Queensland Ballet is reactivating dancers who are injured or have retired by capitalising on their unique insights to pivot into new careers.
Take David Power, for example, who was dramatically injured during rehearsals and now spends his recovery time learning about the business of ballet.
Or Samuel Packer who retired from ballet at 27 but now builds on-stage sets for a living.
Power, who is a First Company Artist, suffered major trauma when he broke part of his lower back during a take-off jump in final rehearsal for Sleeping Beauty in 2021.
“I didn’t realise what I’d done initially, so I tried to keep on dancing,” Power said.
He had suffered an acute fracture of the L5 vertebrae which left him bed-ridden for eight weeks. After a long and painful recovery he started suffering nerve pain and pain in his legs. Power managed to return to dance after a full rehabilitation period, with the assistance of Queensland Ballet’s Performance Health team.
The injury continued to cause problems, so on doctor’s orders Power had to have surgery to fix the recurring injury in September last year. He has been forced to take a 12-month break until his back is fully healed.
“I am using the time to learn about the bigger picture of ballet,” Power said. “QB has really supported me to learn and grow, and I have learnt a lot about myself in this time.”
Power is “making lemonade out of a pretty sour situation,” as he describes it, by getting first-hand experience in all facets of the business of ballet – from teaching, to casting and assisting choreographers and staging, to working with the philanthropy and marketing teams. You may have even seen him on social media marketing for Coppelia and other Queensland Ballet campaigns.
Brisbane-born Power began dancing at the age of three before moving to Melbourne when he was 15 to study at the Australian Ballet School for four years. In 2015 he launched his career with Queensland Ballet as a Jette Parker Young Artist.
“I was given season tickets for QB every birthday from when I was seven years old, so joining them was like coming full-circle for me,” Power said.
“From a young age I wanted to be a part of something bigger – seeing talented male dancers really inspired me.
“My favourite part of working behind the scenes has been the connection with the art of ballet and community.
“I’m grateful for the experience it’s given me and I’m excited to explore whatever happens next.”
Former Company Artist Samuel Packer said goodbye to dancing when he retired in 2022 and is now building sets for the stage he once traversed.
His time as a dancer has given him a unique insight into set designs.
“I have a dancer’s perspective so I know what they will be looking for, which is a tricky thing to teach builders,” he said.
Packer said it was important for sets to be safe, quickly assembled and disassembled, and to be moved around the stage easily.
He is also studying engineering online with the University of South Australia so that he will eventually be able to certify his creations.
Packer started with Queensland Ballet as a Jette Parker Young Artist in 2016. He had been dancing since he was 11.
“It’s an all or nothing career and can be so brutal,” Packer says. “You need so much self-drive to keep going and I just lost a bit of passion for it. Plus at the time QB was performing less contemporary work, which was the style I really thrived in.”
When Packer started to wonder what else the world had to offer, he knew it was time to move on.
“I have always been interested in how things work and I have always been able to pull apart things and see how they work,” he said.
He has worked on the sets for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Coppelia, and Bespoke (which opens on Thursday), and is also responsible for the Queensland Ballet Academy sets.
“The only time I really miss dancing is when there are curtain calls and you can hear the crowd cheer – that’s so special. But then I think that the dancers must be so sore, in fact I know they are sore, and then I realise I don’t miss it.
“It’s cool that I have landed in this role and can keep using my experience. I have learnt so much by being involved and keeping my knowledge going.”
