Symphonie Fantastique, Beau Danube, Petrouchka, Scheherazade
Scheherazade
Scheherazade , sometimes Scheherazadea, Persian transliteration Shahrazad or Shahrzād is a legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights.-Narration :...

, The Outlaw, Sleeping Princess and Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...

. Edouard Borovansky

Edouard Borovansky

’s 1951 production of The Sleeping Princess, in which Hammond appeared as Carabosse

Wicked fairy godmother

The wicked fairy godmother, a figure rare in fairy tales, is nevertheless among best-known figures from such tales because of her appearance in one of the most widely known tales, Sleeping Beauty, and in the ballet derived from it...

, received great critical acclaim and was billed as 'an important milestone in the history of ballet in Australia'.

Throughout his early career, Hammond traveled extensively abroad to train and dance as Principal with companies including the Glyndebourne Opera Company (UK) as Assistant Ballet Master and as Principal Dancer in Orpheé. As Principal Dancer with the Metropolitan Ballet (UK) from 1948 to 1950, Hammond performed the lead role in several productions including Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...

and Prince Florimund in Sleeping Beauty. As a Principal Dancer with the Théâtre Royal de Monnaie (Belgium), Hammond danced in various opera productions and ballet divertissements including Brahms Variations and Bouquetierre des Violets.

In addition to extensive classical ballet training in Australia with Mischa Burlakov, Helene Kirsova and Leon Kellaway, Hammond studied ballet in Western and Eastern Europe, with acclaimed teachers including Vera Volkova

Vera Volkova

Vera Volkova was an influential Russian ballet dancer and dance teacher. Born in Tomsk, she trained in Petrograd at Akim Volynsky's School of Russian Ballet, also studying with the renowned Russian ballet mistress Agrippina Vaganova. She danced professionally with the Imperial Russian Ballet,...

, Anna Northcote, Lubov Egorova and Olga Preobajenska. In 1948, Sir Robert Helpmann invited Hammond, along with Peggy Sager, to dance in the pioneer ballet film The Red Shoes.

In the 1950s, Hammond gained his Advanced Teachers Diploma from the Royal Academy of Dance

Royal Academy of Dance

The Royal Academy of Dance is an international dance education and training organization, and examination board that specialises in the teaching and technique of Ballet. The RAD was established in London, England in 1920 as the Association of Operatic Dancing of Great Britain, and received its...

and in 1953, founded the Paul Hammond Ballet School in Melbourne. Under the management and direction of Hammond, the Paul Hammond Ballet School soon established itself as a leading dance academy, and between 1953 and 1976, produced and trained highly successful dancers such as Gailene Stock, Don Asker, Dale Baker, Michaela Kirkaldie, Walter Bourke, Margaret Wilson, John O’Brien and Robert Ray among numerous others. Following their stage career, many of these dancers went on to become professional teachers, examiners and choreographers in Australian and abroad. For example, Gailene Stock is currently Director of the Royal Ballet School

Royal Ballet School

The Royal Ballet School is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the Royal Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in London...

in London; Dale Baker, Michaela Kirkaldie, and Margaret Wilson are resident teachers at the Australian Ballet School

Australian Ballet School

The Australian Ballet School was founded in 1964 as the primary training facility for The Australian Ballet by Dame Margaret Scott. It is part of the Australian Ballet Centre, which is located in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, Southbank in Melbourne, Victoria...

; while Tina Stuart is an international examiner for the Royal Academy of Dance

Royal Academy of Dance

.

During this time, Hammond choreographed numerous works for television and the stage, including the musical, Lock up your Daughters (Garnet H Carroll), the Union Theatre’s original musical production of Lola Montez and a series of ballet productions commissioned by ABC Television

ABC Television

ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....

.

Prior to and in addition to running his own school, Hammond took on many freelance and guest teaching roles including with GTV Channel 9, Crawford TV School, Netherlands Dance Theatre, Luisillo and his Spanish Dance Company, the New Zealand Ballet Company and School, and The Australian Ballet company.

From 1975 to 1981, Hammond was a Senior Tutor of Classical Ballet at The Australian Ballet School

Australian Ballet School

under the direction of Dame Margaret Scott

Margaret Scott (dancer)

Dame Catherine Margaret Mary Scott, AC, DBE , best known as Margaret Scott, arrived in Australia in 1947 on tour with the Ballet Rambert and stayed there. She danced with the Sadler's Wells Ballet, appointed a principal dancer in 1941, and Ballet Rambert as a principal from 1943 to 1948...

. From 1981 until his retirement in 1995, he was the Archivist and Dance History Tutor at the Australian Ballet School, as well as Archivist for The Australian Ballet company for a short time. Combining his ongoing pursuit for excellence in dance with his passion for and in-depth knowledge of dance history and music, Hammond tutored and mentored scores of successful Australian dancers including Paul Mercurio

Paul Mercurio

Paul Joseph Mercurio is an Australian actor, dancer and TV presenter. Mercurio is well-known for his lead role in Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom . His father was the character actor Gus Mercurio.- Biography :...

, Margaret Illman, Steven Heathcote, Christine Walsh, David McAllister and Wendy Walker.

Hammond became a Children’s Examiner for the Royal Academy of Dance

Royal Academy of Dance

in 1964 and until the 1990s, examined for various bodies including the Royal Academy of Dance

Royal Academy of Dance

, The Australian Ballet School

Australian Ballet School

and the Victorian College of the Arts

Victorian College of the Arts

The Faculty of the VCA and Music is a faculty of the University of Melbourne, in Victoria . VCAM is located near the Melbourne central business district, on two campuses, one - the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - on the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, and the other - the...

. His adjudication work is ongoing and has included the ‘Paul Hammond Encouragement Award’ (one of the Kathleen Gorham Memorial Scholarships awarded annually), Ballet Teachers’ Workshop of Victoria, Victorian College of the Arts

Victorian College of the Arts

, the Green Room Association Awards (Melbourne’s premier arts award ceremony) and various other Eisteddfods and Australian competitions.

Hammond co-founded the Royal Academy of Dance’s Victorian Advisory Panel in 1956 and has held various roles including Secretary and Chairman, and since 2000, that of Patron. In 1997, he was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Dance

Royal Academy of Dance

and a Life Member for his services to the Academy. Hammond co-founded the Ballet Teachers’ Workshop of Victoria, and was the Chairman before becoming the Workshops’ Patron. In the 1990s, a Ballet Teachers’ Workshop scholarship was established in his honour - the ‘Paul Hammond Foundation Scholarship’ - awarded annually to the most promising senior male ballet student. In 2002, he was awarded a Life Member of the Green Room Association Awards and from this time until 2008, was a member of the Awards’ dance panel.

Since his retirement from full-time work, and in addition to his adjudication and patronage commitments, Hammond has shared his expertise and exceptional knowledge of the arts through volunteer work with the Performing Arts Collection

Performing Arts Collection

The Performing Arts Collection at the Arts Centre, Melbourne is the largest specialist performing arts collection in Australia, with over 450,000 items relating to the history of circus, dance, music, opera and theatre in Australia and of Australian performers overseas.- Highlights of the...

at the Victorian Arts Centre

The Arts Centre (Melbourne)

The Victorian Arts Centre is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the inner Melbourne suburb of Southbank in Victoria, Australia....

. Since 1996 until 2007, Hammond volunteered regularly with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image

Australian Centre for the Moving Image

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, or ACMI, is dedicated to the moving image in all its forms. It is located in Federation Square, in Melbourne, Australia, across four levels of the Alfred Deakin Building...

in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, examining and evaluating local and international archival material on 16 mm film.

In January 2008, Hammond was awarded the Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia

Order of Australia

in recognition of his service to the development and promotion of dance, particularly ballet, as a performer, choreographer and teacher. In June 2008, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from Ausdance

Australian Dance Council

The Australian Dance Council is a national dance advocacy organisation for dancers, choreographers, directors and educators. It has offices in the states and territory...

at the 2008 Australian Dance Awards

Australian Dance Awards

The Australian Dance Awards recognise excellence in dance in Australia, they are awarded under the auspice of the Australian Dance Council for performance, choreography, design, dance writing, teaching and related professions....

held in Melbourne

Melbourne

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