Meet TBDA nominee Amanda McGuigan

2015 Telstra Ballet Dancer Award nomineesThe 2015 Telstra Ballet Dancer Award nominees were unveiled earlier this year by The Australian Ballet. Nominees include company dancers Benedicte Bemet (Mackay, QLD), Jasmin Durham (Gordon, ACT), Robyn Hendricks (Port Elizabeth, South Africa), newly-appointed principal dancer Ako Kondo (Nagoya, Japan), Amanda McGuigan (Summer Hill, NSW) and Marcus Morelli (Brighton, VIC).

 

As part of a new series of unique artist-dancer collaborations produced by major sponsor Telstra, each nominee was paired with a talented Australian installation artist or designer to create a work that was filmed and photographed. 

 

The Telstra Ballet Dancer Award (TBDA) is considered the most prestigious prize in Australian ballet and is one of several initiatives run by Telstra in partnership with The Australian Ballet, aimed at fostering young ballet dancers to reach their full potential. Now in its 13th year, the award will bestow one winner with a $20,000 cash prize and will be announced on Thursday, December 3. The winner of the People’s Choice Award, decided by public vote, will receive $5,000.

 

The Australian Ballet Dance Informa is profiling each nominee in the weeks leading up to the announcement. Following Benedicte Bemet, Jasmin Durham, Robyn Hendricks and Ako Kondo, we’ll now take a look at Amanda McGuigan!

 

McGuigan was born in Sydney and studied at The McDonald College and at Tanya Pearson’s Classical Coaching Academy. She was also a junior associate of The Australian Ballet School.

 

At the age of 15, she moved to London to study at The Royal Ballet School. After graduation, she joined American Ballet Theatre for three seasons (2007-2010) and then the Dutch National Ballet for three as well (2010-2013). With these two companies she has toured extensively and danced featured roles such as Lady Montague in Romeo and Juliet, a Lead Swan in Swan Lake, and the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty. She joined The Australian Ballet in 2014 and was promoted to coryphée this year.

 

In 2015, McGuigan has stood out in many roles that she’s danced, such as Princess Royal in Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake, Myrtha in Maina Gielgud’s Giselle and Stepmother in Alexei Ratmansky’s Cinderella. She’s also exceled in Sir Frederick Ashton’s Monotones II and Symphonic Variations.

 

Amanda McGuigan for her TBDA nominationFor her TBDA collaboration, McGuigan worked with typographer Luca Ionescu. He said he was inspired by her body form, saying he saw calligraphy in her movements. “I see letters forms and typography, almost sculptural as it moves from one letter to another,” he said. [See full video below.]

 

McGuigan said, “I believe that as a dancer you are your life experiences. It’s not all about tutus; it’s about the person you are and the stories that have made you, and I really live by that.”

 

 

Photo (top): The TBDA 2015 nominees. Photo by Esteban La Tessa, courtesy of The Australian Ballet. Photo (left): Amanda McGuigan. Photo by Daniel Boud. Photo (right): Still from YouTube video above.