Meet the Coryphées: Timothy Coleman

At 15, I was training part time in Townsville and was offered a place at Marie Walton Mahon Dance Academy in Newcastle. Before that, I had never considered actually pursuing ballet as a job. I was planning on becoming a graphic designer, but I jumped at the opportunity. In 2002 I competed in the Geneé International Ballet Competition which was held in Sydney for the first time. There were a cohort from The Royal Ballet School there and I was absolutely amazed by how good they were and how exciting ballet could be. That was when I really knuckled down and worked hard to make ballet my career.

I don’t have a dream role to dance. I have had the opportunity to dance so many wonderful roles over my time, both in the company and when I was in America and Singapore. If I had to pick something though, I would love to dance a ballet by Jiří Kylián. I love watching his ballets and they have influenced my own choreography so much. Many of my favourite choreographers whose works I have had the honour of dancing, were dancers for him in Nederlands Dans Theater. You could say he’s the ‘father’ of that branch of the dance tree. To do one of his works would be very special for me.

When I was in Newcastle I was given a VHS tape (before the days of YouTube) by one of the teachers. It was a film of a competition or gala or festival (I don’t know what it was) but there were a couple on there from San Francisco Ballet performing Flames of Paris and Le Corsaire. His name was Joan Boada. I had never seen anyone do such amazing things. His dancing and performance really inspired me and I watched it a lot.

One thing I don’t think people realise about ballet is how much fun it is sharing the stage with your friends. Ballet can be a very demanding career with a lot of pressure to perform and an, oftentimes, gruelling schedule but being in the studio or out on stage with your friends motivates those hard bits and makes it all much more fun. The funny mishaps, catching eyes on stage, moments backstage - things the audience don't see or wouldn’t notice become the things you remember and cherish the most.

I knit. My mum taught me to knit when I was about six but I was never great. I picked it up again when I was in San Diego in 2003 and have done a lot since then. I knitted scarves to sell to Nutcracker patrons and have designed some stuffed toys. Recently I have been knitting clothes for my two sons, Atlas and Apollo. I find it is a wonderfully meditative activity when waiting in the dressing room while the Swans are dancing Act II.