I meet Lisa Pavane, the new artistic director of the Australian Ballet School (ABS), in the Australian Ballet canteen, a no-frills room where the lattes are strictly non-fat milk only. It is a room with which she is well familiar. Like her predecessor, Marilyn Rowe, Pavane has a long association with this organisation. She is an alumnus of the school (studying from 1978-1980), and was a dancer with the Australian Ballet from 1981 to 1994, as a principal dancer from 1986. Following her retirement from dancing, she returned to the School as a teacher. Since 2012 she has been Rowe's deputy. “She has always been my mentor,” Pavane says of Rowe, “right through my career. She has done an incredible job here and I will miss her very much.”
Like her mentor, Pavane has a glittering international career behind her. She and her then husband, Greg Horsman, were a much-praised and loved partnership with the Australian Ballet, standing out for the poetry of their dancing and calm, classical refinement. They both joined English National Ballet in 1994, Pavane as senior principal ballerina. She has travelled the world as a guest artist with different companies and as a freelance teacher. She has been an examiner and adjudicator at some of the world's top ballet competitions, and was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2012 for a study tour of leading international ballet schools. She is therefore well acquainted with international standards.
What she has seen has convinced her that she is taking charge of one of the best classical dance institutions in the world. She therefore sees her role as one of continuation, building on the aim carefully pursued by Rowe – the pursuit of excellence.
“I believe the school is doing a a great job. Of course the school can evolve but I don't want to make changes for the sake of change.
“My vision is about continuing to strive for excellence in students. As the national school, 'excellence' is a word we must be known for. I hope to achieve that by having the very best teachers and the very best support.” She is proud of the present faculty and notes that the ABS medical and welfare team is already the envy of the ballet world.
Nonetheless she is aware that there is no room for complacency, with increasing competition for promising students from schools overseas and also, increasingly, within Australia. “We are living in a global society, we have to acknowledge that there are a lot of opportunities for students, and I want to inspire students to come to the ABS as their first choice,” she says. “There's so much talent in Australia. That is so exciting. To retain that talent in Australia, to support dance and the future of ballet in Australia, that is at the core of what I want to do.”
To that end she is hopeful that the ABS's new residential accommodation, due to open in 2016, will be an added attraction for students. Staff at the School are aware of many promising students who opted to go overseas instead of to the ABS because the overseas alternative had a boarding school. Pavane, who has two children of her own, says she can appreciate that when families are choosing a training school, one that can provide a boarding community and 24/7 care must surely be important factor in the decision- making process.
She speaks from experience. When she was still a student, she left her home in Newcastle at the age of 15 to join the ABS in Melbourne, as many did, and stayed at a private home through the Homestay program. “It's such a vulnerable age to leave home.”
Our conversation moves on to the School's training program. I ask Pavane if there are areas of the ABS she would like to improve. “When I speak of improvement it is more in terms of the improvement of ballet technique in general,” she replies. “It is a matter of keeping up with the ever-increasing demands: flexibility and extensions; grand allegro work for boys – that wonderful virtuosity. Pointe-work is always an area we can better - really articulating through the foot. We want that beautiful ethereal quality of a dancer landing softly and quietly.
“And – very importantly -- artistry,” she goes on. “That was probably something I was long time developing, as I was a very introverted person, and it comes with experience and age anyway. I want to ensuring that the students understand that, whereas technical prowess is important, artistry needs to be thought about equally.
“Teachers must find time to share the love, the musicality, the joy, the essence of each step.”
I ask her about her attitude to the students' academic education. Pavane's own early schooling was minimal. She was given special permission to leave school at age 14 to take up full-time studies with her ballet teacher Tessa Maunder. It was not until she arrived at the ABS that she took up studies again, completing her Year 10 by correspondence. Years later, performing career over, she undertook a secretarial course, which helped her gain the position of Association Administrator at English National Ballet. Back in Australia, in 2012, she completed a Graduate Certificate in Professional Education and Training at Deakin University. “It was absolutely daunting. I'd never written an academic essay, and had to write 3-6000 word university standard pieces, including the referencing. And the amount of research and reading... I really doubted my ability to succeed.”
Pavane, as she says, was one of the lucky ones – she enjoyed a full career in her chosen field. But it could have been different, in which case she would have been ill-equipped to take up another profession. She does not want the current students at the ABS to be in that position. Before her current appointment she was Head of Academic Studies (Level 4 to 7) and it was her job to haul students into the office when they got behind with their homework. “Academic education today is even more important [than in my day]. People don't just choose one path in life now, they look for change -- new avenues, new challenges. Their education means a great deal to me, and the students have to understand that that is part of our philosophy. I want them to come out really broad, so they can look back on their time and say they learnt so much along the way, even if they don't make it on the stage.”
Future careers is another reason why she is keen to continue to encourage choreographic talent. Pupils already create their own pieces as part of their VCE exams and are exposed to current day choreographers through their performance program. This year will include works by master choreographer Graeme Murphy and rising choreographer Lucas Jervies. Pavane has also invited West Australian choreographer Jesse Martin to create a work through the Australian Institute of Dance's Dance Creation choreographic showcase.
Contemporary dance is also high on her agenda. The current six-level Graham technique course will continue under contemporary lecturer Margaret Wilson, though Pavane is hopeful of exposing the students to different contemporary techniques if the timetable permits.
It is often the fate of a school principal to find themselves so burdened with administrative work that they can't find time for actual teaching. Pavane is keen, however, to spend some time in the classroom. “Those little five minute conversations at the end of class can make a difference to the student, make them feel their pathway is being treated as individual. I think good principals connect with their students.”
Pavane is giving herself time to settle in the role. By her own description she is a perfectionist, rather than a risk-taker, keen to embrace innovation, but careful to make the right decisions. “I need to have a minute in the seat first and see what it feels like.”
Perfectionism is an intriguing concept – the ultimate aim, yet unattainable, it is in its pursuit where achievement and marvellous things reside. May the same be said of the ABS under Pavane's reign.
This article appeared in the February/March 2015 issue of 'Dance Australia'.