Praise for Ballet Confidential

Ballet Confidential is not a no-holds-barred expose but rather a joyfully led and personal guide into the world of ballet. David McAllister is the former artistic director of the Australian Ballet and the current interim artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet. McAllister featured with the Australian Ballet as their principal dancer for over a decade and also performed with productions internationally. Ballet Confidential is his invitation to a better understanding and appreciation of an art form over 400 years old, in which 'many are called, but few are chosen'. He leaves no satin underlay uncovered in this guide-from undergarments (complicated) to sexual politics (pas de deux... n'est pas romantique), the history of pointe shoes ('an instrument of power and pain') to advice on what to see when starting out. 'Toe acting', hand acting, Benesh Movement notation, incidents and accidents. McAllister's eye for detail and his ability to infuse each chapter with digestible tracts of ballet history makes this the perfect book for the balletomane to gift the uninitiated. There is even a useful set of arguments to help them convince the ballet averse that they are sorely missing out. Ever the (self-described) Pollyanna, McAllister has created a portrait of a creatively diverse world with a rich past that is for everyone.
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About the Author

Born in Perth, David McAllister joined The Australian Ballet in 1983 and was promoted to principal artist in 1989. During his time with the company, he danced many principal roles, including those in The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Coppélia, Manon, La Sylphide, John Cranko's Onegin and Romeo and Juliet. In 1985 he won Bronze at the Fifth International Ballet Competition in Moscow. Throughout his career, David made numerous guest appearances worldwide, dancing with Bolshoi Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, the State Ballet of Georgia, The National Ballet of Canada, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre and, in 1992, as part of a Royal Gala performance in London in the presence of the Princess of Wales. In 2000, he completed a Graduate Diploma in Arts and Entertainment Management and in 2001, took his final bow as a dancer. In July of that year, David became artistic director of The Australian Ballet. He was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2004 Australia Day Honours List and was invited to become a Vice President of the Royal Academy of Dance. In 2015, David premiered a new production of The Sleeping Beauty for The Australian Ballet. After two decades at the head of The Australian Ballet, at the end of 2020 David embarked on a new freelance career, co-authoring a memoir with Amanda Dunn titled Soar and creating a new production of Swan Lake for the Finnish National Ballet. In 2021 he was awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday's Honours list. He has also received the Queen's Coronation Medal from the Royal Academy of Dance and the J.C. Williamson Award from Live Performance Australia.

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