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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake: Ella Havelka, Beijing, 2015

Lisa Tomasetti

inkjet print on paper
Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake: Ella Havelka, Beijing, 2015

Ella Havelka is a Wiradjuri dancer and choreographer who performed with the Bangarra Dance Theatre and was the first First Nations dancer to join The Australian Ballet. In Lisa Tomasetti’s 2020 photobook, The Australian Ballet on the International Stage, Havelka said of the shoot: ‘I remember having to climb over a chained barricade to take this photo which reminded me that as a young Indigenous kid from Dubbo, I never thought that I could ever afford to see the world, let alone get the chance to dance on an international stage. Lisa has perfectly captured the enormity of this surreal experience.’

Stillness in movement

(More information, View all 11 images)

Wandangula Dancers & the Song People Perform Ngabaya (Spirit People) at the 2014 Malandarri Festival, Yanyuwa Country 2014
Jianna Georgiou
Tara Jade Samaya

Related information

Tara Gower and Baden Hitchcock, Chicago, 2019 Lisa Tomasetti
Tara Gower and Baden Hitchcock, Chicago, 2019 Lisa Tomasetti
Tara Gower and Baden Hitchcock, Chicago, 2019 Lisa Tomasetti
Tara Gower and Baden Hitchcock, Chicago, 2019 Lisa Tomasetti

Stillness in movement

Magazine article by Tara James, 2024

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Brooke Lockett, Heidi Martin, Karen Nanasca, Halaina Hills; New York, 2012 Lisa Tomasetti
Brooke Lockett, Heidi Martin, Karen Nanasca, Halaina Hills; New York, 2012 Lisa Tomasetti
Brooke Lockett, Heidi Martin, Karen Nanasca, Halaina Hills; New York, 2012 Lisa Tomasetti
Brooke Lockett, Heidi Martin, Karen Nanasca, Halaina Hills; New York, 2012 Lisa Tomasetti

Dance like everyone’s watching

About Face article

8 September 2020

Penelope Grist’s spirits soar with Lisa Tomasetti’s Dancers in the Streets series.
The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance
The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance
The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance
The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance

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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

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