Australia’s first indigenous ballet dancer’s story brought to life on silver screen

PERFORMING on stage leaves no room for retakes or second chances for the Australian Ballet’s first Indigenous ballerina Ella Havelka.

Ballet dancer Ella Havelka is the first indigenous dancer in the Australian Ballet.

PERFORMING on stage leaves no room for retakes or second chances for the Australian Ballet Company’s first Indigenous ballerina Ella Havelka.

But that was far from the case when it came to shooting a movie about her life.

“So much of what we shot ended up on the cutting room floor or we’d do take after take of something, and then have to shoot it again from a different angle,” Ella said.

While she acknowledges life isn’t a dress rehearsal, she said the process of translating her story onto the silver screen did take a high degree of planning and an incredible amount of shooting over the four-year creative process.

Ella Havelka at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing during the Australian Ballet tour to China, 2015. Picture: Lisa Tomasetti.

Ella discussed the film, her life and her rise from contemporary dancer to becoming the first indigenous ballet dancer in the Australian Ballet’s 50-year history when her film Ella premiered at Event Cinemas Bondi Junction on Sunday, November 20, at 1pm.

The special event, which included a Q & A with Ella after the screening, offered a glimpse into the extreme dedication and determination of a young woman who battled adversity to reach the pinnacle of her career.

“I know I’m not the conventional ballerina, I’m different,” she said.

“I often feel like I’m dancing between two worlds and struggling to find where I fit in. It’s not until I can really blend my two different worlds together that I feel like I can tell my own story.”

Ella is a descendant of the Wiradjuri people

Ella dances like a swan in Melbourne. Picture: David Caird

From being told as a child that she should take up basketball or athletics because of her indigenous heritage to breaking out of contemporary dance with Bangarra Dance Theatre and into the rarefied world of ballet, Ella says she felt she was always walking her own path in life.

Growing up in modest circumstances as the only child of a single mother, Ella said she is grateful for the support of her mother and the dance teachers who encouraged her in her formative years.

And she has advice for young dancers hoping to follow in her point shoes — be prepared to put in a lot of hard work and don’t be scared to ask for help or advice from teachers when you need it.

Ella graduated from The Australian Ballet School in 2007 after touring with The Dancers Company. Pic: Aaron Francis

“Seek out as much help as you can, if you’re having a tough time just reach out and more often than not the help is there,” she said.

While her life now involves travelling around the country and the world, she actively engages with her indigenous culture and weaves baskets in the traditional Arnhem Land style, but with her own twist — she uses her points shoe ribbons in addition to pandanus and raffia.

She also makes sure to return to the places she grew up as much as she can, Dubbo and Narromine in particular.

Ella Havelka

■ Born in Dubbo in 1989, she is a descendant of the Wiradjuri people

■ Ella moved to Melbourne as a teen to pursue her dream to dance

■ She graduated from The Australian Ballet School in 2007 after touring with The Dancers Company

■ Ella made her first appearance with Bangarra Dance Theatre in 2009

■ She was the first indigenous woman to join The Australian Ballet in 2013

Evie Ferris and Ella Havelka on life as a dancer