By GRACE DOBELL
Adam Bull never dreamed he would be the lead in the Australian Ballet’s version of Swan Lake when he was a young boy growing up in Laverton.
The principal dancer for the Australian Ballet can trace his love of ballet back to his grade one teacher at Laverton Primary School, Janine Kip, who motivated him to dance.
“My parents knew nothing about ballet at all and my primary school teacher saw something in me so she encouraged me to dance,” Adam said.
“She told my parents to take me to dance classes and I just loved it. It wasn’t something that was in the family or anything. I found this thing called dance and it was meant to be I think,” he said.
Ms Kip still stays in contact with her old student occasionally, and has come to see him perform.
“It’s funny how someone can have that effect on the course of your life,” Adam said.
Despite his success, he still hasn’t forgotten his home suburb, despite travelling the world to perform.
“Mum and Dad are still there and I see them all the time. They’re my number one fans,” he said.
At school, Adam says he was lucky to have a strong group of friends who supported him, despite it being rare for a boy to be doing ballet in the area in the 1980s.
“It wasn’t the norm, growing up in the western suburbs of Melbourne,” he said.
He left school in Year 9 and studied dance for five years, joining the Australian Ballet at 18.
“I still pinch myself, I still look back on that and where I’ve come from, and it’s great. I cherish every moment of it,” he said.
Adam is performing the lead in the Australian version of Swan Lake, which he says is loosely based on the royal family’s Diana, Camilla and Charles love-triangle.
This contemporary version of Swan Lake, choreographed by Graeme Murphy, is being performed at the State Theatre until 1 July.
