Roll call! Is everyone on the bus? Level 8 ABS student Benedicte Bemet calls everyone by name: “answer with your favourite animal!” The bus dissolves into giggles as answers from “meerkat” to “llama!” are yelled out to the front.

Formalities out of the way, The Dancers Company is on the road again. We’re nearing the end of our 2011 tour, covering 12 different towns and cities from Hobart to Wagga Wagga. Imagine living in a small, mobile apartment block and you’ll get a sense of what it’s like to be on the road with 26 dancers, five guest artists and a compact crew of artistic, technical, medical and administration staff over six weeks of a regional tour. There’s a lot of hard work and preparation, and when we’re finally out there, laughter, tears and everything in between.

Touring conjures up many iconic images: travelling circuses, rock-star buses, endless film references from Some Like It Hot to Almost Famous. The Dancers Company is more along the lines of the Partridge Family (an edgy, ballet version, of course) because we’re together for most of the time, and with an age range of 16 to septuagenarian, it creates a cross-generational ‘family’ of sorts.

First impressions: toes pointing above seats, calf-rises in the aisles, earphones, the gentle undulating sounds of chatter here and there. On arrival, there’s a routine to run through each time we hit town (unpack, washing, supermarket … ) Then there’s the creative styling of motel rooms. Travel candle? Scarf/throw rug? Check. I like to make my stamp, to follow a ritual to create a sense of normality.

Visiting the local shops can never be done incognito, especially when we forget that we’re wearing our tour jackets. Friendly shopkeepers call out “Are you folks from the ballet? We met your friends earlier!” Quick checklist: vintage store? great coffee? excellent food? Yeah, we’ve been there. We’ve also become experts on sourcing the best fork-knife-spoon travel cutlery and containers for hotel room breakfasts, sample-sized cereal packets, ‘just add water’ couscous and compact, tasty snacks. A little bit like camping! We know what the best complimentary biscuits are, and appreciate the little luxuries (wireless internet, extra blankets and a good local gym to name a few).

The downside? I’m not the only one who’s woken up in the middle of the night in a panic thinking “what day/time/place is it?!” It can be really hard – and we all have ways of overcoming our homesickness. In this technological age of Skype and smart phones, it’s easier than ever to stay in touch with loved ones. But it doesn’t really replace the real deal, so we give each other space, forgive the occasional emotional moment and take care of each other. Some email and write letters on the long trips, and parents and partners send care-packages and birthday presents ahead of time.

I’m thinking about the long journey home from Wagga that awaits us. While bus trips might be a test of endurance to some, they are often my favourite parts of being on tour. Staring out the window, contemplating the landscape; watching a classic film and chuckling as we try not to drop a stitch in our various knitting projects (a touring tradition). This year almost everyone is creating something crafty. Dale Baker, Ballet Master for the Dancers Company (and self-styled ‘ideas man’) explains, “when they look at what they’ve made they’ll think about the tour and have something to remember it by. For some it might remind them of when they learned to knit!” This year our projects are also combined with our end-of-tour wrap-party costumes. From pom-poms to knitted ties, scarves, crochet blankets and fingerless gloves, the company has got it covered!

In the words of the very kind (and patient) lady that assisted our touring party at Knits Needles & Wool in Launceston, “every journey starts with a stitch”… and ends with one, too.

The Dancers Company’s touring truck driver might be ballet’s most enthusiastic fan. Woody of Doser Freight Forwarding drives his truck, loaded with tutus, scenery and props, for over 8,000km around Australia every year. In 2010 he is especially excited because the regional touring company will perform Don Quixote, his favourite ballet of all time. We caught up with Woody and asked him  how much he’s looking forward to hitting the road.

How long have you been driving The Dancers Company truck?
This is my 13^th or 14^th tour.

Do you remember your first tour?
It was brilliant! I didn’t drive a semitrailer; it was a rigid truck. So it was smaller and didn’t bend in the middle or carry as much. So that made it easy. The first tour was great. I remember most of the places we went to.

Do you get a chance to see the ballet performances?
I do – I love it. I get to see them from all angles, and I get to stand backstage. And I go in the auditorium as well. It sounds funny – a truck driver enjoying ballet – doesn’t it?

And what’s the best ballet you’ve seen on The Dancers Company tour?
By far Don Quixote, which is what they’re performing this year. I love the characterisations. The first time I saw it David McAllister performed as a guest artist and I’ll never forget it. It was just brilliant.

How many kilometres do you travel on The Dancers Company?
Around 8,000km.

How do you entertain yourself on the road?
Well, while I’m driving I don’t like to listen to loud music. I might put a CD on quietly, so at least you can hear it in the background. I talk to myself, I argue with myself, and I plan the next day. I tend not to wander when I’m driving; I like to stay focused.

Do you look forward to The Dancers Company tour every year?
I kill to do it! Every year I hope  Brian [Woody’s boss at Doser Freight] will let me do it.

And what you love most about the tour?
The whole atmosphere and I love watching the dancers improve. I love the friendship between the crew and the staff; everyone is made to feel so welcome.

How do you prepare for The Dancers Company tour?
Prior to going away (which is next Thursday), the truck will go in for a full service. It’ll have the bearings and tyres checked, and the oil will be changed. Then I’ll put all my personal belongings into the prime mover and the guys in the yard load the trailer, which is what we use for The Dancers Company tour. Once the trailer is loaded I leave Adelaide for Melbourne and get there at about 3am. Then I’ll clean the inside of the trailer and shoot up to the Kensington store. And the guys up there – while I have a coffee and a bit of a rest – will load it up for me.

Is it true the dancers put on lipstick and kissed your truck before it left last year?
Can I tell you a secret? The kisses are still on there! I have to wash them off before I arrive next week!

The Dancers Company will tour Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia in July and August 2010

The task: to get to a Dancers Company media call in a remote outback location in Central Australia. In the car: Associate Artistic Director Danilo Radojevic, Australian Ballet guest dancers Reiko Hombo and Jia Yin Du, and physiotherapist (and keen photographer) Sophie Emery.

I was behind the wheel, trying in vain to follow a little faxed map out to the Red Centre sand dune where we were meeting a journalist and photographer …

As we searched for the road that matched the one on our map, we circled around and around the outskirts of Alice Springs, eventually spying an unsealed, 4WD-friendly road. Was it the one? We didn’t know … and may have ended up in Adelaide without Danny’s handy phone GPS (genius)! With confirmation that we were heading in the right direction we set out on the dusty red road, rattling along with a cloud of dust following our little hire car. For a while it seemed like we might never find the location, until were lucky to rumble past a truck with a friendly local inside. “Further down the road and past the next cattle grate, you can’t miss it!” was the answer we got, so a quick “Thanks, mate!” and we were on the road again.

Five minutes later, the Red Centre sand dune loomed to our left, stark red sand against a clear blue sky. Breathtaking! Sun hats in hand, and braving sandy wind, we ran up to the dune towards two smiling faces that were waiting for us, and in moments Reiko and Jia Yin were in their rehearsal gear, doing lifts in the sunshine with the cameras clicking away.

Success!

As for the passers-by who got bogged in the dune … well, that’s another story.

By Jasmine Moseley, The Australian Ballet’s Assistant Company Manager

The Dancers Company performs the final show of its 2009 tour at the Darwin Entertainment Centre tonight

Amy Johnson, a final-year student with The Australian Ballet School, blogs from the road as she tours regional Australia with The Dancers Company.

It is a Sunday afternoon and I have just enjoyed a relaxed stroll through the gardens, a fitting start to a lazy few days. As a dancer, the ‘nothing days’ rarely present themselves so when they do,  we take full advantage to rest battered bodies. This weekend me and the other members of The Dancers Company are certainly going to enjoy the rarity, and understandably so. Over the past two weeks The Dancers Company has performed in nine shows across four Victorian locations – Ballarat, Frankston, Sale and Geelong.

In each of these regions a fairly routine timetable was established – a class each morning to ensure technique is maintained and improved on, notes on the previous night’s performance, a two to three-hour rehearsal, a dinner break, and finally a warm-up barre before the performance. Although such a schedule is demanding and tiring, the adrenalin and buzz that we get from performing together makes all the hard work worthwhile.

So while we enjoy our two days off, sleeping in our own beds, catching up with family and completing many loads of washing, our excitement for the next leg of the tour which takes us all the way to sunny Queensland is never far from our minds.

The Dancers Company tour continues to Rockhampton, Cairns, Alice Springs and Darwin

Image: Tamara Freeman with artists of The Dancers Company in Nutcracker, the Gift of a Dream Act 2. Photography Jessica Bialek

Opening the Triple Bill with Poems, the dancers exuded a sense of fun in the jaunty choreography of Robert Ray. The girls were highly amused that ballet could incorporate bicycles, tennis racquets and invent imaginary cars through choreography. Songs of Light, choreographed by Tim Harbour and set to piano arrangements of Radiohead, saw them hypnotised by the contemporary moves.

The finale was the dream sequence from The Nutcracker choreographed by Leigh Rowles. The backdrop of the sugar-loaf mountains resembling St. Basil’s Cathedral in Red Square was enough to capture its Russian legacy. The performance was bright and uplifting: the Arabian Dance saw a djinn as snake charmer with a wonderful writhing dance from the ‘snake’, while the Trépak with its acrobatics sparkled and definitely caught the imagination of the kids present.

By Helen O’Brien, a Geelong-based musician and writer (with helpers Eugénie & Isabella English)

The Dancers Company tour continues to Rockhampton, Cairns, Alice Springs and Darwin