Queensland Ballet, founded in 1960 by Charles Lisner, is the premier

ballet company A ballet company is a type of dance troupe that performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-rou ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia, and is based in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. It is one of only three full-time, professional

classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as en pointe, pointe work, turnout (ballet), turnout of the legs, ...

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...

in Australia. The company has had six previous Artistic Directors, and is currently led by Greg Horsman. In 2023, the company consists of 60 dancers, including 12 Jette Parker Young Artists.

History

Charles Lisner (1960–1974)

Queensland Ballet’s founding Artistic Director, Charles Lisner, trained with Edouard Borovansky and danced with the Borovansky Australian Ballet prior to traveling to London to continue his dance studies with the Sadlers Wells Ballet School. He later joined

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

, Convent Garden. In 1953, Charles returned to Australia to open the Lisner Ballet Academy, which became the Lisner Ballet Company in 1960. The company was re-named Queensland Ballet in 1962 and became one of the first ballet ensembles in Australia to tour regionally, a commitment that continues today.

Harry Haythorne (1974–1978)

Lisner stepped down as Artistic Director in 1974 and was replaced by Harry Haythorne, who was previously Assistant Director of the Scottish ballet. During his tenure, Haythorne presented works by Australian choreographers including Graeme Murphy, Garth Welch, and Don Asker, and had Hans Brenaa stage ''

La Sylphide ''La Sylphide'' (; ) is a romantic ballet in two acts. There were two versions of the ballet; the original choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, and a second version choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836. Bournonville's is the only ve ...

'' and other Bournonville ballets. His contract with the company ended in 1978.

Harold Collins (1978–1997)

A former Principal Dancer of Queensland Ballet, Harold Collins was appointed Artistic Director in 1978, and led the company until his retirement in 1997. During that time, he presented memorable productions, among them Jacqui Carroll's ''Scheherazade'' and ''Carmina Burana'' and Collin's ''Salome'', ''Carmen'' and ''Romeo & Juliet''. Following Lisner's vision, Collins continued to commission new Australian works in contemporary and classical styles, and forged the enduring relationship between Queensland Ballet and the Queensland Dance School of Excellence.

François Klaus (1998–2012)

François Klaus was appointed Artistic Director and Chief Choreographer of Queensland Ballet in 1988. Over fifteen years, Klaus contributed nearly 100 new ballet works to the company's repertoire, from new productions of classic ballets to works designed especially to appeal to families. Included in his repertoire is the immensely popular ''Cloudland'', a tribute to Brisbane's post-war era set in the once famous Cloudland Ballroom. Under his directorship, Queensland Ballet undertook three tours to Europe (2006, 2007, and 2009), to great public and critical acclaim. The company also toured to Singapore in March 2007, Japan in 2009, and China in 2011 to perform ''Alice in Wonderland'' and ''The Little Mermaid''. During his tenure, Klaus also established training programs which are now an integral part of the company's operations, providing pathways for talented young people who are committed to a career in dance.

Li Cunxin (2013–2023)

In 2012, Li Cunxin, acclaimed former dancer and author of the best-selling autobiography, '' Mao's Last Dancer'', was appointed as the new Artistic Director. Having no desire to choreograph himself, Li became the first curatorial director in the company's history. Li has been recognised for his dedication and commitment to growing the size and calibre of the company, having programmed adventurous works into their repertoire, incorporated additional international tours, and founding the development of the Queensland Ballet Academy and Thomas Dixon Centre. In August 2015, the company performed Peter Schaufuss' ''La Sylphide'' at the

London Coliseum The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, City of Westminster, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the Lond ...

. In November 2018, they embarked on a China tour, performing Liam Scarlett's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' to audiences in Shanghai, Suzhou, Beijing, and Xi'an. Li retired for health reasons at the end of 2023.

Leanne Benjamin (2024)

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

-born former principal dancer with

, Leanne Benjamin was appointed Artistic Director in 2024.

Greg Horsman ( July 2024)

Performances

Queensland Ballet averages six main-stage productions per season, in addition to smaller, more intimate performances and regional tours. They have performed Ben Stevenson OBE’s ''The Nutcracker'' annually since 2013. The company regularly performs at Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) as well as in the Talbot Theatre at the Thomas Dixon Centre.

Dancers

List of Queensland Ballet dancers, as of 2023:

Principal artists

Senior soloists

* Chiara Gonzalez * Kohei Iwamoto * Alison McWhinney

Soloists

* Vito Bernasconi * Lina Kim * Georgia Swan * Laura Tosar

First company artist

* D'Arcy Brazier * Luke DiMattina * Vanessa Morelli * LIbby-Rose Niederer * David Power * Ivan Surodeev * Rian Thompson * Sophie Zoricic

Company artists

* Luca Armstrong * Mali Comlekci * Shaun Curtis * Sean Ferenczi * Lewis Formby * Clayton Forsyth * Heidi Freeman * Renee Freeman * Ines Hargreaves * Kaho Kato * Bronte Kielly-Coleman * Dylan Lackey * Callum Mackie * Edison Manuel * Briana McAllen * Amber Mitchell-Knight * Frederick Montgomery * Joshua Ostermann * Alisa Pukkinen * Brooke Ray * Paige Rochester * Leisel Rose * Alfie Shacklock * Jessica Stratton-Smith * Isabella Swietlicki * Ari Thompson * Kayla Van Den Bogert * Eliza Wenham

Jette Parker Young Artists

* Ashlee Basford * Joshua Douglas * Taron Geyl * Milana Gould * Jack Jones * Gina Lee * Seth Marshall * Annabelle McCoy * Ethan Mrmacovski * Joseph Moss * Alyssa Park * Corina Poh

References

External links

* {{authority control Culture of Brisbane Ballet companies in Australia 1960 establishments in Australia Performing groups established in 1960 Companies based in Brisbane