Hamilton, Gordon (1918 - 1959)

Ross, Nikolai: Moya Beaver as Columbine and Gordon Hamilton as Harlequin in 'Le Carnaval', First Australian Ballet, 1937

Research Materials | Other Resources

Born in Sydney, Gordon Hamilton trained with Mischa Burlakov and later Leon Kellaway. He began his stage career partnering Moya Beaver in the First Australian Ballet's production of Le Carnaval in 1937. Other roles with the First Australian Ballet included the title role in Louise Lightfoot's Le Dieu bleu

Hamilton left Australia to pursue a career overseas and studied in London with Marie Rambert and in Paris with Lubov Egorova and Olga Preobrajenska before joining Les Ballets de la jeunesse in Copenhagen in 1939. Hamilton subsequently performed with Ballet Rambert, Sadler's Wells Ballet, Ballets des Champs-Elysees, and Ballets de Paris. He created many roles with these companies. They included roles in three ballets created by Robert Helpmann for the Sadler's Wells company - Polonius in Hamlet (1942), Street Boy in Miracle in the Gorbals (1944) and the Dog in Adama Zero - and roles in two of Roland Petit's works for his Ballets de Paris - the Baron in Les Demoiselles de la nuit (1948) and the Leading Bandit in Carmen (1949).

Hamilton was appointed ballet master at the Vienna State Opera in 1954. His work with the company over the following few years included a staging of Giselle in 1955.

See also: Beaver, Moya ; Burlakov, Mischa ; Carnaval, Le ; First Australian Ballet, The ; Giselle ; Helpmann, Robert ; Kellaway, Leon ; Rambert, Marie

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Research Materials

Manuscript | Oral history | Picture | All

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Photographer unknown: Portrait of Moya Beaver, c. 1935

Interview with Moya Beaver, 1994

Interview with Moya Beaver, 1994 (Oral history)

Interviewee: Beaver, Moya

Interviewer: Michelle Potter

Audiotape

90 mins

Moya Beaver discusses her training with Louise Lightfoot and Mischa Burlakov and her work with their First Australian Ballet. In particular she talks about dancing in Petrouchka with this company. She also alludes to other works in the repertoire and talks about the career of her partner, Gordon Hamilton. Other material in the interview concerns Beaver's family background, her dance teachers including Leon Kellaway, her experiences in Europe, working in musicals for the J. C. Williamson organisation, the work of other early Australian dance companies including Kellaway's Ballet nationale and Raissa Kouznetsova's Polish Australian Ballet. She also speaks about her pupils, including Kai Tai Chan. Copies of articles and press clippings about Beaver's career are also available as supplementary material to this interview.

Petrouchka ; First Australian Ballet, The ; Chan, Kai Tai ; Beaver, Moya ; Kellaway, Leon ; Burlakov, Mischa ; Lightfoot, Louise ; J. C. Williamson Ltd.

Location:

National Library of Australia

TRC 3162
nla.cat-vn513088

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Research Materials    Top

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Other resources

Find more about Hamilton, Gordon in:

• Internet - Google
• Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
• Pictures - Picture Australia