Kirsty Martin

Soloist Repetiteur

Kirsty was accepted into The Australian Ballet School under the direction of Gailene Stock and graduated in 1995 with a Diploma of Dance. In 1996 Kirsty was offered a position at The Australian Ballet, where she performed a wide range of classical ballet and contemporary works before being promoted to soloist in 1998, and to senior artist in 1999. In 2000, she joined Nederlands Dans Theater in Den Haag, where she worked with the renowned choreographer Jiří Kylián and performed an extensive range of contemporary ballets, working with choreographers such as Johan Inger, William Forsythe, Jorma Elo, Paul Lightfoot and Ohad Naharin.

Kirsty returned to The Australian Ballet in 2002 and the following year was promoted to principal artist. She has performed many of the traditional classical ballet and contemporary works and has had many roles created on her throughout her career. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious Benois de la Danse award for her performance in Kenneth MacMillan's Manon and was invited to perform in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theatre. During her career Kirsty became a mother to two children and returned to the stage each time, continuing for several years as principal artist. Kirsty decided to retire from the stage in 2011, after a successful and fulfilling career.

In 2013 Kirsty took up a position at The Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School as a classical teacher and remained there for two years. In 2015 she commenced teaching at The Australian Ballet School under the direction of Lisa Pavane; she eventually held the role of Level 6 Female Artistic Teacher and Coach. In 2022, she joined the artistic staff of The Australian Ballet at the invitation of Artistic Director David Hallberg.