Head of Student Training (L6-7) & Academic Studies
Lisa Pavane Dip ABS, VGCEBI*
Born in Newcastle, NSW, a student of Tessa Maunder, Lisa joined The Australian Ballet School in 1978 and The Australian Ballet in 1981. In 1983 she was promoted to the rank of Soloist dancing roles in Spartacus, Romeo and Juliet, Coppelia, Tales of Hoffmann, La Fille Mal Gardee, Suite en Blanc, The Sleeping Beauty and Etudes. In 1986 Lisa was promoted to Principal Artist and added to her repertoire the roles of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, as well as principal roles in La Sylphide, Don Quixote, Checkmate, The Taming of the Shrew, Onegin, The Merry Widow, The Three Muskateers, La Bayadere, Giselle and in The Australian Ballet's premiere season of Manon. Lisa appeared as a guest artist with Boston Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, and Birmingham Royal Ballet. She also appeared at the Sixth and Seventh WorId Ballet Festivals in Japan and Budapest with the Munich Staats Oper Ballet.
In 1994 Lisa joined English National Ballet as a Senior Principal Ballerina dancing all the company’s repertoire including Nureyev's production of Romeo and Juliet, Balanchine's Square Dance and Who Cares?, and Christopher Dean’s Encounters. She also created the role of Queen of Hearts in Derek Deane's Alice in Wonderland and in Michael Corder's Lawrence Olivier Award winning production of Cinderella. She danced the dual role of Odette/Odile in Deane's Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall before touring to Australia with English National Ballet in 1999 dancing Odette/Odile in the arena production, performing in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide and finally Scotland and England.
Following her retirement, Lisa undertook an extensive secretarial course and combined the position of Association Administrator of English National Ballet with freelance teaching. Returning to Australia in 2001, Lisa continued to freelance as a teacher, adjudicator and examiner before buying a Property Management business.
In 2007 she joined The Australian Ballet School as a Classical Teacher. In addition she took on the role of Assistant Head of Student Training in 2009.Lisa has completed the Vocational Graduate Certificate in Elite Ballet Instruction, becoming the first recipient of this award. In 2010 Lisa was invited as a jury member of the Cape Town International Ballet Competition in South Africa. In 2010 Lisa completed the Certificate IV in Assessment and Training and has recently taken on the role of Head of Student Training (L6 – 7) and Head of Academic Studies (L 4 –7).
