Alumnus Jiayin Du (1999)

< Back to Ballet Matters 

Jiayin Du was born in Liaoning Province in China and began his dance training with School of Dance affiliated to Shenyang Conservatorium of Music. His natural talent was noticed at an early age at a competition in Paris in 1996 where he was awarded the Silver Medal.

In 1997, Jiayin took China and Tokyo by storm winning First Prize/Gold Medal in two competitions: China National Ballet Competition and Tokyo Asia Pacific International Ballet Competition. The only direction was upwards from there as Jiayin‘s brilliant dancing won not only the competitions but then dual scholarships from The Australian Ballet (Gary Norman) and Jean Wong Ballet (Hong Kong) for his further study at The Australian Ballet School. 

In 1999, Jiayin came to Melbourne and studied at The Australian Ballet School. Within a short span of a year, after graduating with Honours, Jiayin joined The Australian Ballet and this marked the beginning his diverse and lasting relationship with the company. His career began under the directorship of Ross Stretton and concluded under David McAllister AM’s artistic direction.

As a talented and energetic artist, Jiayin performed many soloist and leading roles in major classical ballets such as Don Quixote, Coppelia, La Bayadere, La Sylphide, Giselle, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, Spartacus, Raymonda, Merry Widow, La Fille Mal Gardee, Manon and Three Musketeers.

Amongst his highlights have been showpiece pas de deux such as Flower Festival of Genzano, La Favorita, Paquita, Flames of Paris and Grand Pas Classique.  His modern and one act repertoire includes William Forsythe’s The Vertiginious Thrill of Exactitude, Jiri, Kylian’s Stepping Stones, Stephen Baynes’ Beyond Bach, Balanchine’s Four Temperaments, Nicholai Fontain’s Almost Tango, Stanton Welch’s Velocity, Krzysztof Pastor’s Symphonie Fantastique, Nacho Duato in Por Vos Muero and Natalie Weir’s Mirror, Mirror.
Jiayin has been Principal Guest Artist for The Australian Ballet’s Dancer’s Company, Liaoning Ballet of China Gala Performance and The Australian Conservatoire of Ballet.

After Jiayin’s retirement from the stage, his has been dedicated to professional ballet education. Jiayin was recruited to The Australian Ballet School in 2015 as classical ballet teacher for Level 4 and Level 6.

In December 2019, Jiayin received his Graduate Diploma of Elite Dance Instruction, which is the highest level of ballet teaching accredited by the industry.

< Back to Ballet Matters