The Australian Ballet (TAB) 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-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur and director Dame Peggy van Praagh as founding artistic director. Today, it is recognised as one of the world's major international ballet companies and performs upwards of 150 performances (both in Australia and overseas) a year.
History
The roots of the Australian Ballet can be found in the Borovansky Ballet, a touring repertory company).
- Dame Peggy van Praagh (1962–74; 1978)
- Sir Robert Helpmann (1965–76)
- Anne Woolliams (1976–77)
- Marilyn Jones (1979–82)
- Maina Gielgud (1983–96)
- Ross Stretton (1996–2001)
- David McAllister (2001-2021) The company tours to mainland state capital cities within Australia, with annual seasons in Melbourne at the State Theatre (accompanied by Orchestra Victoria) and in Sydney at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra. Other venues are the Lyric Theatre at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane, and the Adelaide Festival Centre in Adelaide. The company also tours internationally.
The Australian Ballet works in close cooperation with the Australian Ballet School, of which many of the company's dancers are graduates.
The company's income is derived from box office sales, along with funding from the Australian, Victorian, and New South Wales governments; corporate sponsors; private donors; and bequests.
People
Since 2021 and the company's artistic director is David Hallberg,
In December 2022, Lissa Twomey was appointed as Executive Director of the Company. An arts industry leader with extensive experience domestically and internationally in management of top tier performing arts organisations.
The music director and chief conductor of The Australian Ballet appointed in 2022 is Jonathan Lo, replacing Nicolette Fraillon, the world's only woman chief conductor of a ballet company.
Dancers
The Australian Ballet has five levels within the company. They are (in ascending order): corps de ballet, coryphée, soloist, senior artist, and principal dancer.
Telstra Ballet Dancer Award
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.
Notable performances
In 1964, Robert Helpmann's work The Display was the first TAB production in which the music, designer, theme, and choreographer were all Australian; included were Australian rules football, lyrebirds, and a picnic in the bush.
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-Not trying to step on any toes, but the pages for other major ballet companies here on Wikipedia list their dancers, and get updated fairly frequently, though of course it's not perfect. As some of the dancers are notable enough to have their own pages, it's worth giving them recognition here on this page!
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Company
Dancers with The Australian Ballet are:
Principal artists
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Name
!Nationality
!Training
!Joined TAB
!Promoted to Principal
!Other companies <br /> (incl. guest performances)
|-
| Dimity Azoury
| rowspan="2" |
| Kim Harvey School of Dance in Canberra<br/>The Australian Ballet School
|2008
|2019
|
|-
| Benedicte Bemet
|Ransley's Ballet Centre<br/>Jean M. Wong School of Ballet<br/>The Australian Ballet School
|2012
|2019
|
|-
| Joseph Caley
|
| Skelton Hooper School of Dance<br/>Royal Ballet School
|2022
|N/A Joined as Principal
| Birmingham Royal Ballet<br/>English National Ballet
|-
| Brett Chynoweth
|
| The Australian Ballet School
|2009
|2018
|Nederlands Dans Theatre<br/>Birmingham Royal Ballet
|-
|Chengwu Guo
|
|Beijing Dance Academy<br/>The Australian Ballet School
|2008
|2013
|
|-
| Robyn Hendricks
|
| The Australian Ballet School<br/>National Ballet School
|2005
|2016
|
|-
| Ako Kondo
|
| Shiho Kanazawa Ballet Studio<br />The Royal Ballet School’s International Summer School<br />The Australian Ballet School
|2010
|2015
|
|-
| Callum Linnane
| rowspan="3" |
| Ballarat Centre of Music and the Arts<br/>The Australian Ballet School
|2015
|2022
|
|-
|Marcus Morelli
|Jane Moore Academy of Ballet<br/>The Australian Ballet School
|2014
|2023
|
|-
|Jill Ogai
|The Australian Ballet School
|2012
|2023
|
|-
| Sharni Spencer
|
| Sally Kefts School of Dance<br/>Marie Walton Mahon Dance Academy<br/>New Zealand School of Dance
|2008
|2022
|
|}
Senior Artists
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Name
!Nationality
!Training
!Joined TAB
!Promoted to Soloist
!Other companies <br /> (incl. guest performances)
|-
|Imogen Chapman
| rowspan="2" |
|The Australian Ballet School<br/>Royal Ballet School
|2011
|2022
|Scottish Ballet
|-
| Jarryd Madden
| Melbourne’s National Theatre Ballet School
|2008
|2017
|
|-
|Rina Nemoto
|
|trained with Daini Kudo and Dominique Khalfouni
|2011
|2022
|The Royal Ballet
|-
|Valerie Tereshchenko
|
|West Point Ballet Academy<br/>Ballet Theatre of Victoria<br/>Australian International School of Coaching<br/>The Australian Ballet School
|2009
|2018
|
|-
|Jade Wood
|
| Jillanne Reynolds School of Dance<br/>The Australian Ballet School
|2011
|2018
|
|-
|Yuumi Yamada
|
| Sakurai Classical Ballet Studio<br/>The Australian Ballet School
|2017
|2023
|
|}
Soloists
Coryphées
Corps de ballet
Orchestra Victoria
Following a period of turmoil, Orchestra Victoria became a wholly owned subsidiarity of The Australian Ballet in July 2014
See also
- Australian Archives of the Dance, created by TAB in 1972
References
External links
- The Australian Ballet School
- The Australian Ballet Collection at the Arts Centre Melbourne