State of the art production centre for The Australian Ballet

Kensington Store costumes
The Australian Ballet
Photo by Jess Bialek

Romeo & Juliet set cloth
The Australian Ballet
Photo by Lynette Wills

Ballet and dance enthusiasts will soon experience the magic behind the scenes before the orchestra starts playing, the velvet curtains open and the dancers come onto the stage.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Australian Ballet, a state-of-the-art production centre is being established to create, maintain and store the company’s rich collection of costumes, scenery and props.

Featuring treasures from across the company’s well-loved repertoire, items to be stored include everything from a pumpkin carriage from the first production of Sleeping Beauty, to the famous flying goose from The Nutcracker.

Since its first performance at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Sydney in 1962, the Australian Ballet has been the defining ballet in this country.

Renowned dancers such as Sonia Arova, Erik Bruhn, Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev were guests of the young company. In 1972, Nureyev directed and performed in the film Don Quixote with The Australian Ballet, described by many critics as the finest classical ballet film ever produced.

Today, the company has 90 critically acclaimed ballets in its repertoire, with sets and costumes estimated to be worth $40 million.

To mark the 50th anniversary, the Australia Government has provided $2 million to support the fit-out of the new centre.

The 10,000 square metre custom-designed facility will ensure valuable costumes, scenery and props are preserved so that ballets can be restaged and enjoyed by future audiences. It will house workspaces and a virtual design studio and will be used as an education resource, giving visitors a behind-the-scenes look at how a ballet production comes together.

In the future, interactive digital tours will be explored for interstate and regional schools, harnessing the capabilities of the National Broadband Network.

The Centre is expected to deliver over 100 jobs during the construction phase and will support up to 200 ongoing jobs across the company, including specialist artisans and technicians with expertise in costume, set and lighting design.

Onegin costumes
The Australian Ballet
Photo by Lynette Wills

The Nutcracker set
The Australian Ballet
Photo by Jess Bialek