Australia Dancing - Rowe, Marilyn (1946

Rowe, Marilyn (1946 - )

McKinnon, John: Marilyn Rowe and John Meehan in 'The Merry Widow', the Australian Ballet, 1975

Marilyn Rowe, a Sydneysider by birth, is director of the Australian Ballet School. She was appointed to that position in 1999 and is the first graduate of the School to become its director. Prior to this appointment Rowe taught and coached at the School from 1984 and in 1990 was appointed its artistic consultant.

In 1965 Rowe was invited by Peggy van Praagh to join the Australian Ballet after only one year at the Australian Ballet School. She was quickly dancing soloist roles and was promoted to principal artist in 1970. Early in her career with the Australian Ballet she established an acclaimed partnership with Kelvin Coe and she and Coe won a silver medal for the most outstanding couple at the Second International Ballet Competition in Moscow in 1973. Rowe was much sought after by choreographers working with the Australian Ballet and had many roles created on her, including leading roles in Glen Tetley's Gemini, Ronald Hynd's The Merry Widow and Andre Prokovsky's Anna Karenina. During the later phase of her Australian Ballet career she established outstanding partnerships with Gary Norman and John Meehan.

In 1981 she was appointed associate director of the National Theatre Ballet School, Melbourne and in 1982, following a dancers' strike which eventually left the Australian Ballet without an artistic director, was caretaker ballet director of the company while a search was made for a new artistic director. In 1983 she was deputy artistic director to Maina Gielgud. She directed the Australian Ballet School's Dancers Company from 1984 until 1990.

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Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
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