Diana Heath papers concerning the commissioning of photographs of Graeme Murphy and Kelvin Coe, 1986-1992

MLMSS 8434

fonds

1986-1992

Textual Records, Clippings

971479

0.01 metres of textual material (1 folder)

Diana Heath and Charles Lloyd Jones commissioned a limited edition of photographic prints of the ballet dancers Kelvin Coe and Graeme Murphy, by the photographer Branco Gaica.

Kelvin Coe was the first male artist to rise through the ranks of the Australian Ballet from most junior dancer to principal artist. Coe joined the Australian Ballet as an apprentice in 1962 and was promoted to soloist in 1965 and principal dancer in 1969. Early in his career he was cast by Rudolf Nureyev in Raymonda and Robert Helpmann in Sun Music.

Coe spent 1974 dancing with London's Festival Ballet and guesting with several companies in the United States. He returned to the Australian Ballet and continued to carve out a strong career but resigned from the company in 1981. He subsequently worked with Sydney Dance Company scoring particular success in works such as Homelands (1982) created especially for him by Graeme Murphy. From 1983 onwards he returned to the Australian Ballet on a number of occasions as a guest artist. In 1985 Coe joined the faculty of the Australian Ballet School and taught there until 1991. He died of an AIDS-related illness in 1992.

Graeme Murphy was born in Melbourne and studied at The Australian Ballet School. He has danced with The Australian Ballet, Sadler’s Wells Ballet (London) Félix Blaska (France). In 1971, he received an Australia Council Grant to study overseas. He returned to Australia in 1975 as a freelance choreographer. The following year, he was appointed Artistic Director of Sydney Dance Company (then known as The Dance Company of NSW), a position he held until 2007. During his 31-year tenure, he created more than 50 works, including 35 full-length productions.

In 1982 Murphy was awarded The Order of Australia for his Services to Dance. He also holds three honorary doctorates. He was honoured at the Inaugural Sydney Opera House Honours (1993) and named a National Living Treasure (1999) by the National Trust of Australia.

Reference:
Australia Dancing: Coe, Kelvin (1946-1992) http://www.australiadancing.org/subjects/21.html (accessed 30 April 2012)
Graeme Murphy AM http://www.graememurphy.com/Bios.html (accessed 30 April 2012)

Correspondence, newspaper clipping, photocopies of newspaper clippings, contracts, papers, etc. relating to the commissioning and presentation of photographs, 1986-1992

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