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‘This is a life’s dream’: Australian ballet star Callum Linnane puts his best foot forward
A dancer since he was seven, Australian Ballet’s new principal artist talks about his surprise promotion on stage, struggling in lockdown and what he wants to do next
Not many people are promoted in front of thousands of fans. For dancer Callum Linnane, becoming a principal artist at the Australian Ballet has been an ambition he’s held since he was 12 years old. “It has been kind of a life’s dream. But, for self-preservation, I always told myself tonight’s not the night.”
One night it was. At the conclusion to the Melbourne premiere of Yuri Possokhov’s Anna Karenina, after dancing the role of Count Vronsky with a blend of guileless enthusiasm and carnal ferocity, Linnane found himself standing centre stage as the ballet’s artistic director David Hallberg made an announcement. Linnane didn’t know what was happening until he heard his name. “I didn’t really clue on until he started talking about hard grit and determination, and then it occurred to me that this was a promotion. It completely floored me,” he says.
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