Dancing Between Two Worlds: 'Ella', Ballet and the Limits of Self-expression

Ella Havelka made history by becoming the first Indigenous dancer to be invited into The Australian Ballet in its fifty-year history – yet her path to that prestigious position was fraught with both career uncertainty and struggles with self-identity. Douglas Watkin's documentary chronicles these aspects of Havelka's rise to prominence; with reference to its ballet-film precedents, Mel Campbell examines how Ella uses the tropes of physicality as expression and dance as an arena for belonging to dramatise its subject's story on screen.

Additional keywords: embodiment, politics, representation, minority, racism, colourism, discrimination, elitism, contemporary, Bangarra Dance Theatre.