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Australian Repertoire Showcasing Australian Talent The unique spirit and vibrancy that defines Australian dance today stems from the early efforts of choreographers such as Rex Reid, Laurel Martyn and Edouard Borovansky. These artists broke away from familiar themes of Russian, European and English origin and created works about Australian subjects. Since its inception, The Australian Ballet has continued this tradition by encouraging Australian choreographers, composers and designers to create new ballets. Specifically Australian themes have played a significant
role in engaging ballet audiences both at home and overseas. The first
work commissioned by The Australian Ballet was Rex Reid's Melbourne
Cup, which premiered in 1962. Robert Helpmann's all-Australian creation
The Display was presented in 1964 and gave international audiences
their first glimpse at the young company's emerging personality. Other
ballets which have drawn inspiration from Australian stories include Graeme
Murphy's Beyond Twelve (1980), Robert Helpmann's Sun Music
(1968), Robert Ray's The Sentimental Bloke (1985) and Stephen Baynes'
1914 (1998). Not all Australian work, however, has been informed by traditional
Australian stories. For example, Betty Pounder's Jazz Spectrum
(1964) explores the colours of the light spectrum, Natalie Weir's Mirror,
Mirror (2000) is based on the fairy tale Snow White, while Stanton
Welch's work X (1999) reflects contemporary western culture. Collaborative projects between The Australian Ballet and other local dance companies have strengthened the overall Australian dance industry. Together with Bangarra Dance Theatre, the company premiered Stephen Page's Rites in 1997. Recognised as a milestone in Australian dance history, the ballet successfully merged two traditional, yet opposing styles of dance, in response to Australia's controversial issue of reconciliation. Most recently, TheAustralian Ballet worked with the Sydney Dance Company to re-visit the era of vaudeville with Tivoli in 2001. |
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