It’s been known for some time that Queensland Ballet is in financial difficulty. This week we discovered it is in the process of cutting staff from behind the scenes and within its company of about 60 dancers. It’s a heartbreaking reversal of fortune for the company remade and substantially expanded under the artistic directorship of…
Tag: Li Cunxin
Romeo & Juliet. Queensland Ballet. Lyric Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane, March 22 and 26, 2025
It’s all change at Queensland Ballet. Again. The company is far from being the only arts organisation experiencing some turmoil – here’s looking at you, Opera Australia – but every company’s woes are its own. These are interesting times as QB continues to regroup after the retirement of transformational artistic director Li Cunxin. Li left…
Ivan Gil-Ortega named new artistic director of Queensland Ballet
Queensland Ballet has chosen Ivan Gil-Ortega to be its next artistic director. The Spanish-born international artist will be the company’s seventh AD. He will start in February after a period of considerable turmoil for QB. Gil-Ortega’s high-profile predecessor, Leanne Benjamin, stayed in the role for only six months. In a statement at the time Benjamin…
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Scarlett). Queensland Ballet, Playhouse, Brisbane, April 16, 2024
There is a great deal of joy in Liam Scarlett’s deliciously funny, sensual A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And – always – a great deal of sadness that his life was so short. Yesterday, April 16, was the third anniversary of his death. He was just 35 and the maker of many one-act works for major companies…
Leanne Benjamin named Queensland Ballet’s new artistic director
Leanne Benjamin has been named Li Cunxin’s successor as artistic director of Brisbane-based Queensland Ballet. She is the sixth AD in the company’s 63-year history and the first woman to be appointed to the position. She will start at QB mid next month. It’s a home-coming for Rockhampton-born Benjamin, who spent most of her career…
The Australian Ballet names Stephanie Lake its new Resident Choreographer
The Australian Ballet’s announcement today that Stephanie Lake is to be its new Resident Choreographer from the beginning of next year is very good news indeed. Lake is one of the country’s most sophisticated makers of dance and one of the most wedded to the joys and trials of being human. In everything she does,…
Three Giselles at Queensland Ballet, Brisbane, April 14 and 15, 2023
Li Cunxin first programmed Giselle a decade ago in his first year as artistic director of Queensland Ballet. He had three leading casts – enough, you would think. Then a spate of injuries, including one on opening night that led to replacement leads dancing the second act, found Li having to scramble to save another performance at…
Three ballet companies, three distinctive looks in 2023
Australia’s three leading classical companies have released their 2023 programs, each with a distinctive flavour. The Australian Ballet has a deeply glamorous 60thanniversary season, West Australian Ballet’s line-up gratifyingly features a strong list of female choreographers and at Queensland Ballet the premiere of Cathy Marston’s My Brilliant Career will make Brisbane a must in June. Another must…
Manon, Queensland Ballet, QPAC, September 28 and 29, 2022
Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon premiered in 1974, not quite a decade after his Romeo and Juliet, and in some ways is the earlier ballet’s dark twin. Each has as its heart young lovers in a hostile environment whose instant attraction to one another ends in tragedy; each has hugely coveted leading roles of the kind that make reputations. Queensland…
Hansel & Gretel, Royal New Zealand Ballet
Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Auckland, December 5. It is no small thing to make a full-length narrative ballet that wins its place in a company’s repertoire. Many are attempted and many end up as red lines on a balance sheet unless sets and costumes can be sold or repurposed. Most happily, Loughlan Prior’s Hansel &…
deborah jones: FollowSpot 