Olivia Leaps To The Top
Newcastle Herald
Thursday December 20, 2007
AFTER more than a decade in the Australian Ballet Company, Newcastle-raised dancer Olivia Bell received her greatest honour last night.
Artistic director David McAllister announced during the final curtain call of The Nutcracker at the Sydney Opera House that senior artist Bell would become the company's newest principal artist.Appointment to principal artist is the highest honour the company can bestow on its dancers.There are only 10 in the company (including fellow Hunter-raised dancer Robert Curran) and it is the principal artists who are usually chosen for the lead roles. "Olivia joins the rank of our principal artists after a year of glorious dancing," McAllister said.At nine years of age Bell shrugged off her tomboy tendencies, turning away from her passion for tennis towards ballet. She attended the Tessa Maunder dance school in Newcastle as a youngster and joined The Australian Ballet in 1995.The dancer was promoted to senior artist in 2003 and was also a nominee in the Telstra Ballet Dancer Award in 2004.
© 2007 Newcastle Herald