Australia Dancing - Bolte, Lisa (1967

Bolte, Lisa (1967 - )

McFarlane, Jim: Lisa Bolte and Geon van der Wyst in Natalie Weir's 'Dark Lullaby', the Australian Ballet, 1999

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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. In 1998 she won a Mo award for best female dancer after her performances in Romeo and Juliet.

Bolte spent her entire professional performing career 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, Coppelia 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, dancing Aurora in the world premiere season of Stanton Welch's Sleeping Beauty. The following year she danced Giselle, Le Spectre de la Rose and Les Sylphides and was cast as Raymonda in the world premiere season of Stephen Baynes' Raymonda. She announced her retirement from performing in 2007, her final role being that of the Sugar Plum Fairy in Peter Wright's Nutcracker.

Bolte received a Master of Arts (Creative Enterprise) from Deakin University in 2010. She teaches ballet at various schools including the Victorian College of the Arts and Deakin University and has an ongoing association with the Australian Ballet through her participation and development of the company's educational regional program. In 2009 she assisted Maina Gielgud in staging and coaching Gielgud's production of Giselle for Boston Ballet.

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