David McAllister and Todd McKenney: Literary Dinner 2021

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In-between enjoying a delicious Thai feast, David McAllister (principal dancer and also artistic director of the Australian Ballet) and performing artist and television personality Todd McKenney (whose name is synonymous with dance in Australia) will be in conversation about David's new book Soar: A Life Freed by Dance. 

The Bookshop Darlinghurst is delighted to partner with ACON and return to the chic and spacious restaurant - Soi 25 - for this new literary dinner. This event has also been made possible due to the support of the City of Sydney Night Time Diversification Program and Thames & Hudson Australia.

David McAllister

Born in Perth, David McAllister joined The Australian Ballet in 1983 and was promoted to principal artist in 1989. During his time with the company, he danced many principal roles, including those in The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Coppélia, Manon, La Sylphide, John Cranko's Onegin _and _Romeo and Juliet, and Jirí Kylián's Stepping Stones; in 1985, he won bronze at the Fifth International Ballet Competition in Moscow. Throughout his career, McAllister made numerous guest appearances worldwide, dancing with Bolshoi Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, the Georgian State Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre and, in 1992, as part of a Royal Gala performance in London in the presence of the Princess of Wales. In 2000, he completed a Graduate Diploma in Arts and Entertainment Management and in 2001 took his final bow as a dancer. In July of that year, McAllister became artistic director of The Australian Ballet. He was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2004 Australia Day Honours List. In 2015, he premiered a new production of The Sleeping Beauty for The Australian Ballet. In 2020, McAllister will step down from his current position to take on freelance staging and choreographing ballets.

Todd McKenney

One of Australia's most versatile performing artists, Todd McKenney is an award winning and critically acclaimed performer on stage and screen. As an actor and the leading man of song and dance in musical theatre productions, he has entertained Australia for over 30 years from main stage to intimate venues. Todd is best known for his notable role of Peter Allen in the Australian hit production The Boy From Oz in which he performed over 1000 shows nationally. He also performed lead and headline roles in shows such as Cats, 42nd Street, West Side Story, Crazy For You, Born Yesterday, Camelot, Pirates of Penzance, Cabaret, Strictly Ballroom, La Cage aux Folles, Singin' In the Rain, Anything Goes, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Orpheus In the Underworld for Opera Australia, Grease, Anything Goes and The Rocky Horror Show. As a dancer his journey started at the age of three age of three at his mother's dancing school in Perth, training in jazz, tap, acrobatics and ballroom dancing. On television he has shared his wisdom and honesty as the colourful and often controversial judge on the Channel 7 hit series 'Dancing With the Stars'.