For Queensland Ballet Executive Director Dilshani Weerasinghe, having “shiny eyes” has helped illuminate a serendipitous career adventure with more twists than Swan Lake.
“If you’ve aligned your personal values and passions with your professional purpose, your eyes will literally shine with an intention that is bigger than yours, and others will come along for the ride,” Dil (as she’s known to friends and colleagues) explains.
“If you’re passionate about what you’re doing, then you’re naturally sharing stories and connecting with others at every opportunity, you’re meeting like-minded souls and you’re inviting them to align their journey with yours. This is when magic happens.”
After a global career as a leader, singer, business and philanthropy manager, board director, mother, counsellor and even fragrance consultant, Dil has taken on the challenge of building Queensland Ballet into an arts powerhouse.
While she has crafted her career barracking from the sidelines, the departure of former artistic director Li Cunxin has moved her closer to centre-stage.
Their 11-year partnership fell into a natural rhythm as Li’s world-stage presence threw him into the spotlight with Dil working hand-in-hand with him, happily behind-the-scenes.
“Experience will tell you that two peas in a pod don’t necessarily make for a fabulous relationship, in personal nor professional life,” Dil says.
“We are very different people but together, we had a natural chemistry and our working relationship was utterly united at all times.
“We supported each other through thick and thin, were very stubborn through the inevitable challenges that come with transformation and growth and if I have one regret, it’s that we didn’t really ever take a breath to stop and celebrate.
“We felt the responsibility that comes with the opportunities created by incredible momentum, including those inspired by generous donors and corporate partners.
“So we just kept going and going, always with impact in mind. It suited us both very much.
“Li understood me and I understood him.
“He would look at me with that cheeky grin of his, and say; ‘Dil, you should say a few words this time’ and I would say ‘Li, same answer as always! Your turn…again!’
“He would always acknowledge the wider Queensland Ballet team’s contribution, including my own. He’s a very generous man and although he was the face of Queensland Ballet, he was very much a team-player and he interacted with every team as we hustled every day to realise projects on stage and in community.
“The Li and Dil chemistry worked a certain way, and the (new Artistic Director) Leanne (Benjamin) and Dil chemistry is going to work differently, as with any new relationship, so I’m leaning into whatever is to come.
“As guardians of Queensland Ballet, every day is a puzzle to solve as we juggle vibrancy with sustainability. It’s an absolute privilege.”
Dil says Leanne is heavily involved with getting to know the dancers and activating her artistic vision.
“As she is creating room for diverse voices in studio and on stage, she is also creating room for other voices behind-the-scenes, including our dancers, artistic team and community engagement team, making room for more stories, told differently,” Dil says.
“Within the Queensland Ballet family, there is so much varied endeavour and as we broaden our impact across various communities, we know we are at a stage of maturity where we are stretching ballet in every direction.
“As we lean into more spaces, such as dance health, at-risk youth, buildings-built-with-people-in-mind, we are also leaning into the voices of the Queensland Ballet team and those we are engaging with every day.”
It was Dil’s voice which could have kept her permanently on stage as a professional opera singer. In her 20s, she was accepted into the English National Opera’s Knack young artist program in London, an initiative created for young singers to develop their craft.
“What was it about the stage that didn’t align with me? Nerves in the spotlight!” she says.
“It just didn’t really work for me. Every day I needed to place myself inside a character – you know, you hate someone, you love someone, you’re gonna kill someone. It was just too confronting for me – the overt expression and public face of opera in studio and on stage. So much love, hate and madness. I just couldn’t dig deep and find that well of expression.
“I’m also not a terribly competitive person, and there’s a lot of competition in that world, to want to be seen, to be cast in roles. It really wasn’t a hard decision to say, no, the stage is not for me.”
Born in Sri Lanka, she was four months old when her parents, Joseph and Marjorie, moved to Malawi, Africa where her father was to take up a job as an accountant.
“Africa gave us the gift of a simple, unadorned life where my younger brother Richard and I amused ourselves endlessly as we didn’t have televisions, computers nor access to shopping malls – there really weren’t many shops nor restaurants,” Dil says.
“We amused ourselves, used our imaginations every day, spent hours at at-home dinner parties and just loved our tight-knit community.
“We played with our neighbours, we were on our bikes all the time in the garden and we genuinely connected with the real things and the real people around us. We appreciated the books and movies that were eventually imported into the country, months and months after they were released elsewhere in the world.
“Importantly, we got bored and that too was a gift.”
The family also spent holidays travelling back to Sri Lanka, with stop overs in other countries along the way which inspired in Dil a natural curiosity about life and about people and experiences that she’s never really been able to tame.
Dil’s career journey began with an unplanned path. Her parents had moved from Africa to New Zealand, where she attended Saint Mary’s College in Wellington. She later graduated from the Victoria University of Wellington with a Bachelor of Arts and a Post-Diploma in Psychology, Literature and Languages.
“I did a deep-dive into my passions within my degree and graduated with a fruit salad of subjects,” she says.
“I felt personally fulfilled but potentially completely unemployable.”
While she was at university she was a fragrance consultant, a youth counsellor, worked in a library, a call centre, a lolly shop, and sourced documents at a medical clinic.
Her first full-time role was as a development manager for Malaghan Insitute of Medical Research in New Zealand and she has stayed in the not-for-profit for-purpose sector ever since.
“Having travelled to the UK as a child, I always had this hankering to go to London – to live there seriously and properly,” she says.
“I had no idea what I would do when I was there.
“I had to work quite a few jobs in New Zealand to be able to afford to make that dream come true, but it was a rite of passage, and I was inspired and motivated to get there.”
Once in London, she landed a job at the Royal Opera House working in the development team and in time, she juggled this role with private singing lessons, while she considered whether or not to pursue the path of a professional opera singer.
“At the Royal Opera House, I put my hand up for everything,” she says.
“Looking back, they were very patient with me and as a result, I’m a big advocate for not sticking to your job description as that will only limit your opportunity.
“In any organisation when you’re in a role where you’re thinking about positive impact for people, internal or external, you just have to do whatever it takes.
“Opportunities come in all shapes and sizes. In those early days, I just leaned into everything and I learned so much and met so many inspirational people. Those lessons and relationships are still with me today.”
From London (where she met her IT expert turned paramedic husband James Neaum, and had her first of three children, Shanel) she moved to Sydney where she was the Business Partnerships Manager at the Sydney Opera House.
They decided to move to Brisbane so they could be closer to extended family and Dil worked for the Brisbane Powerhouse as their Philanthropy Manager. James’ parents live close-by, and Dil’s parents live in a dual-occupancy house with the couple, Shanel (now aged 18) and their two other children Siena (15) and Jake (12). With two dogs and two cats, it’s a vibrant household.
“It has been one of life’s gifts to have our parents be such an integrated part of our lives and the lives of our children, their grandchildren,” she says.
“But also, it’s wonderful to have such a natural everyday interaction with them where we see each other often, share meals and all the sports and arts activities that Shanel, Siena and Jake gift us.
“With three children each following their own passions, James working long shifts, the vibrancy of Queensland Ballet and the ups and downs of everyday life, we’ve woven a unique family ‘force’ and we are so very lucky.”
Now that her children are a bit older, she’s returned to singing in the professional Canticum Chamber Choir based out of St Mary’s at Kangaroo Point, directed by Emily Cox.
“I’ve asked my family’s permission to return to singing,” she says.
“I’ve said to them – you all fill my cup, I have a vibrant job and other Board roles that fill my cup almost to the brim but I would really love it if I could go back to singing and add a little more foam to the mix.”
It means that the one night a week, she isn’t present in the family timetable nor the Queensland Ballet schedule and she relies on the family unit to look after Shanel, Siena and Jake.
As someone who leads a busy and full life, Dil uses her coffee cup analogy as a barometer of how much she can take on in the various seasons of life.
At different times in life, her cup has been filled with different ingredients based on family, professional and personal commitments, and when full, she cannot take on anymore “co-curriculars.”
“When you have young kids, they fill a lot of your cup and your career needs to work around them, your partner and wider family,” Dil explains.
“Then are they get older, they have different needs and this may mean you can take on more, maybe work different hours, or take on some other projects.
“Or indeed, they may need you more, so you adjust. One of my passions is working with young people in community but this is something I can only do now and then, depending on what else is floating around in my cup. As I get older, I’m also really hungering for more social fun so my friends have been warned to buckle up for more crazy adventures.”
Dil is drawn to boards and committees, all of which are not-for-profit, purpose-led.
She is aligned with the Australian Rugby Foundation, Creative Brisbane Collaboration, First Light Widowed Association, Queensland Rugby Union, Inspiring Brighter Futures Foundation, Artisan, Ken Talbot Foundation and John Paul College.
“Every time I lean into an organisation, I ask myself if I can make a meaningful contribution,” she says.
“I may not be able to attend every meeting nor every event but I must be able to make a difference.
“In those early days of getting to know an organisation, I’m usually preoccupied with its potential, its opportunity to pivot or transform, all for more impact for its community. And then, if the chemistry is right and I feel I can help, I will.”
And how does she deal with the difficult and complex world of philanthropy? Again she credits those “shiny eyes”.
“Philanthropy is a privilege,” she says.
“There’s very few times I’ve actually had to overtly ask for a donation because if you’re sharing a genuine connection with someone, whether they be a visionary donor or not, they organically become a part of what you’re striving to achieve.
“Ultimately, when you’re in an organisation like Queensland Ballet, a purpose-led charity, dreaming big, reaching for the stars, you’re not in it for yourself. You’re in it for our dancers, for those creating magic behind the scenes in our costume and production teams, for those in our ‘business of ballet’ hustle, for those working in our community in health and youth projects, for those on the road travelling throughout Queensland and so much more.”
Of course, it also helps that she is an instantly warm and engaging person who is genuinely interested in other people and their stories.
“What I love about being here at Queensland Ballet is that everyday I’m surrounded by artists and arts workers who are vibrant and energetic, and there’s a certain magic that is generated by them, just by the very nature of who they are and their life purpose.
“And this magic attracts other like-minded game-changers who want to collaborate, enable and enrich the lives of as many people as possible.
“It’s utterly compelling and addictive – it’s an enriching experience.
“Everyone needs to find their shiny eyes in their everyday endeavour, ensuring vibrancy in their personal and professional lives. We spend so much of our time ‘at work’ but if your job aligns with your personal purpose, then you’ll never ‘work’ a day in your life.”
