Q&A with Alain Juelg

Alain is a Corps de Ballet dancer with The Australian Ballet and joined the company in 2020.

Ballet in 3 words

Art, challenging and passionate

Favourite Ballet to perform

Picking a favourite ballet is hard because I really love so many of them, but I would love to perform Giselle one day. I think the story telling element of this ballet requires the artist to be sensitive and vulnerable on stage and would be an incredible experience to dive into

Do you believe ballet is an accessible art form

I don’t think ballet is readily accessible yet but it is good to see valuable work being done on this front by organisations such as BWB.

Some misconceptions about the ballet world?

I think there can be misconceptions that it is all glitz and glamor when performing and while we definitely have those moments, we also have the aftermath of that which often involves feeling tired, sore, hungry and figuring out ways to make your performance better next time

What are you reading at the moment

I am currently reading For Whom the Bell Tolls by Earnest Hemingway 

One things most people don’t know about you

One thing most people don’t know about me is I am very passionate about music. We are so lucky as dancers to get to hear such incredible and beautiful music everyday and I will often get chills listening to the orchestra while dancing

Why is the work that BWB does so important

The work that BWB does is vital in helping to secure the future of this art form. Most of us first saw ballet and became interested in it when we were very young so the fact the BWB is working to make ballet accessible for all children is crucial. The more people that are interested in this art form the better

Favourite ballet to watch

I really enjoyed watching Frederick Ashton’s The Dream. I think it’s a stunning ballet with a great story, great comedic elements, some beautiful dancing and some really stunning music, the parts with the choir are a personal favourite of mine

A piece of advice you would give to your younger self

If I could go back in time to when I was a teenager I would tell myself not to be so hard on myself. It isn’t helpful it only hurts, you can only do your best in any given moment, that is all you can ask of yourself

You get given an elephant, you can’t give it away, what do you do

Open a zoo!