David McAllister is probably the most well-known face of dance in Australia. He was born in Perth and he was accepted into the Australian Ballet School as a 17-year-old. He graduated and joined the company directly, wowing crowds across the globe. His final performance was in “Giselle” in 2001. And then, three months later, he was named Artistic Director of that same company.

During his tenure, he led the company from strength to strength, staging brand new works, touring the company around the world and inspiring a new level of technical brilliance. But he also created a company with meaning—setting up groundbreaking maternity leave policies and health and wellness policies, so that dancers could have careers much longer than they could have ever have dreamed.

In 2020, after 20 years as artistic director and four decades with the company, he announced his retirement. It was going to be a year of celebrations, but then Covid—the company closed down last March and they only made it on stage for three performances. David is currently in Helsinki, Finland, where he called me, but he's on his next adventure, staging the Finnish National Ballet's 100th anniversary performance of “Swan Lake.” David speaks candidly about his retirement, what Covid meant for him and the Australian Ballet, and his big regret while he was at the Australian Ballet.

This episode of Talking Pointes is sponsored by @ecodancers

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Talking Pointes is produced on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, to whom we pay our greatest respects. 

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