Summers, Justine (1970 - )

McFarlane, Jim: Justine Summers in Stanton Welch's 'Divergence', the Australian Ballet, 1994

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Born in Sydney, Justine Summers studied with Avril Binzer in Melbourne and Barbara Todd in Hobart before becoming a student at the Victorian College of the Arts and then at the Australian Ballet School. She joined the Australian Ballet in 1989 and was promoted to soloist in 1992, senior artist in 1994 and principal in 1996.

With the Australian Ballet Summers was sought out by the company's resident choreographers. She created roles in works by Stanton Welch, including Of Blessed Memory, Divergence, Red Earth, Corroboree and Madame Butterfly, and by Stephen Baynes, including Beyond Bach, Shadow in the Facet and At the edge of night. Summers also danced leading roles in one act and full length works by many other choreographers. She was particularly feted for her portrayal of Manon in Kenneth Macmillan's Manon. Other works in which she made an impact included George Balanchine's Apollo, Jiri Kylian's Stepping Stones, Graeme Murphy's Nutcracker and Twyla Tharp's In the Upper Room. She also created a role in The Storyteller, a work commissioned by the Australian Ballet from Twyla Tharp in 1997. In 1995 Summers won a Green Room Award for her performances in Divergence.

Summers left the Australian Ballet in 2000. Since then she has taught, coached and adjudicated for various organisations around Australia and has been involved in the business operations of Edgley Productions, working alongside her partner Michael Edgley. Summers returned to the Australian Ballet as guest artist in 2004 when she danced in Southern Lights. In this program, which featured three works choreographed by Stephen Baynes, Summers performed with Steven Heathcote in the award-winning pas de deux Unspoken Dialogues, created by Baynes to Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano by Alfred Schnittke. Summers won a 2005 Helpmann Award as best female dancer for her performance in this work.

See also: Apollo ; Australian Ballet, The ; Baynes, Stephen ; Beyond Bach ; Corroboree [Dance work made to the score of John Antill] ; Divergence ; Heathcote, Steven ; Madame Butterfly ; Manon ; Nutcracker ; Of Blessed Memory ; Welch, Stanton

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Research Materials

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Other resources

Find more about Summers, Justine in:

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