Today, we bade a bittersweet farewell over scones, jam and cream to our much-loved soloist Laura Tong, who’s off on maternity leave. Have you ever wondered how The Australian Ballet handles dancer pregnancies? Kitty Walker asked the questions.

People are starting to speculate about the water in The Australian Ballet’s Melbourne studios. What’s in it? Is it catching? Over the past few years, a growing number of dancers are embarking on one of the biggest challenges they’re likely to face on or off the stage. Babies.

In 2007 the company implemented a groundbreaking new parental leave and family policy. Since then, eight dancers have benefited from its flexibility. Two have had more than one child, with all bar one returning to the stage after giving birth. The policy offers 14 weeks post-natal paid leave with the option to extend to 28 weeks at half pay. There is leave available for fathers, an option to reduce hours with no impact on pay during pregnancy, flexible safe duties for dancers, options to help families to travel and stay together on tour and support in maintaining peak fitness in preparation for a return to the stage. At the moment we have Principal Artist Lucinda Dunn on safe duties, while Soloist Laura Tong has just completed hers and has started maternity leave.

5 August 2011

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Photo by Lynette Wills from 'Step Inside: The Australian Ballet'
Vivienne Wong with artists of The Australian Ballet. Photo by Christopher Tovo

The Australian Ballet’s fave practice gear

By Kitty Walker

Ballet V Fashion

Ballet. It’s not all bun-heads and sequins, puffed tulle and fairy wings. Sure, the onstage costume-side of operations is dreamy and magical and helps transport dancers and audience members to another world, but there’s another side to dressing up that dancers put just as much thought into: what on earth do you wear day-to-day when your office is a rehearsal studio? (more…)

15 March 2011

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Made in Japanom.au

By Kitty Walker

Film, International tour, Video

There are so many stories to be found inside the labyrinth that is international touring. As one of the busiest ballet companies in the world, we knew our 31st international tour was going to be a big one. When it was confirmed that we’d be packing our bags for Japan in October 2010, we put our collective heads together to establish how best to tell them.

The Apiary have been telling tales about the Ballet all year, so when they agreed to join us for two weeks in Tokyo, we jumped at the chance to show them the sights. They shot from morning until late in the night in theatres and studios, in karaoke bars and restaurants, on trains and in the streets.

We hope you enjoy the result: a three part series about the importance of international touring and a rare glimpse into life on the road with The Australian Ballet.

13 December 2010

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Trains, planes and automobiles

By Kitty Walker

International tour

Being on the international touring party of The Australian Ballet is like being on school camp, but for adults and with a constant feeling of the night-before-Christmas excitement. We catch buses together, we check in together, we board planes together, we get delayed together, we catch more buses together, we check into a hotel in Sydney for four hours sleep together, we catch more buses back to the airport together, and we fly, finally, to Tokyo together. When we land we rush through passport control together, we collect our bags together, we board more buses together and finally we check into our home for the next two weeks together.

The pace is incredibly fast and everyone hits the ground running. There are no raised voices, no deep sighs or angry looks; even our contingent of ballet babies (Claudia, Ella and Marley) wearily smile through the 30+ hour trip. But when the first day of class occurs at the Bunka Kaikan Theater in Ueno, everything feels normal again. There is something incredibly calming about the routine of daily class and rehearsals.

There is a deep respect for The Australian Ballet in Japan and it’s heartwarming and inspiring, from the amazing staff at the Japan Performing Arts Foundation who work tirelessly to make things run like clockwork, to the crowds of people who gather at our photo shoots in the streets or at stage door for autographs and photos after a performance.

Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake manages to pull on the emotional heartstrings regardless of which theatre in the world it is performed in. On opening night spontaneous ‘bravos’ were shouted from the audience for Odette (Madeleine Eastoe), The Baroness (Lucinda Dunn) and Siegfried (Robert Curran) and the audience stood to show their appreciation. The acoustics in the Bunka Kaikan are incredible – I’ve never heard Tchaikovsky’s score sound so powerful. The dying moments of the final act of this ballet are always devastating and even the hardened behind-the-scenes staff of The Australian Ballet sat in the auditorium with tears rolling down our faces before the final curtain fell.

You can follow The Australian Ballet’s international touring adventures on Twitter
Hashtag #japantour

Graeme Murphy with artists of The Australian Ballet, Bunka Kaikan Theater, Japan. Photography Lisa Tomasetti

12 October 2010

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2011: stepping out

By Kitty Walker

2011

It’s the biggest annual job of The Australian Ballet’s marketing and media teams: launching the company’s season for the following year. A few months ago we spent three days photographing and filming to create imagery and mini-documentaries that aim to tell the story of what’s in store for 2011. It was so cold ice grew on heaters, flights were missed by interstate visitors, sets were built and hearts thumped at the sight of Akira Isogawa and Graeme Murphy weaving their magic in the studio. We can’t wait to do it all again next year for the company’s 50th anniversary.

Watch the 2011 season video

[Show as slideshow]

Behind-the-scenes photography by Kitty Walker

15 September 2010

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The Ballet in Wonderland

By Kitty Walker

Ballet V Fashion, The Silver Rose

[Show as slideshow]

As a general rule of thumb The Australian Ballet does not take part in gigs off the main stage. So, when the team at Harper’s Bazaar asked us to perform a sneak-peek excerpt from The Silver Rose at Government House for the opening night of the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival we thought long and we thought hard about it.

The idea was that Edward Coutts Davidson wanted to recreate his Wonderland fashion spread from the April issue of Harper’s. To say yes would be a huge undertaking, but after working with Edward and the team at the end of last year we decided to break with tradition and take a bit of a gamble.

Twenty-six of our gorgeous dancers along with Dana Stephensen and Amy Harris (who were not performing but were our silverly-clad representatives at the media call) traipsed up St Kilda Road to the grounds of Government House. While those performing rehearsed in the ballroom, carefully plotting how best to avoid a grand battement in Premier John Brumby’s lap, Dana and Amy donned their Roger Kirk-designed costumes from The Silver Rose, and oh how we laughed when the photographers begged to know “Ladies! Who are you dressed by today?”

The girls made a pact to remain en pointe for the entire shoot in front of a swarm of fashion photographers when they caught a glimpse of the ridiculous height of the models resplendent in heels that could kill. (more…)

16 March 2010

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