Ballarat born-and-trained dancer Callum Linnane has been promoted to the highest level a ballet dancer can reach - that of principal artist.
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The announcement was made during Friday night's curtain call after the Melbourne opening night of the Australian Ballet's production of Anna Karenina in which he performs the lead role of Count Alexei Vronsky.
The promotion comes less than a year after he was appointed to the position of senior artist, and in his seventh year with the Australian Ballet.
The news, delivered on stage, came as a shock and is still "a bit of a blur" for the dancer.
"I did opening night of Anna Karenina, performed one of the male principal roles in that. was happy with how the show went then David (Hallberg, Australian Ballet artistic director) came on stage and in front of a packed audience and it was a bit of a blur," Mr Linnane said.
"He came out, said some words, said he was promoting me to principal artist and then ... the house went wild with applause. I remember laughing and hitting every emotion .. shock, laughing, trying not to cry, then happy."
Although Mr Linnane had been preparing for the role in Anna Karenina for many months, and performed in the show in Adelaide in July, the curtain only opened on the Melbourne season of the ballet classic on Friday after several cancellations because of COVID.
"When hard work, focus and passion come together, it can be an undeniable combination. This is what Callum embodies as a dancer and I am thrilled that he has been named Principal Artist of The Australian Ballet," Mr Hallberg said.
"I cannot wait for audiences to see Callum soar to new heights as he embarks on the ascent of a true artist."
Mr Linnane said becoming principal artist was "surreal" and the culmination of a dream he had since childhood.
About 10 of his family members were in the audience for the opening night performance and to see Mr Linnane promoted to principal artist.
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"I asked David if he planned for my family to be there but it was coincidence ... they didn't know," he said.
Mr Linnane first started dancing as a seven-year-old and took 'every dance class but ballet' at Ballarat Centre of Music and the Arts until he was convinced to try ballet classes when he was 11 and a year later won a place at the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne.
"It was amazing to walk down the corridor and watch the dancers of the Australian Ballet. I had inspiration at my doorstep, but I never had that much contact with them until I was older," he told The Courier last year.
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