Australia Dancing - Geldard, Kathleen (1940

Geldard, Kathleen (1940 - )

Stringer, Walter: Kathleen Geldard as the Girl in a new Australian Ballet production of 'The Display', 1983

Born in Sydney, Kathleen Geldard received her early dance training with Joan and Monica Halliday and performed in the Sydney Ballet Group of which Joan was director. At the age of sixteen she won a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School and after one year was offered a contract with the Royal Ballet. She danced with that company from 1957 to 1962, touring Australia in 1958. She was promoted to soloist in 1960 and achieved distinction as the Girl in Kenneth MacMillan's Solitaire.

Geldard left the Royal Ballet to return to Australia in 1962 as a founding member of the Australian Ballet, where she was promoted to principal artist in 1966. During her time with the company she created leading roles in Ray Powell's Just for Fun and Roundelay and in John Butler's Threshold. She was also particularly acclaimed in dramatic roles such as the Girl in Robert Helpmann's The Display, in the title role in Helpmann's Elektra and as Hagar in Antony Tudor's Pillar of Fire. Amongst the classical repertoire she was noted for her outstanding performances in the title roles of Raymonda and Giselle.

She retired from the Australian Ballet in 1970 for the birth of the first of her three daughters, but returned as guest artist on many occasions – notably as the Fairy Godmother in the Sydney premiere of Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella in 1972, in the Sydney premiere season of Graeme Murphy's Nutcracker in 1992, as Madam in the company's 1994 season of Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon and as Grandmother in Peter Wright's Nutcracker in 2007.

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