Australia Dancing - Bolte, Lisa (1967

Bolte, Lisa (1967 - )

Stringer, Walter: Lisa Bolte and Adam Marchant in 'La Sylphide', the Australian Ballet, 1989

Born in Sydney Lisa Bolte received her early dance training at the Caprice Dancing School in Brisbane. She continued her training at the Australian Ballet School under Terri Charlesworth and Gary Norman and joined the Australian Ballet in 1986. She was promoted to soloist in in 1988, senior artist in 1990 and principal in 1993.

Bolte has spent her entire professional career as a performer with the Australian Ballet although she guested on many occasions with companies that included the National Ballet of Canada, the Kirov Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet. With the Australian Ballet she was acclaimed as a dancer in the classical mode. She shone in roles such as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty but also in neo-classical works like Balanchine's Theme and Variations. Other full length works from the Australian Ballet's repertoire in which she was especially admired included Giselle, The Merry Widow, La Fille mal gardee, Romeo and Juliet, Onegin and Don Quixote. In the late 1990s she began to have works created on her by resident choreographers including Stephen Baynes, who created the leading roles in At the edge of night and 1914 on her, and Natalie Weir who chose her for a leading role in Dark Lullaby.

Bolte retired from full time performing in 2002 to await the birth of her first child. She returned as a guest artist in the Australian Ballet's 2003 staging of Romeo and Juliet and as the Sylphide in the 2005 staging of La Sylphide. In August 2005 she was appointed resident guest principal with the company. She announced her retirement in 2007, her final role being that of the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker

Research Materials

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Other resources

Find more about Bolte, Lisa in:

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