Australia Dancing - Charlesworth, Terri (1936

Charlesworth, Terri (1936 - )

Terri Charlesworth was born in Perth, and undertook her early ballet training in Melbourne with acclaimed dancers Kira Bousloff, Serge Bousloff, Leon Kelloway, Lucy Saranova and Xenia Borovansky. She joined West Australian Ballet for its inaugural 1953 season, and in 1957 Kira Bousloff choreographed The Brogla, a solo work set to a musical composition by James Penberthy, for her. Charlesworth was then chosen to represent Australia at the 1957 International Arts Competition in Moscow, where her performance of The Brolga won her the Ulanova Laureate prize from a jury headed by Ulanova herself. While in Russia she studied the training methods of the Bolshoi Ballet School. She then toured China before continuing her training in London in 1958 with Audrey de Vos, Maria Fay and Anna Northcote. On her return to Australia, she became first ballerina and assistant artistic director of West Australian Ballet in 1960, remaining with the Company until 1967.

While dancing with West Australian Ballet, Charlesworth simultaneously embarked on her professional teaching career, establishing the Terri Charlesworth Ballet School in Perth in 1960. This school is now operating as the Terri Charlesworth Ballet Centre. On the invitation of the Russian Ministry of Culture in 1977, she embarked on a study tour of Russia where she was impressed by the training method of the Kirov Vaganova Ballet Academy in St Petersburg. She consequently introduced the Russian method to the Australian Ballet School when she was appointed classical ballet teacher in 1982. She has taught in companies and schools throughout the world, with notable students including Sian Stokes, Miranda Coney, Tonya Batalin, Leanne Stojmenov, Jacinta Ross, Claudia Alessi and Briana Shepherd.

Charlesworth's involvement in dance education and the wider dance community in Western Australia has been extensive. In 1970 she was engaged by the Department of Education and Training to introduce and teach classical dance at Scarborough Senior High School and in 1972 she co-founded and then directed the Graduate College of Dance, Western Australia's first three year tertiary dance course. She founded Western Australia's first professional contemporary dance company Kinetikos in 1978. In 1990 she established the Dance Performance Course for senior students of the Graduate College of Dance at Swanbourne High school, and in 1989/90 wrote the syllabus for Year 11 and 12 registered ballet subjects for the Curriculum Council of Western Australia. In 2004 she was the founding artistic director of Youth Ballet WA, currently directed by her daughter Sonya Shepherd.

Charlesworth was awarded the Order of the Medal of Australia for her contribution to dance in Australia in 1994 and was the 2006 West Australian Citizen of the Year for Arts and Culture.

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