Meet Adam Elmes – Telstra Nominee
One of the perks of writing for a dance magazine is receiving occasional invitations to behind-the-scenes events that bring you closer to arts organizations and the people that work there. And so it was that on a recent weekday morning I found myself at the Sydney Opera House - in the Joan Sutherland Theatre’s sun-soaked Northern Foyer with the opportunity to interview Telstra Ballet Dancer Award (TBDA) nominee Adam Elmes.
This is actually the second year in a row that Adam has been nominated, and the first time that any dancer has been nominated two years in a row for the TBDA – so a significant achievement for this 22-year-old dancer. Currently in his third year with the Australian Ballet, Adam Elmes was born in Brisbane, but grew up on Sydney’s Northern Beaches where his journey in dance began. Adam’s mother is a dance and pilates teacher, so she recognized her youngest son’s innate talent for expressive movement at a young age. In fact, it was his mother who put together the first class he ever did which consisted simply of Adam (aged 8), his older brother, and two other boys.
“That was really special: my mum found every boy she could to make up a class just so we could learn and be encouraged by each other. That was incredibly sweet of her.”
He eventually moved on to the Valerie Smith Stage School and to the Tanya Pearson Academy’s part-time transition program. Adam always loved performing, not only as a ballet dancer but across many different styles of dance and theatre as well. He remembers loving drama classes at high school and notes that because of his diverse range of interests there were often timetable clashes between the subjects he wanted to take. For example, his school might schedule drama and sport at the same time on the basis that the drama kids didn’t usually want to do sport, and the sporty kids didn’t usually want to do drama – but Adam loved both!
He was accepted into the Australian Ballet School’s full-time program at the age of 15 and started in Level 5, a year later than many of the other ABS students in his year who had started in Level 4. It was an incredibly exciting opportunity but a very big change as Adam really enjoyed the range of academic subjects he had studied at his regular high school. He considers himself fortunate that his mum moved to Melbourne with him to provide a stable home base and support during these intensive training years. Adam is also aware of how privileged he is to have received so much support from his whole family in order to help him realize his potential and his dreams of a career with the Australian Ballet.
“… my family is so important to me, they are the driving force for everything I do. I definitely dance for my family, they made so many sacrifices to make sure I could go study ballet full time. My older brother was finishing high school when my mum moved away from home to be with me in Melbourne and my sisters were starting their tertiary education, and their mum wasn’t able to be there because she was busy taking care of me. So, I always think of them when I dance, they have always built me up and believed in me and thanks to them I was given this opportunity and in everything I do, I want to make them proud.”
After training at the Australian Ballet School Adam Elmes was accepted into the company and was able to perform as the Tall Clown in Graeme Murphy’s The Happy Prince during its premiere season in Brisbane during March, 2020.
“But then Covid hit. So for my first (TBDA 2022) nomination, two years into my time at the company, I had only done five ballet seasons on stage in that time. Returning to the stage in 2022, we all knew we had to seize that moment and never take it for granted. I think Covid has been really difficult, but the one positive is I won’t ever take dancing on stage for granted ever again. Reflecting on the past year, 2022 was so special to me and I feel like I’ve made major strides and really seen myself grow. It’s an honour to be considered a rising star of the AB because it’s how I feel, I’m rising! – this is just the beginning.”
I was fortunate to see Adam onstage in 2022 – a corps de ballet dancer in a leading role more than holding his own alongside seasoned artists like David Hallberg, Benedicte Bemet and Callum Linnane in the AB’s production of Kunstkamer. Interestingly the role of the sad clown or comic jester seems to be a recurring one for Adam at this point in his career. In addition to his previously mentioned roles in The Happy Prince and Kunstkamer, Adam played the part of the Jester in John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet and he learnt (although did not perform) the role of Pierrot in Alexei Ratmansky’s Harlequinade. In the current Sydney season of Don Quixote he is excited to be making his debut in the role of Gamache. It is unusual for a character role like this to be danced by someone so young but Adam’s tall willowy build, expressive face and comic timing will no doubt allow him to bring something very special to this part.
The winners of TBDA will be announced in just under a month so it’s time to get voting! Don’t forget that your vote will contribute to determining the winner of this year’s Telstra People’s Choice Award which includes a $15,000 prize.
See the full list of nominees here.
More information on each nominee here: www.telstra.com/ballet
Vote here or via 0484 BALLET.
– GERALDINE HIGGINSON
