The Sleeping Beauty, Stuttgart Ballet. Regent Theatre, Melbourne, October 9, 2026.

Stuttgart Ballet’s appearance in Melbourne comes thanks to The Australian Ballet, under whose banner Stuttgart’s Sleeping Beauty is being performed while TAB is tied up with its tour to the United States with Christopher Wheeldon’s Oscar. It’s a delectable gift.  Marcia Haydée, John Cranko’s indispensable muse during his transformative artistic leadership of Stuttgart in the 1960s and early 1970s,…

Rapid reboot at Alberta Ballet

There’s a vibrant spirit of renewal at Canada’s Alberta Ballet, the Calgary-based company that next year celebrates its 60th anniversary. Artistic director Francesco Ventriglia has been in place for only 18 months but is moving rapidly on multiple fronts. He has already increased the size of the company, is putting the classical tradition front and centre…

Four Romeos and four Juliets at The Australian Ballet, October and December 2022

The return of John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet to The Australian Ballet after nearly 20 years is a reminder of how few narrative ballets surpass it for range and complexity. Cranko’s version of Shakespeare’s tragedy, made in 1962 for Stuttgart Ballet, has been in TAB’s repertoire since 1974 and until 2003 was staged relatively regularly. Not all…