Justine Summers
Justine Summers studied with Avril Binzer in Melbourne and Barbara Todd in Hobart before joining The Victorian College of the Arts under Anne Wooliams for 3 years. After 2 years at The Australian Ballet School, under Dame Margaret Scott, Justine accepted Artistic Director Maina Gielgud’s offer to join The Australian Ballet Company at 17yrs of age.
Justine Summers studied with Avril Binzer in Melbourne and Barbara Todd in Hobart before joining The Victorian College of the Arts under Anne Wooliams for 3 years. After 2 years at The Australian Ballet School, under Dame Margaret Scott, Justine accepted Artistic Director Maina Gielgud’s offer to join The Australian Ballet Company at 17yrs of age.
Travelling Nationally and Internationally with The Australian Ballet from 1988-2000, 2003, 2012 (USA, China, Taiwan, Bangkok, Singapore, Italy, London) Justine rose steadily through the ranks to Principal Artist in 1996. She performed with many international guest artists Rex Harrington (National Ballet of Canada), Bruce Samson (Royal Ballet) Vladimir Malakhov (American Ballet Theatre), Igor Yebra (Bilbao-Spain), Li Cunxin (Houston Ballet/Australian Ballet) in most of the Classical and Neo-Classical Repertoire.
Justine particularly enjoyed performing Manon, (including the title role for The Australian Ballet’s ABC simulcast with Steven Heathcote), Onegin (promoted to Principal after her debut performance), Madame Butterfly (Stanton Welch), Nutcracker (Graeme Murphy) Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, La Sylphide, Giselle and Sleeping Beauty. And working with and performing contemporary works by Stanton Welch, Jiri Kylian, Glenn Tetley, Stephen Baynes, Graeme Murphy, and Tim Harbour to name a few.
Justine has won various awards and scholarships: MO Award, Young Victorian of The Year Award, Green Room Award and particularly loved taking up her scholarships in her formative years with the company observing and studying with many of the companies throughout Europe.
Justine is Patron for The Tasmanian Youth Classical Ballet Company and The Australian Teachers of Dance.
After retiring Justine moved to the Gold Coast to be with her husband Michael Edgley and has 3 young children. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and love of dance with aspiring young dancers.
“Justine is an accomplished, beautiful and generous artist and I am honoured she will be joining the staff for Ballet Theatre Queensland’s inaugural Repertoire Intensive. I have admired Justine’s career for many years and could not be more thrilled for her to share her intricate knowledge and detailed artistry of classical ballet repertoire with the next generation of artists.” – Clare Morehen, Artistic Director Ballet Theatre Queensland.