Behind Ballet » Flashback

Flashback: Melbourne Cup

Behind Ballet — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 05:52:44 +0000

We think this might be the only ballet in the world that depicts a horse race (or at least, the only one in which female dancers play the horses and their male partners the jockeys). Melbourne Cup was commissioned in 1962 by Peggy van Praagh for The Australian Ballet, itself newly foaled that year. Choreographed by Rex Reid, with music arranged by Harold Badger and décor by Anne Church, this bit of colonial-flavoured fun featured a jackaroo, a debutante, and the country’s biggest race. The national company was finding its legs and beginning to forge an Australian identity.

This photo is one of hundreds in our 50th anniversary book Luminous, which tells the story of The Australian Ballet in pictures and essays from leading arts writers.

Flashback: Marilyn Jones in The Merry Widow

Behind Ballet — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 04:50:49 +0000

Let the waltzing begin! Our dancers are practising their Pontevedrian moves in preparation for the Sydney season of The Merry Widow (10 – 28 November), and we’re looking back to the original season of this romantic, opulent ballet. In 1975, Marilyn Rowe created the role of Hanna Glawari; Marilyn Jones (pictured here) danced the part in the same season.

This image captures perfectly Hanna’s elegant hauteur as she makes a show-stopping entrance into a hostile crowd at Chez Maxim’s and shucks her bouffant white cloak. She and her old flame Danilo are estranged by a tangled web of misunderstanding and wounded pride. Will it all end happily?… Ah, we love a romance!

Checkmate in 1986

Behind Ballet — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 03:08:43 +0000

[Show as slideshow]

Ninette de Valois’ Checkmate was revived this year, giving a fresh generation of dancers the chance to master its symmetries and dramatic betrayals, wear red shoes and horsehair armbands, and wield those fearsome knives. Today we look back to 1986, when Sir Robert Helpmann left his hospital bed to play his last ever performances as The Red King. And who’s that Red Knight? Why, our own Artistic Director, David McAllister.

Photographs taken in 1986 by Gregory McClosky

Checkmate, part of the British Liaisons program, will wrap up in Melbourne tomorrow, 3 September.

Flashback: Steven Heathcote’s final performance in After the Rain

Behind Ballet — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 06:36:31 +0000

In 2007, Steven Heathcote took his final bow in Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain^©.

Steven was one of The Australian Ballet’s most acclaimed and beloved dancers, and the longest-serving principal artist in its history: his career spanned 25 years. He was joined on stage by the dancers, his wife Kathy, and his children Sam and Mia, as 2000 balletomanes gave him a 10-minute standing ovation.

The intensely moving final pas de deux of After the Rain^© was an appropriate swan song, as it had originally been created as a farewell for New York City Ballet principal Jock Soto.

Even without the added emotional element of a dancer departing the stage, this ballet packs quite a punch. We’re looking forward to being wowed all over again when it‘s performed by our current stars in Melbourne later this month.

Steven will be appearing at a lunch given in his honour by the Friends of The Australian Ballet in Sydney on 21 September. Tickets to the event will sell fast, so if you’d like to see Steven contact Liz on admin@fab.org.au or (02) 9252 7322.

The Australian Ballet in 1962

Behind Ballet — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 04:31:19 +0000

[Show as slideshow]

Fifty years ago, Darryl Smythe captured the newly formed Australian Ballet in crisp black and white. From dramatic backstage portraits to outdoor action shots, Smythe’s images evoke the verve and energy of the young company.

We’re looking to contact Darryl Smythe, or anyone who might know him. Any leads? Please contact us.

Flashback: Fool on the Hill

Jasmin Tulk — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 06:02:21 +0000

As we prepare for The Australian Ballet’s 50^th anniversary in 2012, we’ve come across gorgeous photographs capturing timeless onstage moments. This photo, taken by David Parker, is of Ai-Gul Gaisina entering the stage as Michelle in Fool on the Hill. The Australian Ballet teamed up with ABC TV to screen the ballet in 1975, making it the first production the company broadcasted in its 15-year history.