Greg Horsman is an Australian ballet choreographer, teacher, and retired dancer. In 2022, ''Dance Magazine Australia'' described him as "formerly one of the Australian Ballet's most poetic and classical of principal artists." He and his then-wife Lisa Pavane were a popular partnership during the 1980s and early 1990s, with the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' referring to their "conspicuously poised, elegant dancing" and the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' calling them "two perfectly trained and appealing first-class dancers" during a performance of ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

''. Horsman was Acting Artistic Director

Queensland Ballet Queensland Ballet, founded in 1960 by Charles Lisner, is the premier ballet company of Queensland, Australia, and is based in Brisbane. It is one of only three full-time, professional classical ballet companies in Australia. The company has ha ...

from July 2024- February 2025. Horsman has been Assistant Artistic Director

since 2023 and was previously the Chief Ballet Master and Director of Artistic Operations for the

since 2013.

Early life and education

Horsman was born in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

in 1963. At age 12, he saw

Rudolph Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev (17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet-born ballet dancer and choreographer. Nureyev is widely regarded as the preeminent male ballet dancer of his generation as well as one of the greatest ballet dancers of all ...

and the

London Festival Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Alicia Markova, Dame Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin (ballet dancer), Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham ...

perform '' The Sleeping Beauty'' in Melbourne. He was already studying ballet under

Peter Dickinson Peter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE FRSL (16 December 1927 – 16 December 2015) was an English author and poet, best known for children's books and detective stories. Dickinson won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association ...

at that time but credits that moment as when he decided to commit his life to ballet. He attended

Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (VCASS), is a government-funded co-educational selective and specialist secondary day school, with speciality in the performing and visual arts, located within the Melbourne Arts Precinct in S ...

, where he had the opportunity to dance as a guest artist with the Philippine Ballet Theatre and the North Queensland Ballet. He then attended the

Victorian College of the Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music (FFAM). It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus ...

and studied under Anne Woolliams.

Career

Horsman joined the

Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet (TAB) is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur an ...

in 1982 and was promoted to principal artist in 1987. During this time, he was a guest artist with the

Kirov Ballet The Mariinsky Ballet () is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's ...

and the

Boston Ballet The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. ...

and was part of Rudolph Nureyev's farewell tour. Reported disagreements with artistic director Maina Gielgud saw Horsman and his then-wife, principal artist Lisa Pavane, leaving the company in 1994. They left Australia and joined the

English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scott ...

. London's

Central School of Ballet Central School of Ballet is a classical ballet school based in London, with students from countries all over the world. History The school was established in 1982 by Ann Stannard and Christopher Gable. It established a touring company, ''Ba ...

appointed Horsman as artistic director in 1998 and he officially retired from dancing in 1999., He became

ballet master A ballet master (also balletmaster, ballet mistress, ''premier maître de ballet'' or ''premier maître de ballet en chef'') is an employee of a ballet company who is responsible for the level of competence of the dancers in their company. In mo ...

at the

Northern Ballet Theatre Northern Ballet, formerly Northern Ballet Theatre, is a dance company based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a strong repertoire in theatrical dance productions where the emphasis is on story telling as well as classical ballet. The compan ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in 2001 then rejoined the English National Ballet as a ballet master and

répétiteur A (; from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. The feminine form is . Opera In opera, a is the person responsible for coaching singers ...

in 2003. In 2006, he returned to Oceania to be a ballet master at the

Royal New Zealand Ballet The Royal New Zealand Ballet is a ballet company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was originally known as The New Zealand Ballet Company. History New Zealand Ballet was established in 1953 as an independent charitable trust by Royal Danis ...

. He spent seven years there and choreographed his first full-length ballet: ''The Sleeping Beauty''. In 2013,

Li Cunxin Li Cunxin (born 26 January 1961) is a Chinese-Australian former ballet dancer turned stockbroker. He was the artistic director of the Queensland Ballet between 2012 and 2023.Queensland Ballet (2012)Li Cunxin returns to the stage as Queensl ...

, the new artistic director of the

, appointed him as ballet master. Throughout his career, he has been a guest principal artist, ballet master, and teacher with the

Royal Danish Ballet The Royal Danish Ballet ( Danish: ''Den Kongelige Ballet'') is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Danish Theatre in Kongens Nytorv, Copenhagen, Denmark. It is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world a ...

, the

Tokyo Ballet The Tokyo Ballet is a classical ballet company, based in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1964. It is one of the leading performing arts companies in Japan. History European classical ballet, heavily influenced by Russian methods, was introduced to Ja ...

, the

Houston Ballet Houston Ballet, operated by Houston Ballet Foundation, is a professional ballet company based in Houston, Texas. The company consists of 59 dancers and produces over 85 performances per year. It is the 5th largest ballet company in the United ...

, the

Scottish Ballet Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1 ...

, the

Birmingham Royal Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the co ...

, La Scala Ballet, and the Staatballett Berlin. He performed the ''Sleeping Beauty'' at the

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre (, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic opera house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, Russia, where the ballet was premiered in 1890. In 1991, he and Miranda Coney won a Mo Award for "dance performance of the year." He won a

Green Room Award The Green Room Awards are Australian peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, theatre companies, independent theatre, musical theatre, contemporary and experimental performance, and opera. The awards, which were established in ...

for Leading Male Dancer in 1992 in recognition of his performance in ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

.''

Personal life

Horsman was married to Lisa Pavane, his dance partner of many years. They have a daughter, Cassandra, and separated in 1998. Pavane was the Director of the

Australian Ballet School The Australian Ballet School is the premier ballet training facility in Australia, located in Melbourne. History The Australian Ballet School was founded in 1964 as the primary training facility for The Australian Ballet by Dame Margaret Scot ...

from 2015 until 2024 and has since remarried.

Selected works

As a dancer

* 1986: ''

Études Études (French for "studies") or Étude may refer to: Compositions * Étude, a type of instrumental musical composition designed to provide practice material * ''Études'' (Chopin), by Frédéric Chopin, 1829–1839 * ''Études'' (Debussy), by ...

''. Maina Gielgud,

. * 1990: ''

'' as Albrecht. Maina Gielgud, Australian Ballet. * 1992: ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

'' as the Nutcracker Prince. Australian Ballet. * 1994: ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

''. Australian Ballet. * 1995: ''

'' as Mercutio.

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev (17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet-born ballet dancer and choreographer. Nureyev is widely regarded as the preeminent male ballet dancer of his generation as well as one of the greatest ballet dancers of all ...

. * 1996: ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'' as the Prince. Michael Corder,

. * 2000: ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' as the Mad Hatter.

Derek Deane Derek Deane (born 18 June 1953) is a British dancer and choreographer. Biography Derek Deane was raised in Redruth, Cornwall and trained in the Royal Ballet School. As a dancer, he eventually became a Principal Dancer with The Royal Ballet, la ...

. * 2015: ''

La Sylphide ''La Sylphide'' (; ) is a romantic ballet in two acts. There were two versions of the ballet; the original choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, and a second version choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836. Bournonville's is the only ve ...

'' as Madge.

As a choreographer

* 2013: ''Verdi Variations'' Queensland Ballet. * 2014: ''

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...

'' at the

Queensland Performing Arts Centre The Queensland Performing Arts Centre (also known as QPAC) is part of the Queensland Cultural Centre and is located on the corner of Melbourne Street and Grey Street in Brisbane's South Bank precinct. Opened in 1985, it includes the Lyric Thea ...

(QPAC).

. * 2015: '' The Sleeping Beauty'' at the QPAC. Queensland Ballet. * 2017: ''Glass Concerto'' at the QPAC. Queensland Ballet. * 2018: ''

La Bayadère ''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is an 1877 ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by the French choreographer Marius Petipa to music by Ludwig Minkus and libretto by . The ba ...

'' at the QPAC. Queensland Ballet. * 2021: ''The Sleeping Beauty'' at the Lyric Theatre, Brisbane. Queensland Ballet. * 2022: '' A Rhapsody in Motion'' at the Talbot Theatre. Queensland Ballet. * 2022: ''

Peter and the Wolf ''Peter and the Wolf'' ( rus, Петя и волк, Pétya i volk, p=ˈpʲetʲə i volk) Op. 67, a "symphonic tale for children", is a Program music , programmatic musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a ...

'' at the Thomas Dixon Centre. Queensland Ballet.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horsman, Greg Australian male dancers Living people 1963 births