A Lesson in Versatility

Diana Greentree is something of a quadruple threat...

Dancer, singer, actor and writer, she may be best known for television roles on Prisoner and Neighbours, or perhaps you’ve seen her on stage in The King and I or The Rocky Horror Picture Show, or even read her book, The Camros Bird. Diana’s extensive and eclectic resume is not so much an anomaly in the arts industry, but a reflection of the need for versatility and adaptability in such a coveted and competitive vocation.

 Diana was first introduced to ballet at just six years old. The Australian Ballet’s predecessor, the Borovansky Ballet, would perform the classics across Australia, and it was here that Diana first saw Les Sylphides and fell under the magic spell that only ballet can cast. Diana still remembers being entranced by the fairies of Mikhail Fokine’s ballet. “I was very into fairies at that time”, and of the Chopin score that elevated the experience into something otherworldly. “It was the expression of classical music through dance that initially drew me in.”

 An ambitious young dancer, Diana, along with her two sisters and parents, moved to London for all three girls to pursue the arts. The beating heart of the swinging 60s, London also held the pinnacle of ballet education, The Royal Ballet School. The esteemed institution had trained dance royalty Margot Fonteyn, Kenneth MacMillan and Antoinette Sibley, among so many others and was the first point of call for Diana. However, the young dancer was disappointed to discover that at only 5’2, she didn’t fit the desired measurements of a Royal Ballet School dancer. She says of the experience, “In the early 1960s, they would measure you up and you had to conform to the exact measurements and proportions”. Not to be discouraged, Diana was accepted into the Arts Education School along with her two sisters, where, along with classical dance, she learned drama and music, setting her up for a career in theatre and television.

After just a year in London, Diana and her family returned to Australia and pivoted into roles in musicals. The closure of the Borovansky Ballet meant even fewer opportunities for classical dancers in Australia and Diana had leading lady aspirations. “I saw that if I did get into a ballet company, I probably wouldn’t go much further than the corps de ballet. I didn’t want to be the 25th dancer from the left; I wanted my own role.” It didn’t take long for Diana to find that role, joining the cast of The King and I as a principal dancer and then The Rocky Horror Show as Janet. Even as she was performing eight shows a week, Diana continued ballet classes, training at the Rex Reid studios alongside The Australian Ballet alumni and getting to meet her idol, Kathy Gorman. Speaking to what appealed to her about Kathy, Diana says, “It was her joy, her springing energy, plus she and I had a similar build and I saw myself in her. She wasn’t as formal as someone like Margot Fonteyn; she was more earthy and accessible. I felt like I could be her.”

 As her musical career took over, ballet classes began to slip into the background and Diana quickly lost the technique she’d built up over decades. Her profile continued to rise in other areas of performance as she moved in the same circles as theatre elites, including Dame Judi Dench and Jeremy Irons. “One of the reasons I started acting was because I knew that I could only work as a ballet dancer for a limited amount of time. Classical dancers didn’t often have a career beyond their 30s back then.”

Since then, Diana has achieved success both in Australia and internationally. Now at 80 years old, she’s still working, making movies, writing and advocating for refugees. She also still has her last pair of pointe shoes, proudly on display. Proof you can take the girl out of ballet but never take ballet out of the girl.