Margaret Esther Mercer (’64)

POSTED March 29 2026

Australian Ballet Dancer turned Critic and Writer

When Margaret announced she would leave school to pursue a place in the inaugural class of the Australian Ballet School, it came as a shock to her mother, who was a teacher at St Mary’s. Yet the opportunity was too significant to overlook, and her decision set her on a path that would shape her entire career.

Margaret joined St Mary’s in 1960 as a Year 8 student at the Colin Street campus in West Perth, excelling in English and French during her junior years. She had been dancing since she was eight, first inspired by seeing the Borovansky Ballet Company perform at His Majesty’s Theatre in Perth. Under the guidance of early teachers, including Evelyn Hodgkinson and later Madame Kira Bousloff, founder of the West Australian Ballet Company, she completed her Royal Academy of Dance examinations and immersed herself in an intensive training schedule. In 1962, she received a scholarship that allowed her to train six nights a week, learning from guest teachers and visiting international dancers.

In 1964, after completing the Year 11 equivalent, Margaret was selected as one of only 20 students from across Australia to join the Australian Ballet School’s first intake in Melbourne. There she trained under notable figures, including Poul Gnatt of the Royal Danish Ballet and Leon Kellaway, an Australian ballet master.

Margaret went on to dance for the West Australian Ballet Company before later returning to the Australian Ballet School as assistant to the Artistic Director from 1985 to 1991. Her love of dance remained a constant, and it eventually led her into a second career as a writer and critic. Completing an English degree with Honours at the University of Western Australia in her fifties, she broadened her work into arts commentary and became a respected critic for Dance Australia.

Margaret’s career reflects both her dedication to her art form and her ability to reinvent herself at different stages of life.