Marilyn Rowe OBE Dip ABS, VGCEBI*
Marilyn Rowe was one of the first students accepted into The Australian Ballet School’s initial two year course; the first Prima Ballerina produced by the School and the first graduate to become its Director. In 1965, after just one year at the School, she was invited to join The Australian Ballet at the insistence of Dame Peggy van Praagh. While still a soloist, Rowe received her first invitation to Russia from Igor Moiseyev, who choreographed The Last Vision for herself and renowned partner, Kelvin Coe. In 1969 Rowe was promoted to principal artist.
In 1973 Coe and Rowe won individual Silver Medals and the Publishers’ Prize for the most outstanding couple at the Second International Ballet Competition in Moscow. They were also the first Australians to be invited to dance with the Bolshoi, Riga and Vilnius ballet companies. Rowe had many leading roles created on her by choreographers working with The Australian Ballet, including Glen Tetley’s Gemini, Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow and Andre Prokovsky’s Anna Karenina.
Marilyn Rowe was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1980 for services to ballet in Australia. After the dancers’ strike in 1981, at the insistence of the dancers and the Board , Rowe was appointed Ballet Director and Acting Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet. The following year she became Deputy Artistic Director and directed The Australian Ballet’s Dancers Company from 1884 to 1990. In 1986 she was chosen by Lord Lichfield to be photographed for his collection of Australia’s most beautiful women. She is the recipient of two Green Room Awards and an Adams Award, and in 2003 was included in the first Victorian Honour Roll for Women, which honours her contribution to Victoria and the Nation. She is a Life Governor of Berry Street and has been a member of The Australian Ballet’s Board since 1994.
Since 1999 Rowe has held the position of Director of The Australian Ballet School. The same year she was appointed a member of the jury for the Asian Pacific International Ballet Competition, held biennially in Tokyo. She has also sat on juries for the Prix de Lausanne, the Youth America Grand Prix, and the Beijing International Ballet Competition.
During Marilyn Rowe’s directorship The Australian Ballet School has undergone great change, including the expansion of its training programme from three years to eight, mentoring, health, academic programmes and teacher training for professional dancers. Her vision for the School, while drawing from its past achievements, has included the development a holistic approach to training, balancing its rigorous demands with a creative, caring and challenging environment, which equips dancers artistically, intellectually and physically for the demands of the profession.
