Introducing Precious Adams

The Australian Ballet became the envy of the ballet community when it was announced that first soloist at the English National Ballet, Precious Adams, would be joining the company in 2026. As a highly acclaimed technician and fan favourite, Precious has been delighting audiences with her performances at English National Ballet for over a decade. But before she was lighting up stages across the world, she was dazzling the competition in her hometown of Canton, Michigan, in the early 2000s.

“It was a really common hobby,” she says of taking up dance as a child. "There were loads of dance studios around, and you’d go to competitions all the time. All the studios were in competition with each other.”

Alongside her sister Portia (now a dancer with Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo), Precious took to the extracurricular activity with gusto. “I have some really old cheesy photos,” she laughs, remembering the pre–Dance Moms era costumes. “Think gold leotards and sequins - lashes, crazy makeup, and huge hoop earrings – that was standard. And every studio had their set style, from the way that you did your makeup to what jazz boots you wore and how you walked on and off the stage with attitude. I loved it.”

In addition to her full-time role at The Australian Ballet, Precious is also studying computer science and is an ambassador for RED-D which stands for Relative Energy Deficiency in Dance and is the dance-specific branch of REDs (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport). Focusing on both the psychological and physical effects of not meeting energy intake needs, the program is tackling the issues surrounding energy deficiency, from stress fractures to hormonal disturbances, with real-world experience and dedicated care. It’s a program that resonates deeply with the dancer who has been rehearsing and performing at an elite level for over half her life.

“When you're 19, you're not necessarily thinking strategically about the longevity of your body and your career, but it catches up with you eventually. I think that everyone's had their moments, whether it's an injury from working too hard or doing too much without giving yourself enough downtime. It usually takes a few years in your professional career to learn how your body works, to learn how to load yourself properly and how to manage yourself.”

The holistic approach to health and wellbeing appeals to Precious, who knows that ballet, like any elite sport, comes with an end date. “Dance careers are short. If you can be a healthy dancer, then you can be happy and you can enjoy the time that you have. Sometimes you can get caught up in the perfectionism or extremism of trying to be your best or the best, and you start to hinder your own development and your own success, rather than enjoying your career.”

She also recognises that performing at such an elite level takes a village of support, and that knowing what support to give depends on your whether you’re a student, teacher or parent. "You need the right language and tools so that the people you work with and who are in your life feel supported,” she says, touching on the complicated relationship dancers can have with their art form. “In some ways we (dancers) can be very insecure, very vulnerable. You can feel like you have to do this because you want to do it. You're an artist and there's something you want to express, but at the same time you can teeter between feeling really insecure or very confident.”

It’s a difficult psychological position to be in, performing night after night, trying to meet both the audience’s and your own expectations while simultaneously asking the body to execute the most extraordinary physical achievements.

“It takes a lot of resilience to be able to do that," says Precious. "You really need support to be able to do this and to be able to do it well. It all plays a part in creating an ethos that is supportive of having happy, strong, talented, amazing dancers.”

Precious is clearly committed to giving back to the community that has supported her so much; her gratitude is evident as she rushes off to the next rehearsal, saying, "I'm in a place where I'm just happy to be healthy and dancing and thankful for the opportunities that come my way.”