BOOK GIVEAWAY! 'Ballet Confidential' by David McAllister

Do dancers really kiss on stage?
Do men pad their crotches?
How do dancers stand on their toes?

These are just some of the many questions that David McAllister, dancer and artistic director, found himself answering many times in his long career. So when his publisher, Thames and Hudson, proposed he follow up on his recent memoir, he suggested a book that addressed some of the day-to-day mysteries of ballet.

"I don't really feel qualified to write a scholarly book about ballet but I've got a few ideas from the years people asked me questions about ballet," he explains. The result is Ballet Confidential, a personal, behind the scenes guide. "It tries to break a few myths about what people think ballet is, with a light touch," he says.

Ballet Confidential is a very entertaining, frank and often humorous compendium of topics, a bit like a "ballet for beginners" book but aimed at an interested adult audience rather than the insider or young ballet student. Written in McAllister's conversational tone, the chapters range from topics as basic as what to wear to the theatre, through to costume design, pointe shoe design, ballet history and ballet mime (demonstrated by Australian Ballet principal Benedicte Bemet). But I suspect the real interest will be in those subjects not usually discussed in a book on ballet, such as personal hygiene in pas de deux class ("The power and the pashing") and, yes, what goes on in men's jock straps ("Jock straps: a user's guide"). 

Along the way he provides some very good common sense advice and debunks old-fashioned assumptions. He brings readers up to date with the modern dancer's career: the advances in diet, medicine, training and attitudes. The business structure of a ballet company is explained, along with the roles of personnel. The book also serves a serious purpose in addressing perceptions about men in dance. There are also many amusing anecdotes of onstage mishaps and disasters with props, costumes and wigs.

McAllister's writing is deft. Some of the most tantalising sections are those about his own times as artistic director, such as his encounters with the rich and famous. He had a conversation about the 5:2 diet with former US President Barak Obama! He shows that ballet is not the mysterious and arcane world some think it to be but a vibrant and intellectually fulfilling pursuit made up of normal (but unusually talented) men and women.

McAllister's own career is by no means over. Having "retired" three years ago from the Australian Ballet, he is now back in the artistic director seat again – not just leading one company, but two! He is presently interim artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet while the company looks for a new director to take over in 2024 (filling a gap left by the sudden departure of Patricia Barker). As well, he has been appointed artistic director of the West Australian Ballet in 2024, stepping in when Aurelien Scannella finishes his term. "I've become an artistic director for hire!" he jokes.

Both appointments came as a surprise, but also partly through design. Along with a number of colleagues, McAllister has formed a consultancy group, To the Pointe. The group is made up of former leaders of arts companies like himself, such as Madeline Onne (formerly artistic director of the Finnish National Ballet) and Cynthia Harvey (who has stepped down from the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in the US). The consultancy will provide impartial advice and mentoring for ballet companies in areas like recruitment. It was through this group, though it is still in its very early stages, that he was offered the job in New Zealand.

His role at both the RNZB and the WA Ballet is to assist with the transition to a new director. He reveals however that the WA Ballet did offer him the top job. He turned it down. "It's time to stand aside and let the new generation come through. I'm really much more excited about mentoring new ideas and leaders."

Ballet Confidential is billed as "everything you wanted to know about ballet but were too afraid to ask". "It is the sort of book that people buy their friends who don't kind-of 'get' ballet," he says. It will also be read, I suspect, by plenty of people who do. 

– KAREN VAN ULZEN

Ballet Confidential is published by Thames & Hudson Australia, AUD$34.99, available 25 July 2023.

'Dance Australia' has 10 copies of this book to give away! To go in the draw, just go HERE.