Photography Georges Antoni
The Australian Ballet launches its 2013 season.
On Wednesday 5 September 2012 the Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet, David McAllister, announced the company’s 2013 season, alongside a suite of exciting and innovative offstage projects.
While launching the 2013 season, David McAllister also revealed a number of initiatives the Ballet has in development.
“There’s an extraordinary appetite for ballet in Australia – almost 400,000 children are dancing each week, audiences are strong and we’re going to use that momentum to drive ballet forward and grow future audiences,” said McAllister.
“My vision for the company over the next five years is to make sure that ballet is accessible to all Australians. We will be developing a Children’s Ballet; a new ballet film starring our dancers in an iconic Australian landscape; we’ll use the latest in broadcast technology for a ballet to be filmed in 3D; we’ll be broadcasting more ballets than ever before; and we’ll be increasing our Dance Education Ensemble to double the amount of schools we can visit with our Education programs.”
McAllister has curated the year under the theme of Masterpieces, both classic and future. In an exciting coup for the company, Alexei Ratmansky will create a brand new Cinderella for the company, which will premiere in Melbourne in September before travelling to Sydney in November.
Past masterpieces in the 2013 line-up include Don Quixote, the lively Spanish family favourite, the double bill of La Sylphide and Paquita and the triple bill Vanguard, a showcase of works that redefined ballet: George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, Jiří Kylián’s Bella Figura and Wayne McGregor’s Dyad 1929. These three seasons will be seen in both Melbourne and Sydney.
Around the rest of the country, Brisbane and Adelaide audiences will be treated to a classical Swan Lake with Stephen Baynes’ recent production of this quintessential ballet. Graeme Murphy’s internationally praised modern update of Swan Lake will return for a Melbourne-only season. Melbourne will also be treated to a free outdoor performance with Telstra’s Ballet in the Bowl, taking place in the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in October.
Sydney plays host to the return of Bodytorque, giving emerging choreographers the chance to experiment with the foundations of ballet with the theme “technique”.
As part of the Centenary of Canberra celebrations in May, The Australian Ballet will perform Harald Lander’s Etudes and premiere a new work by Australian Dance Theatre’s Garry Stewart. Monument will be Stewart’s ode to the masterpiece that is Australia’s Parliament House.
The Dancers Company will tour regional areas in New South Wales, Northern Territory, South Australia and Victoria. In its 34th annual tour the company will present Paquita, a new work by Simon Dow and Swan Lake Act III.
2013 is the year to experience the jewels of classical ballet.
