About
Vicki Attard comes from Mackay, Queensland, where she studied ballet with Dawn Armstrong and Betty Meskell before her acceptance into The Australian Ballet School.
In 1985 she joined The Australian Ballet and was promoted to Coryphee in 1987, Soloiste in 1991, Senior Artiste in 1992 and Principal Artiste in 1993. She joined Sydney Dance Company for its 1989 season and rejoined The Australian Ballet in 1990.
Vicki performed all principal roles and many and varied leading roles during her 15 year career with the Australian Ballet.
Her many leading roles include those in In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated, Beyond Bach, Afternoon of a Faun, Jardi Tancat, Return to a Strange Land, Nuages, Symphony in C, Suite en Blanc, Las Hermanas and Stepping Stones, the title roles of Giselle, La Sylphide, Anna Karenina and Manon, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Kitri in Don Quixote, Clara, The Ballerina in Graeme Murphy’s Nutcracker, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Swanhilda in Coppelia, Hanna in The Merry Widow, Lise in La Fille mal Gardee, Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew, Ada in The Competition and Tatiana in Onegin. Vicki Attard created the role of Cio Cio San in the world premiere of Stanton Welch’s Madame Butterfly in 1995, the same year she won the James & Diana Ramsay Scholarship which enabled her to study in Copenhagen, London and Netherlands. 1997 included leading roles in the world premiere season of Stanton Welch’s Cinderella, Stephen Page’s Rites for the Melbourne Festival, Gemini, In the Upper Room, and Apollo. As well, she received the Mo Award for Best Female Dancer of 1996. In 1997 Ms Attard performed the roles of Nikiya in La Bayadere, Lizzie in Fall River Legend and Imogen in 1914. She also performed in Por vos Meuro and with David McAllister in El Tango as part of the Collaborations season.
Highlights of Vicki’s career included dancing Kitri, Don Quixote on the opening night of the Washington season with David McAllister (current Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet), the title role of Manon in Tokyo with Li Cunxin (current Artist Director of the Queensland Ballet) and the opening and all subsequent performances of Cio Cio Sa in Madame Butterfly for the New York season with Damien Welch.
Vicki toured the world with The Australian Ballet including London, Greece, Italy, Russia, China, Japan, New Zealand, United States of America and Thailand.
Vicki has been the recipient of numerable scholarships enabling her to study in Copenhagen, London and Netherlands with world renowned coaches. Vicki was blessed to have been able to work with some of the world’s leading coaches and choreographers, including Gelsey Kirkland, Natalia Makarova, Dame Margaret Scott, Glen Tetley, Nacho Duato and William Forsythe.
Vicki retired at the end of 1999, and immediately undertook and received a Graduate Diploma in Dance Instruction.
Early 2001 saw Vicki assisting Stanton Welch in re-staging Madame Butterfly with The National Ballet of Canada for the ballet’s North American debut, and subsequent American seasons with Atlanta Ballet, Boston Ballet and Houston Ballet. Later in 2003 Vicki oversaw the final staging of Madame Butterfly for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and once again re-staged Madame Butterfly for The Australian Ballet in 2011.
Vicki has continued to instruct companies around the globe and at many major Sydney institutions over the past 18 years. She has produced her own unique pointe programs, entitled ‘My Pointe’ and ‘My Beginner Pointe’ alongside Physiotherapist for Dancers, Lisa Howell. Both programs are all- encompassing and specifically designed for young dancers and dance teachers alike, covering the safe dance practices and aesthetic components involved in the instruction of pointe work.
Most recently Vicki was appointed Interim Director of the Houston Ballet Academy by the company Director Mr. Stanton Welch AM. She maintained the position for 2 and a half years where she oversaw 1,000+ students, 7 full time faculty members as well as co-managing the second company HBII.
Vicki continues to instruct and adjudicate within Australia and abroad.
Personal Dance Reviews;
In Cranko’s Onegin - Steven Heathcote and Vicki Attard attained perfection that classical ballet demands. (Blazenka Brysha)
In an evening of strong portrayals, Vicki Attard, as the young Clara was outstanding in the beauty of her technique and the depth of passion. Her first pas de deux with Steven Heathcote was the most rapturous performance I have ever seen on a ballet stage - the work of an artist deservedly at the top of her profession. (Alison Barclay)
Vicki Attard as Kitri and David McAllister as Basilio - would prove to be formidable. (Alan M. Kriegsman - Washington Post)
Attard was glorious. It was a truly memorable performance. (Patrician Laughlin)
Attard, yet again proves herself possibly the company’s supreme actor-dancer. (Bob Crimeen)
Vicki Attard and Steven Heathcote’s first act pas de deux is quite simply the most beautiful dance sequence I have ever seen. (Alison Farmer, Madame Butterfly)
The role of Madame Butterfly gives Vicki Attard, already one of the company’s most expressive and sublime dancers, extra distinction. She is a perfect Madame Butterfly - a tragic, yearning and very willing victim. Her arabesques are perfectly still, her pirouettes are perfectly straight, her arms perfectly extended. (Catherine Lambert)
Curriculum Vitae
Education/Training
1971 Dawn Armstrong
1975 Betty Meskell
1983-1985 Diploma of Dance, The Australian Ballet School
2000 Graduate Diploma in Dance Instruction
Professional Experience
1985-1989 The Australian Ballet
1989 Sydney Dance Company
1990-1999 The Australian Ballet
1985 Corps de Ballet
1987 Coryphee
1991 Soloiste
1992 Senior Artiste
1993 -1999 Principal Artiste
Performed principal and soloiste roles nationally in all capital cities and numerous regional centres and internationally at the Maryinsky Theatre St Petersburg, the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Opera House, Odessa, Covent Garden, London, London Coliseum, Metropolitan Opera House, New York, City Centre, New York, Kennedy Center, Washington, Opera House, Seattle, Orange County, California, Herodus Atticus, Athens, Greece, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Peoples Republic of China.
Major Roles include:
Lise, La Fille Mal Gardee
Swanhilda, Coppelia
Juliet, Romeo and Juliet
Nikiya, La Bayadere
Katherina, The Taming of the Shrew
Aurora, Sleeping Beauty
Ada, Le Concours
Cio Cio San and Suzuki, Madame Butterfly
Cinderella, Cinderella
Ragged Blossom, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
Kitri, Don Quixote
Odette/Odile, Swan Lake
Giselle, Giselle
Hanna, The Merry Widow
Anna, Anna Karenina
Manon, Manon
The Ballerina, Graeme Murphy’s Nutcracker
Tatiana, Onegin
Imogen, 1914
The Sylph, La Sylphide
2nd Movement, Symphony in C
Terpsichore, Apollo
Cigarette solo and Pas de deux, Suite en Blanc
The girl, Beyond 12
Columbine, Le Carnaval
Sleepwalker, Nightshadow
Prelude, Les Sylphides
Fanny Cerrito, Pas de Quatre
Julia, Spartacus
The Accused, Fall River Legend
Lead role, In the Middle Somewhat Elevated
Lead role, Beyond Bach
Lead role, Afternoon of a Faun
Lead role, Stephen Page’s Rites
Lead role, Gemini
Various solo roles in the following works: Jardi Tancat, In the Upper Room, Por Vos Meuro, Stepping Stones, Forgotten Land, Symphony in D, Voluntaries, Sinfonietta, Divergence, Of Blessed Memory, X, Deep End, My Name is Edward Kelly, La Bayadere, Songs of the Earth, Symphonic Poem, In the Night, Ballade, Andante, Catalyst, Four Reflections of a Quintet, Leaves are Fading, Nuages, Las Hermanas, El Tango, The Concert, Sequenza XII, Sonata for Seven, Return to a Strange Land, Graduation Ball, Equus, Apollo, The Book of Alleged Dances
Teachers and Coaches
Laura Alonso
Reid Anderson
Christine Anthony
Sonia Arova
Irina Baronova
Kathy Bennetts
Dinna Bjorn
Willy Burman
Johnny Eliasen
Olga Everinoff
Ai-gul Gaisina
Maina Gielgud AO
Rosella Hightower
Yoko Ichino
Jonathan Kelly
Gelsey Kirkland
Irina Kolpalkova
Natalia Makarova
Madame Messerer
Bruce Morrow
Pyotr Nardelli
Gary Norman
Eugene Polyakov
Magdalena Popa
Danny Radojevic
Robert Ray
Marilyn Rowe OBE
Martin Rubinstein
Jurgen Schneider
Dame Margaret Scott
Noelle Shader
Vicki Simon
Ross Stretton
Madame Tang
John Taras
Glen Tetley
Evgeny Valukin
Dame Peggy van Praagh
Violette Verdy
Wang Jiahong
Eileen Ward
Anne Woolliams
Choreographers Worked With
Red Earth, Of Blessed Memory, X, Divergence, Madame Butterfly
Cinderella - Stanton Welch
Andante/Ballade/Four Reflections of a Quintet/Beyond Bach/1914/
Shadow of a Facet - Stephen Baynes
Nutcracker, Gallery, Sequenza VII, Beyond 12 - Graeme Murphy
Rites - Stephen Page
The Deep End - Meryl Tankard
Orpheus - Glen Tetley
In the Middle Somewhat Elevated - William Forsythe
Sinfonietta/Forgotten Land/Stepping Stones - Jiri Kylian
Jardi Tancat - Nacho Duato
Awards
1987 Awarded the Big Brother Movement Scholarship to study in Europe (Stuttgart
Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Maurice Bejart’s Ballet Lausanne)
1995 Awarded the James and Diana Ramsay Scholarship to study in Europe (Royal
Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Nederlands Ballet)
1996 Recipient of a Mo Award for Best Female Dancer
1999 Recipient of a Green Room Award for Best Female Performer
Teaching Experience
2000
Sydney Dance Company
Dancers Company
Full time students of McDonald College
Full time students of Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy
Full time students of Ecole Classique
Full time students of Alegria
Full time students of Academy Ballet
Australian Ballet School - Summerschool
Australasian Institute of Classical Dance - Summerschool
The Australian Ballet School
Private Tuition
2001
The Australian Ballet
Sydney Dance Company
Opera Australia Dancers
Dancers Company
Full time students of Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy
Full time students of Ecole Classique
Full time students of Alegria
Australian Ballet School - Summerschool
The Australian Ballet School
Private Tuition
2002
Houston Ballet
The Australian Ballet
Bangarra Dance Theatre
Sydney Dance Company
Opera Australia Dancers
Australian Ballet School - Summerschool
New Zealand International Summerschool
Full time students of Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy
Full time students of Ecole Classique
Full time students of Alegria
Academy Ballet
Private Tuition
Genee International Ballet Competition
2003
New Zealand Ballet
Bangarra Dance Theatre
Sydney Dance Company
Full time students of Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy
Full time students of Ecole Classique
Full time students of Alegria
Full time students of Academy Ballet
Private Tuition
2004
Bangarra Dance Theatre
Full time students of Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy
Full time students of Alegria
Private Tuition
2005
Bangarra Dance Theatre
Full time students of Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy
Full time students of Alegria
Private Tuition
2006
Full time students of Alegria
Full time students of Academy Ballet
Private Tuition
2007
Bangarra Dance Theatre
Full time students of Alegria
Principal Artistes of Paris Opera Ballet
Private Tuition
Royal Academy of Dance Summerschool
2008
Bangarra Dance Theatre
Full time students of Alegria
Private Tuition
2009
The Australian Ballet
Full time students of Academy Ballet
Full time students of Alegria
Private Tuition
Open Professional Classes
Royal Academy of Dance Repertoire Workshop
2010
The Australian Ballet
Full time students of Academy Ballet
Full time students of Alegria
Private Tuition
Open Professional Classes
Royal Academy of Dance Repertoire Workshop
Australasian Institute of Classical Dance Competition classes
Private ‘My Pointe’ Workshop
2011
Full time students of Academy Ballet
Private Tuition
Open Professional Classes
Australasian Institute of Classical Dance Competition classes
Private ‘My Pointe’ Workshop
2012
Semi Professional Program at Academy Ballet
Private Tuition
Open Professional Classes
The Australian Ballet
Private ‘My Pointe’ Workshop
2013
Semi Professional Program at Academy Ballet
Private Tuition
Open Professional Classes
Private ‘My Pointe’ Workshop
2014
Semi Professional Program at Academy Ballet
Private Tuition
Open Professional Classes
Dubbo Ballet School Summerschool
Canberra Festival Ballet School Summerschool
Private ‘My Pointe’ Workshop
2015
Semi Professional Program at Academy Ballet
Private Tuition
Open Professional Classes
Dubbo Ballet School Summerschool
Canberra Festival Ballet School Summerschool
2016
Semi Professional Program at Academy Ballet
Private Tuition
Open Professional Classes
Houston Ballet Academy - Professional Program
Houston Ballet Academy - Summer Intensive Program
Houston Ballet Company
The Australian Ballet
2017
Houston Ballet Academy - Professional Program
Houston Ballet Academy - Summer Intensive Program
Houston Ballet Company
Academy Ballet
Private Tuition
Open Professional Classes
2018
Houston Ballet Academy - Professional Program
Houston Ballet Academy - Summer Intensive Program
San Antonio Summer Program
Academy Ballet
Private Tuition
Open Professional Classes
2019
Houston Ballet Academy - Summer Intensive Program
Japan Ballet Association - Summerschool
Academy Ballet
Private Tuition
National College of Dance - Summerschool
McDonald College
Elite Masterclass Series - The McDonald College
San Antonio Summer Program
Open Professional Classes
The Australian Ballet
2020
Academy Ballet
Royal Academy of Dance - Dance 20
Private Tuition
National College of Dance - Summerschool
McDonald College
Full Time Students of Village Nation
Full Time Students of National College of Dance
Open Professional Classes
Examining and Adjudicating Experience
Mt. Isa Eisteddfod
Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy mid and end of year assessments
Isobel Anderson Award
Australian Ballet School - Examining 3rd year final assessments
Royal Academy of Dance - Solo Seal examination
New Zealand Annual Eisteddfod - Auckland (2)
St. George Eisteddfod
Extreme Eisteddfod
The Ultimate Dance Challenge
Australian Classical Challenge
Australian Institute of Classical Dance - Houston Ballet Academy Scholarship Award
A & L Danse Examinations
Repetiteur Experience
2001
Staging Madame Butterfly, choreographed by Stanton Welch for National
Ballet of Canada
2002
Staging Madame Butterfly, choreographed by Stanton Welch for Atlanta Ballet
2002 Staging Madame Butterfly, choreographed by Stanton Welch for Boston
Ballet
2002
Staging Madame Butterfly, choreographed by Stanton Welch for Houston Ballet
2003
Assisting in the final staging process of Madame Butterfly, choreographed by Stanton
Welch for Royal New Zealand Ballet
2010
Assisting in the staging of Madame Butterfly, choreographed by Stanton Welch for The
Australian Ballet
Film Experience
2000 Dancing the ballet ‘Spectre de la Rose’ in Paul Cox’s movie version of Nijinsky’s life, titled ‘Nijinsky’
2019 The Wiggles ‘Big Ballet Day’ DVD