Paul Mercurio, A life lived in fear is a life half lived

30 years ago this year, a small independent film, by a first time director, and an unknown cast, hit our screens. That film was Strictly Ballroom . And so, for our final episode of Season 2 of Talking Pointes, I’m speaking with the legendary Paul Mercurio. Paul was born in Swan Hill in regional Victoria and started dancing after he saw his elder sister in a local dance class. With dad off the scene early, the family moved to Perth where Paul continued to train at the John Curtin Senior High School as it was known then, before, at 18, being accepted in the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne. But in a rebel move, he joined Sydney Dance Company before graduating, it was the golden era of Graeme Murphy’s directorship. It was a position he held for ten years, as a principal dancer, muse and choreographer. During his later years Sydney Dance Company, Paul received a call from an unknown director called Baz Lurhmann who asked him to help choreograph on a dance film. It was a call that changed his life. In this wonderfully honest interview, Paul talks about his early years in dance, his “angry man” years as he calls them—where he wrote poetry, smoked weed, and rode motorbikes. We also talk about how Strictly Ballroom came to be, the behind the scene, and how the film changed his life. Finally we talk new careers, raising a family, and his plans for making a more inclusive community in his local area. Paul and I recorded remotely, with Paul dialling in from Melbourne on the land of the Kulin people. Paul’s episode was produced in Sydney on the land of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, to whom we pay our greatest respects. Talking Pointes is produced on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, to whom we pay our greatest respects. Production dream team ✨ Hosted by @byclaudialawson Produced by @fjordreview Additional Production @clinttopic Sound & Editing @outputmedia Studios @brightsidesydney @sawtoothstudios

You can listen to Paul Mercurio, A life lived in fear is a life half lived online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Paul Mercurio, A life lived in fear is a life half lived is an episode from Talking Pointes by Fjord Review.

This episode is 00:39:48 long.

This episode was published on Mar 4, 2024.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Talking Pointes when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.