Kim Walker brings Graeme Murphy and Kristian Fredrikson’s Turandot back to the Opera House stage

Dancer Kim Walker had never worked in opera before injury caused him to retire at the age of 30. This month he brings the 10th production of Graeme Murphy’s Turandot to the Sydney stage

Kim Walker had just done 10 years as a principal dancer with Graeme Murphy and Janet Vernon’s Sydney Dance Company when an intractable knee injury caused him to retire
at the age of 30.

Walker was talking to Murphy about his next career choice — Walker says he didn’t really have one — when Murphy said, “why not work with me on Turandot?”

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Murphy had been engaged by Opera Australia to direct and choreograph a brand new production of the China-inspired Puccini classic about the imperious beauty Turandot and her suitor Calaf’s quest to break down her romantic barriers by answering a series of riddles.

In creating a new Turandot, Murphy would work alongside the late designer Kristian Fredrikson.

Kim Walker, a former principal dancer with the Sydney Dance Company, is revival director of Graeme Murphy’s acclaimed Opera Australia production of Puccini’s Turandot. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Wondering what on earth he was letting himself in for, Walker agreed to be part of the team.

That was in 1990. Today, Walker is in charge of what is now about the 10th revival of Murphy’s Turandot which opens at the Sydney Opera House later this month.

Powerhouse American soprano Amber Wagner is in the title role (Dragana Radakovic takes over from February 20), and tenor Andeka Gorrotxategi (Yonghoon Lee from
February 4) will sing Calaf.

Mariana Hong will sing the role of the gentle Liu, Richard Anderson will be wise old Timur, and Graeme Macfarlane will be the Emperor. The irresistibly bitchy courtiers Ping, Pang and Pong will be sung by Christopher Hillier, Virgilio Marino and John Longmuir.

The arcane and sometimes rarefied world of opera has become a second home to Walker, who also remains in his long-term job as CEO of NAISDA Dance College.

But the NAISDA role, and an earlier one as artistic director of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, were all the future for Walker when he first made Turandot’s acquaintance.

“(Assisting Murphy on Turandot) was an awesome experience,” he says.

Kim Walker in his dancing days with the Sydney Dance Company. Picture: Branco Gaica

“The best thing about it was seeing Graeme and Kristian work. Kristian put so much detail into everything he did, and Graeme comes in and he paints this beautiful picture. It was just fantastic.”

Walker says his role in reviving the production is to remain true to Murphy and Fredrikson’s vision.

The production is in the “muscle memory” of the company, although videos of previous performances of the production are sometimes consulted as to various small details.

The final resort is “the book” — an ever-evolving document which records
every single note and movement made by the orchestra, the singers and the dancers.

Assistant director Matthew Barclay constantly updates the book.

“It’s as detailed as possible so somebody could come in and go, ‘this is how we do it’,” Walker says.

Amber Wagner (here performing in Aida last year) will star in Turandot this month. Picture: Prudence Upton

Of course, Walker is also working closely with conductor Christian Badea.

There are 13 dancers in the cast of 120 and they act to weave the action seamlessly together. But the voices are the real stars, Walker says. It’s opera, after all.

“In a rehearsal room
when you’re two feet away from them, it’s quite extraordinary,” he says.

Walker came a little late to opera, but he was born into dance. As a baby he was adopted by the well-known folk dance pioneer, Margaret Walker AM and he studied at NAISDA from the age of 16.

In an intriguing coincidence, it was in the very same week that he and his natural mother — a book editor called Pat Healey — each contacted adoption authorities to seek a reunion. At that time, Walker was about 28. When he met Healey, he learned of his West Indian and “English Australian” heritage.

There were other coincidences. But the most incredible one occurred three years ago when Walker’s house burned down.

“Everything got burned, except my adopted mother’s ashes and a letter from my natural mother,” Walker says.

“Quite funny. I thought, ‘oh, they’re still looking after me’.”

Opera Australia’s Turandot, Sydney Opera House; January 15 to March 30, adult from $47, opera.org.au