Melbourne City Ballet

Last updated

Melbourne City Ballet was a ballet company based in Melbourne, Australia. The company was founded in 2013 by artistic director Michael Pappalardo and experienced significant growth throughout the years. Originally created as a neoclassical/contemporary project based company, Melbourne City Ballet developed quickly to become a full-time operating arts organisation with an increasing focus bring classical ballet works to regional and remote communities across Australia. Melbourne City Ballet was a registered charity with the Australian Charity & Not for Profit Commission under the name MCB Incorporated and was overseen by a board of professionals. MCB seized operations in July 2019 due to lack of funding.

Contents

History

In 2013, Michael Pappalardo was frustrated with the limited amount of choreographic and career options available to professional classical ballet artists within Australia. Under the name "Melbourne City Ballet", he began to choreograph contemporary and neoclassical works with other professional artists (including principal artist Yuiko Masukawa) in a studio in Fitzroy for project based productions. The group performed in various events throughout the year including the 2013 Short+Sweet Festival (Consumption) and Melbourne Fringe Festival (Parallel Connections).

In 2014, the company commenced an extensive fundraising campaign to obtain their own ballet studios and in June moved into their first location named the Bardin Theatre on Glenlyon Road, Brunswick, Victoria. The venue featured one large studio in close proximity to the CBD, allowing the company to focus on developing works full time throughout the year. It was during this year that Melbourne City Ballet established an effective board to govern the company, known as MCB Incorporated, officially establishing not-for-profit status for the company. Melbourne City Ballet performed a full season within Melbourne consisting of D-Minor, double bill Consumption, showcase Placebo and a new adaption of Carmen . The company also toured to Sydney with their contemporary offering A Night with Melbourne City Ballet as special guests of the Sydney Fringe Festival. New training programs began to be offered by the company’s artists, including the Melbourne City Youth Ballet and Junior Extension Program.

In 2015, Melbourne City Ballet offered their first pre-professional course known as Finishing Year, whose participants trained alongside the professional company artists throughout the year. The 2015 season calendar saw the company slowly move away from contemporary based ballet and more toward a neoclassical ballet offering. The program featured an adaption of the traditional Coppélia , contemporary showcase EXHALE, a new adaption of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream , children's ballet The Magic Toyshop, neoclassical season Piano Sessions and the tragic story of Romeo & Juliet . The company also embarked on a 12 venue tour of their 2014 work Carmen across New South Wales and Victoria. Melbourne City Ballet’s artists were invited to perform an excerpt of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Australian Dance Awards in Adelaide, South Australia.

In 2016, the company relocated from their single studio into a state of the art, custom built venue on Pentridge Boulevard, Coburg. The venue was officially opened by the Moreland City Council Mayor Samantha Ratnam and named the Melbourne City Ballet Centre. With the opening of the company’s new facilities, Melbourne City Ballet opened their Elite Artist Program (full and part time training) to the public for the first time. The company’s annual program consists of a new adaption of the Bournonville ballet Napoli , contemporary showcase PLAY/REWIND, the Peter Pan-inspired ballet Tink, the dark story of Dracula and the tragic Madam Butterfly . Melbourne City Ballet also embarked on an extensive tour of their 2015 production of Romeo & Juliet across regional/remote Queensland, Northern Territory, New South Wales and Victoria. The tour was funded in part through Playing Queensland.

In September 2016, Melbourne City Ballet released their 2017 annual season "In Motion," in which the company began to focus on developing classical ballet further within regional and remote communities. Productions announced include Don Quixote , ECHO, Once Upon A Time, A Midsummer Night's Dream , The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Nutcracker . The tour for the year included over 50 regional venues across four productions, supported by Creative Victoria and Arts Queensland.

Seasons for 2018 were announced as Sleeping Beauty (touring Victorian venues), Carmen (national tour), Madame Butterfly (national tour), Peter and the Wolf (children's tour - VIC & NSW) and The Nutcracker (Victoria only).

Closure

The company was based at the Melbourne City Ballet Centre, within the grounds of the old Pentridge Prison in Coburg, Victoria. The venue featured five sprung studios (with work on a final studio to commence in late 2017) and an onsite Creative Department (Costumes, Sets & Props).

Melbourne City Ballet managed jointly by the company's Artistic Director and executive director. The organisation continued to receive limited local and state based government funding with other funds obtained through training courses, box office sales, presenter fees and corporate sponsorships.

On 26 June 2019, the company’s dancers were informed by artistic director Michael Pappalardo that the company would not be able to continue. [1]

Company

As of January 2018, the company consists of the following:

Repertoire

The company's classical ballet repertoire includesthe following productions:

The company also features an extensive repertoire of contemporary works including:

Training programs

Melbourne City Ballets offer a number of training programs to assist young artists moving toward careers as classical ballet artists. These courses include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joffrey Ballet</span> Ballet company (founded in 1956)

The Joffrey Ballet is an American dance company and training institution in Chicago, Illinois. The Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at the Civic Opera House, including its annual presentation of The Nutcracker.

The Australian Ballet (TAB) is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur and director Dame Peggy van Praagh as founding artistic director. Today, it is recognised as one of the world's major international ballet companies and performs upwards of 150 performances a year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Ballet</span> Boston-based ballet company

The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. It has been led by Violette Verdy (1980–1984), Bruce Marks (1985–1997), and Anna-Marie Holmes (1997–2000). Mikko Nissinen was appointed artistic director in September 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Ballet</span> U.S. ballet company

San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, and effective December 2022 under the direction of Tamara Rojo. It is among the world's leading dance companies, presenting more than 100 performances annually, with a repertoire that spans both classical and contemporary ballet. Along with American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet has been described as part of the "triumvirate of great classical companies defining the American style on the world stage today."

Alberta Ballet was founded by Muriel Taylor and Dr. Ruth Carse in 1958 and became a professional company in 1966. The company is a resident company of both the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton, Alberta and the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary, Alberta and performs its full season in both venues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queensland Ballet</span>

Queensland Ballet, founded in 1960 by Charles Lisner OBE, is the premier ballet company of Queensland, Australia and is based in Brisbane. It is one of only three full-time, professional classical ballet companies in Australia. The Company has had 5 previous Artistic Directors, and is currently led by Chinese-born ballet star Li Cunxin AO.

The Green Room Awards are peer awards which recognise excellence in Cabaret, Dance, Theatre Companies, Independent Theatre, Musical Theatre, Contemporary and Experimental Performance and Opera in Melbourne.

Dame Catherine Margaret Mary Scott, was a South African-born pioneering ballet dancer who found fame as a teacher, choreographer, and school administrator in Australia. As the first director of the Australian Ballet School, she is recognised as one of the founders of the strong ballet tradition of her adopted country.

The Minnesota Ballet is a ballet company and school located in Duluth, Minnesota. Founded in 1965 by Donna Harkins and Jan Gibson as the Duluth Civic Ballet, the company has since expanded into a touring company with seventeen professional artists. From 1992 to 2007 the Artistic Executive Director of the Minnesota Ballet was Allen Fields, who retired to become Artistic Director Emirtus. Fields acquired rights to works by choreographers including Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor, and George Balanchine. He was succeeded by Robert Gardner. In 2019 Karl von Rabenau was appointed Artistic Director. The Minnesota Ballet entered its 54th season in 2019/20.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Australian Ballet</span> Ballet company in Perth, Western Australia

West Australian Ballet is the State ballet company of Western Australia and is based in Perth, at the Western Australian Ballet Centre in Maylands.

Beverly Jane Fry is an Australian ballerina.

The New Jersey Ballet is a ballet company based in Livingston, New Jersey in the United States, founded in 1958 by native New Jerseyan Carolyn Clark and her fellow dancer, George Tomal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colorado Ballet</span> American ballet company and academy

Colorado Ballet encompasses a 31-member professional performing ballet company, a studio company for advanced dance students, an academy, and an education and outreach department. Based in downtown Denver, Colorado, Colorado Ballet serves more than 125,000 patrons each year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kansas City Ballet</span>

The Kansas City Ballet (KCB) is a professional ballet company based in Kansas City, Missouri. The company was founded in 1957 by Russian expatriate Tatiana Dokoudovska. The KCB presents five major performances each season to include an annual production of The Nutcracker. The KCB, its school, and its staff are all housed in, operate from, and rehearse at the Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity, a renovated, seven-studio, office, and rehearsal facility in Kansas City, Missouri, that opened in August 2011. The company performs at and is the resident ballet company at the nearby Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, a performance venue in downtown Kansas City that opened in September 2011.

Madrid Ballet was established in 2005 in Madrid, Spain. The Madrid Ballet specializes in contemporary ballet works, giving new choreography and presentation to classic stories, rather than the traditional classical ballet repertoire, or neoclassical ballet works. New media is incorporated into many of Madrid Ballet's performances.

Charlotte Ballet

Charlotte Ballet is the oldest professional ballet company in North Carolina. It was founded as North Carolina Dance Theatre in Winston-Salem by Robert Lindgren, who was then Dean of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, in 1970. It moved to Charlotte in 1990 and rebranded as Charlotte Ballet in 2014. It currently has 26 dancers and is the parent company of the Charlotte Ballet Academy.

Bay Pointe Ballet (BPB) was a classical ballet company based in South San Francisco and was led by Artistic Director Bruce Steivel. Bay Pointe Ballet's principal performance venue is the San Mateo Performing Arts Center, with tours to other cities including Reno, Nevana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greensboro Ballet</span> American ballet company

Greensboro Ballet is a professional ballet company in North Carolina. It is the only ballet company in the Piedmont Triad. It is one of the few non-profit ballet companies in North Carolina. Greensboro Ballet has presented works by George Balanchine. The company also has performed a number of works made especially for the Greensboro Ballet by Rick McCullough, Jill Eathorne Bahr, Leslie Jane Pessemier, Elissa Minet Fuchs, and Emery LeCrone. Maryhelen Mayfield, who served as artistic and executive director of Greensboro Ballet from 1980 to 2019, choreographed over twenty-five works for the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballet Pixelle</span>

Ballet Pixelle is a ballet company founded in 2006 by choreographer Inarra Saarinen. Saarinen still serves as artistic director and choreographer. Ballet Pixelle is the first dance company to perform completely in virtual reality. Its goal is to explore and extend physical and virtual dance and movement and to blend those realities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballett Zürich</span> Swiss ballet company

Ballett Zürich, formerly known as Zürich Ballet, is the largest professional ballet company in Switzerland. Its principal venue is the Zürich Opera House and it regularly tours across the country. The company includes an ensemble cast of 36 dancers and 14 junior members. Christian Spuck has directed the company since 2012, assuming the role from Heinz Spoerli.

References

  1. "Anatomy of a collapse". Dance Australia. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2023.