Australia Dancing - Haythorne, Harry (1926

Haythorne, Harry (1926 - )

Harry Haythorne was born in Adelaide and as a child received training in dancing, singing, acting and music. As a teenager he toured country districts in South Australia and New South Wales with a vaudeville show, Harold Raymond's Varieties. He joined the RAAF during the last years of World War II and after returning to civilian life, and inspired by the Ballet Rambert tour to Australia of 1947-1949, took up the serious study of ballet.

In 1949 Haythorne travelled to Britain to continue his career. He studied with Anna Northcote, Stansilaw Idzikowski and Audrey de Vos and performed in a variety of theatrical enterprises until his return to Australia. He danced in the musicals Can-Can, Plain and Fancy, Divorce Me Darling and The Pyjama Game, performed with the Metropolitan Ballet, the International Ballet, the company led by Leonide Massine and with Walter Gore's London Ballet. He also worked as a choreographer and ballet master and in film and telelvision and was assistant director of Western Theatre Ballet.

In 1975 Haythorne became artistic director of the Queensland Ballet. As a result of his extensive European experiences he expanded the repertoire of the Queensland Ballet with new works from choreographers such as Walter Gore, Peter Darrell and Kenneth MacMillan. He produced the established classics, including works from the Danish master August Bournonville, and also commissioned work from Australian choreographers including Graeme Murphy, Don Asker, Garth Welch and Leslie White. In 1978 he became founding co-ordinator of dance studies at Queensland University of Technology (the Kelvin Grove College of Advanced Education). In 1981 Haythorne was appointed artistic director of Royal New Zealand Ballet, a position he held until 1992.

In the 1990s and into the twenty-first century Haythorne has continued to teach, coach and guest. For the Australian Ballet he has appeared in cameo roles in Graeme Murphy's productions of Nutcacker and Swan Lake, in Stanton Welch's Cinderella and in Ronald Hynd's The Merry Widow. In 2001 he also danced in the joint Australian Ballet/Sydney Dance Company production of Tivoli.

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Find more about Haythorne, Harry in:

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