Ballet Men

In our latest mini-doco, our dancers Adam Bull, Christopher Rodgers-Wilson, Cameron Hunter and Cristiano Martino talk about the highs and lows of the profession and show off their beautiful technique.

14 May 2013

Ask Colin: life after ballet
Steven Heathcote in Graeme Murphy's Beyond Twelve, 1994

Ask Colin: life after ballet

Dear Colin,
Ballet takes so much focus and attention – what happens when a career comes to an end and you need to take the next step into something else?
Angus

Dear Angus,
As I have just retired from The Australian Ballet after being with them for 50 years as dancer, teacher, ballet master, and creator of their education department, I am the perfect person to ask! (more…)

6 May 2013

The Four Temperaments: An expert’s eye

Our Ballet Mistress Eve Lawson has danced The Four Temperaments many times, and learnt the ballet from some of the original cast. She trained in the School of American Ballet and is now a repetiteur for the George Balanchine Foundation. So she knows something about The Four Ts! We’re very fortunate to have had her stage the ballet for our Vanguard program. See her in action with the dancers in this video, and see her talk live with our Artistic Director David McAllister and renowned arts critic Deborah Jones about Kylián, Balanchine and the contemporary relevance of classical ballet in McAllister in Conversation, at the Sydney Opera House this Saturday 4 May at 5pm.

Book tickets for Vanguard
Book tickets for McAllister in conversation

2 May 2013

  • Farewell Yosvani
    Yosvani Ramos. Photography Jess Bialek
  • Farewell Yosvani
    Yosvani Ramos. James Braund

Farewell Yosvani

 

On Wednesday, 24 April – the last night of Don Quixote in Sydney – the popular principal artist Yosvani Ramos will take his last bow with the company after wielding his guitar (and barber’s blade!) as the cheeky Basilio.

If you already have your tickets, be sure to give Yos an extra cheer to wish him luck in his new European career! And if you haven’t got tickets … why, what are you waiting for? It will be quite the night!

19 April 2013

  • Juliet in San Francisco
    Juliet enjoying the city
  • Juliet in San Francisco
    Class on stage in San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House

Juliet in San Francisco

As with any profession, just because you’ve “made it” doesn’t mean you should sit triumphantly, then complacently atop your podium forever. We’re all constantly learning in this great ride of life. I’ve been dancing professionally with The Australian Ballet for just over ten years now, and though I’ve lots of experience under my belt, there is always room to grow and new horizons to venture towards. In Australia, due to the tyranny of distance, the ballet world can tend to feel somewhat insular, a world away from the world, so gaining both career and life experience beyond the “bubble” is essential for growth. This is why I’ve been especially grateful for the experience afforded me by the Khitercs Scholarship, with which I have already travelled to London (The Royal Ballet), Amsterdam (Dutch National Ballet), Antwerp (Royal Ballet of Flanders) and to my other home country, Indonesia, to get in touch with the traditional Javanese dance and drama that are my family’s legacy. The final chapter of my voyage was San Francisco Ballet. (more…)

17 April 2013

  • Ballet’s Grandfather: Jean-Baptiste Lully
    Jean-Baptiste Lully
  • Ballet’s Grandfather: Jean-Baptiste Lully

Ballet’s Grandfather: Jean-Baptiste Lully

When the French King Louis XIV appeared as Apollo, god of the sun, in Le Ballet de la Nuit (1653), he not only earned himself the lasting title of the “Sun King”, but also symbolised a new era of ballet and dance in the French royal court of the 17th century. This era saw some of the most significant and interesting developments in the history of ballet, which often involved the Italian-born composer and dancer, Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), with whom the king performed in Le Ballet de la Nuit as a teenager. (more…)

16 April 2013