The Australian Ballet
The Australian Ballet — the national classical and contemporary ballet
The Australian Ballet is the national classical ballet company, founded in 1962 and based dual-headquartered in Melbourne (where the company rehearses and the State Theatre at Arts Centre Melbourne is the home stage) and Sydney (where they perform at the Joan Sutherland Theatre at the Opera House for roughly half the year). Under David Hallberg, who became artistic director in 2020 succeeding David McAllister, the company has rebalanced toward a heavier contemporary slate alongside the classical repertoire — Pina Bausch, Crystal Pite and Wayne McGregor have all been on recent programmes alongside the Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Nutcracker mainstays.
What they’re known for
The Australian Ballet runs the cleanest classical-and-contemporary split in the southern hemisphere. A typical year is six mainstage productions: two heritage classics (the season usually opens with one and closes with the holiday Nutcracker), one new full-length work commissioned for the company, one mixed contemporary triple bill, one twentieth-century revival (the Béjart, the Cranko, the Balanchine), and one collaboration. The corps is large — eighty-plus dancers — and the international tours, which have included London, New York and Tokyo runs, are regular calendar highlights.
For first-timers, the question is: do you want classical or do you want contemporary? Anna’s recommendation is a triple bill — you get three short works, three different choreographic voices, and you find out within an hour what kind of ballet works on you.
Home venues
- Arts Centre Melbourne — State Theatre — the headquarters mainstage. Larger room than Sydney; the orchestra (Orchestra Victoria) is the home pit band.
- Sydney Opera House — Joan Sutherland Theatre — the Sydney mainstage, shared with Opera Australia.
- Capitol Theatre, Sydney and Lyric Theatre, Brisbane — used for occasional larger-scale productions.
- The Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre, Southbank, Melbourne — the rehearsal headquarters and the school.
The season pattern — and how to book
The Australian Ballet announces its annual season in late August or early September for the following year. Subscriptions open immediately. Single tickets go on sale in early November. Nutcracker, which always opens in late November or early December, tends to sell strongly to family audiences and you should book before late September if you want December weekend matinees.
The classical mainstays — Swan Lake, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty — sell out their best Saturday evening seats fastest. The contemporary triple bills tend to have better availability into the run; the cheapest reliable trick is to wait for a weeknight on a triple bill in week three.
Planning a trip
Melbourne is the easier planning case — the State Theatre is in the middle of the Southbank precinct, easy walk from anywhere south or east of the river. Pair with a meal at Vue de Monde or Florentino, drinks at the Eau de Vie. Sydney’s Joan Sutherland Theatre is the slightly trickier room — sightlines are notoriously variable, so do your seat homework. The Saturday evening Sydney run is the social ballet night in Australia; book restaurants in The Rocks or Walsh Bay early.
For the dance enthusiast we’d recommend bracketing the visit with a public class viewing at the Primrose Potter Centre (occasionally open to the public), or — if your visit lands in late winter — the Telstra Ballet Dancer Awards heat, which is the company’s annual emerging-dancer showcase and one of the most exciting evenings in the calendar.
Tour reach beyond the capitals
The Australian Ballet runs limited regional touring — the mainstage productions are too big to fit regional theatres. The annual Storytime Ballet children’s production is the regional offering and tours to roughly twenty centres each year. The company also runs an interstate tour each year to Brisbane (Lyric Theatre, QPAC), Perth (Crown Theatre or His Majesty’s), and Adelaide (Festival Theatre) — usually with one mainstage production per visit.
Useful links
- Official: australianballet.com.au
- Where we cover them: Companies, Reviews
- Venues: Arts Centre Melbourne, Sydney Opera House