About the Queensland Ballet Jette Parker Young Artists
The Jette Parker Young Artist Program is an apprenticeship program designed to nurture the talents of gifted young dancers at the beginning of their professional careers.
This program provides dancers from Australia and around the world with access to elite training aimed at refining their technique and imparting valuable industry knowledge before they transition into Company artists.
Through performance opportunities and world-class mentoring, this program serves as a vital introduction to a professional dance career, enabling dancers to excel in the years to come.
Many Jette Parker Young Artists successfully transition into roles as Company Artists with Queensland Ballet, while other alumnus have secured contracts with both international and Australian ballet companies.
The Jette Parker Young Artist Program is named in honour of Jette Parker of Oak Foundation, whose visionary support has enabled this initiative.
Queensland Ballet is also grateful to Brett Clark AM and Maria Clark, Dr Ben Duke and Ms Cate Heyworth-Smith KC, FA & MA Pidgeon, Goldburg Family Foundation, Patricia Macdonald Memorial Foundation, Frazer Family Foundation, CP Morris Fund at the APS Foundation, Liz and Graeme Wikman, Carmel and Darren Brown, Marietjie and Keith Brown, and Barbara Bedwell for their generous contributions towards the Program.
ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHERS
AMELIA WALLER
Amelia Waller has returned to Australia after nearly six years as a soloist with the Leipzig Ballet Company in Germany. Prior to this, she was a soloist with the Queensland Ballet Company for 8.5 years.
Throughout her career, Amelia has had the opportunity to work with many renowned international classical and contemporary choreographers, performing works by William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Meryl Tankard, Mario Schroeder, Nils Christie, Stephan Thoss, François Klaus, Uwe Scholz, Mauro Astolfi, Young Soon Hue Simon, Kim McCarthy, and Natalie Weir, to name just a few.
She has also toured extensively, performing in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Spain, Taiwan, Colombia, Singapore, Japan, and Brazil.
Some of the highlights of her career include performing Carmen in François Klaus’s production of Carmen, Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire (also by François Klaus), and Chaplin with the Leipzig Ballet Company (choreographed by Mario Schroeder). For her performance in Chaplin, she was nominated for Most Outstanding Dancer at the Thalia Awards in the Czech Republic.
Most recently, Amelia has returned to Queensland Ballet, where she teaches contemporary dance and choreographs for the Queensland Ballet Academy. She also shares her expertise with the broader community, offering contemporary dance and choreography workshops, as well as staging works throughout Brisbane and Queensland.
In addition, she has played a key role in organising and teaching at the Brisbane International Contemporary Dance Prix, held annually.
GREG HORSMAN
Greg began training with Peter Dickinson in Geelong and completed his formal training under Anne Woolliams at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School.
He joined The Australian Ballet in 1982 and became Principal Artist in 1987. At The Australian Ballet, Greg performed all the classical repertoire, as well as many contemporary works.
He has worked with choreographers including Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Glen Tetley, Maurice Béjart, and Jirí Kylián. He has been a Guest Principal Artist around the world dancing with the Mariinsky Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Boston Ballet, and the Houston Ballet, in Rudolph Nureyev’s Farewell Tour of Australia, and the 6th and 7th World Ballet Festivals in Japan.
Greg joined the English National Ballet in 1994, creating the roles of The Mad Hatter in Derek Deane’s Alice in Wonderland, the Prince in Michael Corder’s Cinderella, and Drosselmeyer in Deane’s The Nutcracker. He also starred in Deane’s Swan Lake and Romeo & Juliet and performed Romeo and Mercutio in Rudolph Nureyev’s Romeo and Juliet. In 1998 Greg was appointed Artistic Director of Ballet Central at London’s Central School of Ballet. In 2001 he became a Ballet Master at Northern Ballet Theatre in Leeds, and in 2003 returned to the English National Ballet as a Ballet Master and repetiteur. In 2006 Greg became Ballet Master at the Royal New Zealand Ballet. He has been a guest teacher and Guest Ballet Master at companies throughout the UK, Europe, and Australia, including Birmingham Royal Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, La Scala Ballet, and The Staatsballett Berlin. Greg has choreographed ballets for Ballet Central, English National Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, and Queensland Ballet.
His classic production of The Sleeping Beauty was a box office success, and Queensland Ballet has also performed his critically acclaimed ballets Coppélia, La Bayadere, Verdi Variations, Glass Concerto, and Never Stop Falling in Love.
Greg joined Queensland Ballet in 2013 and is the Assistant Artistic Director.
