Australia Dancing - Gorham, Kathleen (1928

Gorham, Kathleen (1928 - 1983)

Phil Ward Studios: Portrait of Kathleen Gorham, 1950s

Born in Narrandera, New South Wales, Kathleen Gorham studied under Lorraine Norton and Leon Kellaway before joining the Borovansky Ballet in 1946. In 1947 she was promoted by Borovansky to the rank of junior ballerina and with this promotion Gorham began to take on major roles in the Borovansky repertoire. They included the mazurka and pas de deux in Les Sylphides, First Hand in Le Beau Danube and Peggy Sager's original role of the Spirit of Australia in Terra Australis.

Early in 1948 Gorham joined Ballet Rambert for its Australian tour dancing under the name Ann Somers, both Ann and Somers being family names from Gorham's mother's family. With Ballet Rambert Gorham danced in much of the repertoire and took major roles in Swan Lake and Nutcracker. In 1949, at the end of the Rambert tour, Gorham left Australia for Europe where she danced with Roland Petit's Ballet de Paris and the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet. She was enticed back to Australia by Edouard Borovansky for the Borovansky Ballet's 1951-1952 season. During this period with the Borovansky Ballet she created the roles of Miss X in Borovansky's work The Outlaw, a ballet inspired by the legend of Ned Kelly, and Juliet in Paul Grinwis' The Eternal Lovers. In 1951 she also made her debut in the title role in Giselle.

In 1953 she returned to Europe and worked with the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas creating roles in ballets by George Skibine and Serge Golovine. But by 1954 she was again dancing with the Borovansky Ballet taking the lead in Pineapple Poll under the direction of its choreographer John Cranko, and creating leading roles in David Lichine's Corrida and later in Robert Pomie's The Surfers. In 1959 she joined Pomie, her husband, in a season with his Company Robert Pomie at Ballet Theatre le Francais in Sydney dancing in several classical and original works.

Gorham joined the Australian Ballet as a foundation member and with singular success created leading roles in Robert Helpmann's ballets The Display and Yugen. After her retirement from the company in 1966 she continued to run her dance school, which she had started after the death of Borovansky, and was well known for the summer schools she ran on the Gold Coast in conjunction with Peggy Sager, her colleague from the Borovansky Ballet. Gorham was also successful as an actor and was acclaimed for her part in the television production of Johnny Belinda.

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