The Australian Ballet has announced its 2020 programme, and is excited to showcase the art form's limitless potential, and the skill of outgoing Artistic Director, David McAllister.
McAllister has been heading up The Australian Ballet for 20 years, and is excited to spend his last year at the helm overseeing a spectacular year of performances.“Filled with exciting new works and much-loved revivals, this 2020 season is in every sense the culmination of that process and my time with the company. I wanted it to demonstrate ballet’s continuing power to transform and enchant, and its limitless possibilities as an art form.
“This is my last full season with The Australian Ballet, and I hope audiences are as excited as I am to see these wonderful works unfurl across our nation,” he says.
The season kicks off with a production from Australia’s greatest living choreographer, Graeme Murphy, 'The Happy Prince'.
Image © Georges Antoni
'The Happy Prince' will capture the imaginations of adults and children alike when it has its world premiere in Brisbane in February, before playing in Melbourne in August, and in Sydney in November.
Resident Choreographer Alice Topp's new creation, 'Logos', will have its world premiere in this programme, alongside Wayne McGregor’s seminal abstract works 'Dyad 1929' and 'Chroma', the triple bill plays in Melbourne in March, and in Sydney in April.
For the first time, Chicago-based Joffrey Ballet will be collaborating with The Australian Ballet in a modernised production of the Leo Tolstoy classic tragedy, 'Anna Karenina'.
'Anna Karenina' opened to great acclaim in Chicago in 2019, and will make its international debut in Sydney in April, before seasons in Melbourne in June, and in Adelaide in July.
'Molto' brings together three very different ballet works from the past 50 years in a true testament to the versatility of the art form, 'Molto' will brighten up the Melbourne winter in June, before a spring Sydney season in November.
Image © Georges Antoni
Originally created in 1900 by Marius Petipa, 'Harlequinade' is rife with slapstick, mayhem, wit, and absurdity, and has been lovingly reconstructed and revitalised by leading choreographer Alexei Ratmansky.
The piece disappeared from the stage following the Russian revolution and has since been largely forgotten about, however, the eye-popping costumes and joyous dancing is sure to enthral any one who catches the Australian debut in an exclusive Melbourne season in September.
The Australian Ballet’s 2020 activities will also include a range of audience engagement events, a regional tour to South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, the annual free outdoor event 'Ballet Under The Stars', a 'Storytime Ballet' for children and an education programme that will tour to schools across the country.
