| The Australian Ballet | |
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| General Information | |
| Name | The Australian Ballet |
| Predecessor | Borovansky Ballet |
| Year Founded | 1962 |
| Founders | Dame Peggy van Praagh |
| Principal venue | Level 5 2 Kavanagh Street South Bank Victoria Australia |
| Website | www.australianballet.com.au |
| Artistic Staff | |
| Artistic Director |
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| Music Director | Nicolette Fraillon |
| Resident Choreographers |
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| Other | |
| Associated Schools | Australian Ballet School |
| Formation |
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The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd. and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English ballerina Dame Peggy van Praagh as founding artistic director. Today, it is recognised as one of the world's major international ballet companies.
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The roots of the Australian Ballet can be found in the Borovansky Ballet, a company founded in 1940 by the Czech dancer Edouard Borovansky. Borovansky had been a dancer in the touring ballet company of the famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova and, after visiting Australia on tour with the Covent Garden Russian Ballet, he decided to remain in Australia, establishing a ballet school in Melbourne in 1939, out of which he developed a performance group which became the Borovansky Ballet. The company was supported and funded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd from 1944. Following Borovansky's death in 1959, the English dancer and administrator Dame Peggy van Praagh was invited to become artistic director of the company. J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd decided to disband the Borovansky Ballet in 1961.
In 1961, J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust received federal subsidies towards the establishment of a national ballet company. These organisations established the Australian Ballet Foundation to assist with the establishment of a new company, which in 1962 became the Australian Ballet. Peggy van Praagh, who had been kept on a retainer by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd through the intervening year between the disbanding of the Borovansky Ballet and the establishment of the Australian Ballet, was invited to become the founding artistic director of the company. The majority of the dancers employed by the fledgling company were drawn from former members of the Borovansky Ballet. The first performance by the Australian Ballet was staged at Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney. The principal dancers in the Australian Ballet's first season were Kathleen Gorham, Marilyn Jones and Garth Welch. Van Praagh also invited the Royal Ballet's Ray Powell to temporarily became the company's first Ballet Master, with Leon Kellaway (brother of Cecil Kellaway), a former dancer with the Covent Garden Russian Ballet, as the company's first ballet teacher. In 1967 van Praagh established the Australian Ballet School, which was formed specially to train dancers for the company and remains the company's associate school to this day.
Today the company is based in Melbourne and regularly tours to all the major cities within Australia, with lengthy seasons in Melbourne at the State Theatre (accompanied by Orchestra Victoria) and in Sydney at the Sydney Opera House. For one week in alternate years, the Australian Ballet performs at the Lyric Theatre at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane, and one week each year, at the Adelaide Festival Centre in Adelaide. The company also occasionally tours internationally, and performs annually in an intimate outdoor setting on Hamilton Island.[1]
The Australian Ballet works in close cooperation with the Australian Ballet School, of which many of the company's dancers are graduates. Giving approximately 200 performances a year, the Australian Ballet is the busiest ballet company in the world. With a vast repertoire which includes the major classical and heritage works as well as contemporary productions, it follows its artistic vision of "Caring for Tradition, Daring to be Different". Each year, the company also presents an extensive national education programme, run by Colin Peasley a former Principal Dancer with the company, to further inspire and educate its audiences.
Box office sales, derived from its strong and loyal audience base, are the foundation of the company's income stream. The Australian Ballet also receives funding from the Australian, Victorian and New South Wales governments, corporate sponsors, private donors and bequests.
The company's current Artistic Director is David McAllister AM, who was a Principal Dancer until 2001. The company's previous Artistic Directors were: Ross Stretton (1996–2001); Maina Gielgud (1983–96); Marilyn Jones (1979–82); Anne Woolliams (1976–77); Sir Robert Helpmann (1965–76) and the founding Artistic Director, Dame Peggy van Praagh (1962–74; 1978).
The most recent appointment to the position of Executive Director is Valerie Wilder, succeeding Richard Evans.
In 1973 the Australian Ballet released a film version of the ballet Don Quixote with music by Ludwig Minkus, starring Rudolf Nureyev as Basilio, Lucette Aldous as Kitri and Sir Robert Helpmann in the title role, along with artists of the Australian Ballet. Set and costumes were designed by Barry Kay. Future artistic director Ross Stretton staged the stage production during his artistic directorship of the Royal Ballet.
The ballet The Merry Widow, with music from Franz Lehár's operetta of the same name, was created by Sir Robert Helpmann and choreographed by Ronald Hynd especially for the Australian Ballet. The designer was Desmond Healey. The adaptation from operetta score to ballet score was done by John Lanchbery (then musical director of the Australian Ballet) and his colleague Alan Abbot. The ballet premiered on 13 November 1975 at the Palais Theatre, Melbourne.
In 1976, Dame Margot Fonteyn, who was guesting with the Australian Ballet, danced the leading role of Hanna Glawari.
The ballet was revived by the company in 2011, in Melbourne from 23 June to 4 July, the final performance being principal artist Kirsty Martin's farewell performance, and in Sydney from 10 to 28 November.
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The Telstra Ballet Dancer Awards have been made annually since 2003, in support of the aspirations of The Australian Ballet's elite young dancers. It is the biggest prize available specifically to a dancer in Australia, with a cash prize of $20,000 to the winner. The Telstra People's Choice Award is made to the most popular of the nominees in that year, using internet and SMS voting. The winner of the People's Choice receives a cash prize of $5,000.[4]
For the first time since the inauguration of the awards, the judging panel was unable to separate two dancers for the main award in 2010 and each received $20,000. The winners were Ty King-Wall and Dana Stephensen. Amy Harris won the People's Choice Award for the second time (she also won it in 2008).[5]
Behind Ballet is the blog of the Australian Ballet. [6]
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