Paul Hammond (ballet dancer)
Paul Clement Hammond OAM (16 December 1922 – 10 September 2010) was an Australian ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Career. As a performer. Inspired as a teenager by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Hammond started dancing at the age of 17, studying ballet with Mischa Burlakov, Helene Kirsova and Leon Kellaway. From his early twenties, Hammond held numerous senior roles with premier Australian ballet companies. As Principal and Soloist with the Kirsova Ballet, Australia's first professional ballet company, Hammond danced the principal roles in various productions including "Les Sylphides", "Hansel & Gretel", "Swan Lake" and "Harlequin . He went on to become a Leading Soloist with the Borovansky Ballet — the precursor to the Australian Ballet — for over a decade, and danced in major roles in a range of productions including Symphonie Fantastique", "Beau Danube", "Petrouchka", "Scheherazade", "The Outlaw", "Sleeping Princess" and "Giselle". Edouard Borovansky's 1951 production of "The Sleeping Princess", in which Hammond appeared as Carabosse, received great critical acclaim and was billed as 'an important milestone in the history of ballet in Australia'. Throughout his early career, Hammond traveled extensively abroad to train and dance as Principal with companies including the Glyndebourne Opera Company (UK ) as Assistant Ballet Master and as Principal Dancer in "Orpheé". As Principal Dancer with the Metropolitan Ballet (UK) from 1948 to 1950, Hammond performed the lead role in several productions including Prince Siegfried in "Swan Lake" and Prince Florimund in "Sleeping Beauty". As a Principal Dancer with the Théâtre Royal de Monnaie (Belgium), Hammond danced in various opera productions and ballet divertissements including "Brahms Variations" and "Bouquetierre des Violets". In addition to extensive classical ballet training in Australia, Hammond studied ballet in Western and Eastern Europe, with acclaimed teachers including Vera Volkova, Anna Northcote, Lubov Egorova and Olga Preobajenska. In  1948, Sir Robert Helpmann invited Hammond, along with Peggy Sager, to dance in the pioneer ballet film "The Red Shoes". As a teacher and choreographer. In the 1950s, Hammond gained his Advanced Teachers Diploma from the Royal Academy of Dance and in 1953, founded the Paul Hammond Ballet School in Melbourne. Under the management and direction of Hammond, the Paul Hammond Ballet School soon established itself as a leading dance academy, and between 1953 and 1976, produced and trained successful dancers such as Don Asker, Dale Baker, Walter Bourke, Roma Egan, Michaela Kirkaldie, John O’Brien, Gailene Stock, Robert Ray, and  Margaret Wilson among numerous others. Following their stage career, many of these dancers went on to become professional teachers, examiners and choreographers in Australian and abroad. For example, Gailene Stock is currently Director of the Royal Ballet School in London; Dale Baker, Michaela Kirkaldie, and Margaret Wilson are resident teachers at the Australian Ballet School; while Tina Stuart is an international examiner for the Royal Academy of Dance. During this time, Hammond choreographed numerous works for television and the stage, including the musical, "Lock up your Daughters" (Garnet H Carroll), the Union Theatre's original musical production of "Lola Montez