Amy Harris to retire in November

[Sophoife]

Australian Ballet principal artist Amy Harris has announced her retirement, to come at the end of the November Ashton double bill season in Sydney.

 

She will be dancing Marguerite in Marguerite and Armand .

 

Miss Harris, wife to senior artist Jarryd Madden (who will be co-hosting AusBallet's World Ballet Day stream once again) and mother to daughter Willow and son Phoenix, has been with the company 22 years.

 

She's always been a popular dancer, winning the People's Choice in the company's internal Ballet Dancer Awards twice before winning "the big one". She joined AusBallet in 2002 and was promoted to coryphée in 2007, soloist in 2011 and senior artist in 2012.

 

In 2018 she was promoted to principal artist on stage after dancing the secondary lead of Tertulla in Lucas Jervies' Spartacus.

 

She's never danced Giselle, but Myrtha. Not Alice, but the Queen of Hearts. Not Cinderella, but Stepmother. Never Odette or Odette-Odile in any of the three Swan Lakes we've had during her time in the company. Not Juliet, but Lady Capulet. Not even a Sugar Plum Fairy as far as I can remember. Quite odd.

 

London audiences may remember her as the Baroness in the Graeme Murphy Swan Lake some years ago, or in pdds from Concerto and Anna Karenina in the recent 60th anniversary gala, both with Nathan Brook, who will be her Armand. He btw is my tip for next male principal.

 

[Emeralds]

Sad to hear of Amy Harris retiring although I knew the announcement would come soon....I'd enjoyed seeing her performances in many supporting and featured roles, and was thrilled that she could come to London this August.  Although cast in only 1 show,  her performances with Nathan Brook in the  second movement pas de deux in Concerto (Lynn Seymour's role) and a pas de deux from Possokhov's Anna Karenina were beautiful and moving.

 

Surprised to hear that a sublime dance actor with beautiful lines like Amy has never been cast as Giselle (after all, many ballerinas have done the double of both Giselle and Myrtha in the same run), Juliet, Cinderella. Sugar Plum or Odette Odile. What great opportunities missed for the audiences, the company and for Amy. Very pleased to hear that she will at least get Marguerite! Wishing Amy all the very best in her future endeavours. 

Edited October 24, 2023 by Emeralds

[Sophoife]

Amy Harris had glandular fever in 2008, possibly a bit soon to be cast as Giselle anyway, then was pregnant in 2015, so didn't even make her Myrtha début until 2018.

 

Miss Gielgud was here for several months at that time, coaching and mentoring (it's her production we have), I guess if she'd seen Amy as Giselle, she'd have cast her.

[Sophoife]

I will be seeing Amy in her penultimate performance, as Marguerite, on 22 November. Can't believe the casting is available so early 😉 The other Marguerites I get are Sharni Spencer and Robyn Hendricks. I'm excited to see all three.