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Steven Heathcote recalls portraying Ned Kelly, 2005

TLF ID R8815

This is an edited sound recording of leading Australian ballet dancer Steven Heathcote. He is recalling dancing the role of the bushranger Ned Kelly in the Australian Ballet's 1990 production of 'My name is Edward Kelly'. He outlines the mixed public perceptions of the character and the emotional challenges of the role. The recording was made in November 2005 and lasts for I min 23 s.

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The recording presents a ballet dancer discussing the experience of portraying, in dance, a highly controversial figure in Australian history - the bushranger Edward 'Ned' Kelly (1855-80). The ballet 'My name is Edward Kelly' was based on actual events.
Steven Heathcote (1964-) was principal artist with the Australian Ballet when it performed 'My name is Edward Kelly'. Heathcote felt that the ballet was generally liked by members of the audience who looked on Kelly as a folk hero, but that it was disliked by those who believed Kelly was a criminal who did not deserve 'hero' status. The ballet was not a commercial success.
Kelly, whose family saw themselves as victims of police persecution as they struggled against poverty in northern Victoria, became Australia's most famous bushranger, and to some a folk hero for his defiance of the colonial authorities, before being captured in a shoot-out at Glenrowan despite wearing a suit of armour made from steel. He was convicted in 1880 of the murder of a police constable and was hanged in Melbourne.
'My name is Edward Kelly' was one of the first major ballet works to be based on an Australian historical figure. It was commissioned by the Australian Ballet and choreographed by New Zealand-born Timothy Gordon (1959-).

Topics Acting Ballet Bushrangers

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Author

Person: Steven Heathcote
Description: Author

Contributor

Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
Organization: Education Services Australia Ltd
Description: Content provider
Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
URL: http://www.esa.edu.au/

Name: Education Services Australia
Organization: Education Services Australia
Description: Data manager

Person: Steven Heathcote
Description: Author

Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
Organization: Education Services Australia Ltd
Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
URL: http://www.esa.edu.au/

Publisher

Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
Organization: Education Services Australia Ltd
Description: Publisher
Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
URL: http://www.esa.edu.au/

Resource metadata contributed by

Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
Address: AUSTRALIA
URL: www.esa.edu.au

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Audio

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