Murdochs’ $1m gift to Australian Ballet

Sarah Murdoch and her News Corp co-chairman husband Lachlan have donated $1 million to the Australian Ballet.

Sarah Murdoch with Adam Bull and Amber Scott. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Ballet is about classic stories, beautiful music and gorgeous costumes, but for Sarah Murdoch the attraction is the dancers — their incredible artistry and physical discipline.

As a child she dreamed of becoming a principal ballerina with the Australian Ballet, devoting seven hours a day to practice.

It is why Ms Murdoch and her husband, News Corp co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch, have donated $1 million to the Australian Ballet to support in perpetuity the position of a principal dancer.

“Over the years I have been involved with the company, I’ve become closer to the dancers and I see the work they put into what they do,” Ms Murdoch said yesterday. “I love the glamour and the lights on stage, but I watch those feet and I look at their emotions. I’ve always felt that ballet is about the dancers themselves.”

Sarah Murdoch as a child.

The donation will be an endowment with interest supporting the salary of a principal artist. The first recipient is Adam Bull, one of the Australian Ballet’s popular leading men.

“It will support Adam for as long as he is with the company,” Ms Murdoch said. “Then there will be another dancer and I will feel that I am supporting their ­career.”

Ms Murdoch’s love of dance began when she started ballet classes at six. She has served on the AB board as a director and as vice-chairwoman, and is now the company’s global ambassador. In that role she has established a program to encourage the next generation of philanthropists, and is opening supporters’ groups in Britain, the US and China, where the company tours.

“I think this is exciting for me because I grew up dreaming of being a principal ballet dancer,” Ms Murdoch told dancers warming up for the final performance of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland last night. She went on to become a supermodel after being told she was too tall for the ballet.