Australia Dancing - West Australian Ballet (1952

West Australian Ballet (1952 - )

Green, Jon: Nicola Wade and Connor Dowling in Ted Brandsen's 'Pulcinella', West Australian Ballet, 2003

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West Australian Ballet was founded by former Ballets Russes dancer Kira Bousloff in 1952. Growing out of a meeting of Perth-based ballet teachers, it began operations as an amateur company. It first received government funding in 1969 at which time Bousloff handed over the directorship to Rex Reid. Reid directed the company until 1973 and during his directorship it became fully professional (1970). Directors since then have been Luis Moreno (1973-1977), Robin Haig (1977-1979), Garth Welch (1979-1983), Barry Moreland (1983-1997), Bill Pengelly (artistic manager 1998), Ted Brandsen (1998-2001), Judy Maelor-Thomas (acting 2002) Simon Dow (2003- 2007) and Ivan Cavallari (2007-).

Each director has brought his or her individual vision to the company but from its beginnings West Australian Ballet fostered the work of Australian artists. In particular, many of Bousloff's early ballets were made to commissioned scores by composer James Penberthy. Barry Moreland was also a great advocate of Australian design and constantly commissioned Australian visual artists, including Charles Blackman and Robert Juniper, to design sets and costumes. Ted Brandsen commissioned new works from many Australian choreographers including Stephen Baynes, Adrian Burnett, Gideon Obarzanek, Stephen Page and Natalie Weir. Other choreographers who have worked consistently with West Australian Ballet include Jacqui Carroll, Chrissie Parrott and Garth Welch.

Community dance programmes offered by the company include 'Chance to Dance', reaching the youngest audiences through selected primary schools, 'Jumpstart', an initiative which invites young disadvantaged people to attend dress rehearsal performances, and the 'Young Artists Programme' which provides a springboard for talented young adults.Bibliography:

West Australian Ballet's repertoire from 1981 to 1994 is listed in The Ausdance Guide to Australian Dance Companies 1994 (Canberra: AGPS, 1994), pp. 275-283. Brolga No. 16 (June 2002) is a special issue devoted to the history of the company and contains several articles on different aspects of the company's operations.

Research Materials

Gaica, Branco: Alfred Williams of Sydney Dance Company, Ronnie van den Bergh of West Australian Ballet, Csaba Buday of Australian Dance Theatre and Robert Canning of the Queensland Ballet during rehearsals for Graeme Murphy's 'Vast', 1988

Gaica, Branco: Alfred Williams of Sydney Dance Company, Ronnie van den Bergh of West Australian Ballet, Csaba Buday of Australian Dance Theatre and Robert Canning of the Queensland Ballet during rehearsals for Graeme Murphy's 'Vast', 1988 (Picture): Murphy, Graeme ; Vast ; Sydney Dance Company ; Australian Dance Theatre ; Queensland Ballet, The; Location:; National Library of Australia; PIC/8820/2
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de Prazer, Ashley: Benazir Hussain in the title role of Ted Brandsen's 'Carmen', West Australian Ballet, 1999

de Prazer, Ashley: Benazir Hussain in the title role of Ted Brandsen's 'Carmen', West Australian Ballet, 1999 (Picture): Brandsen, Ted ; Hussain, Benazir; Location:; National Library of Australia; PIC/8792/8
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Green, Jon: Benazir Hussain, West Australian Ballet, 2002

Green, Jon: Benazir Hussain, West Australian Ballet, 2002 (Picture): Hussain, Benazir; Location:; National Library of Australia; PIC/8823/5
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Green, Jon: Benazir Hussain, West Australian Ballet, 2004

Green, Jon: Benazir Hussain, West Australian Ballet, 2004 (Picture): Hussain, Benazir; Location:; National Library of Australia; PIC/8823/4
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Green, Jon: Callum Hastie, West Australian Ballet, 2004

Green, Jon: Callum Hastie, West Australian Ballet, 2004 (Picture): Location:; National Library of Australia; PIC/8823/6 LOC nla.pic-vn3101857 Online access
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Green, Jon: Emiliana Lione, West Australian Ballet, 2004

Green, Jon: Emiliana Lione, West Australian Ballet, 2004 (Picture): Location:; National Library of Australia; PIC/8823/8 LOC nla.pic-vn3101887 Online access
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de Prazer: Jacinta Ross Ehlers and Callum Hastie in Ted Brandsen's 'Romeo and Juliet', West Australian Ballet, 2000

de Prazer: Jacinta Ross Ehlers and Callum Hastie in Ted Brandsen's 'Romeo and Juliet', West Australian Ballet, 2000 (Picture): Brandsen, Ted; Location:; National Library of Australia; PIC/8792/11
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Green, Jon: Jacinta Ross Ehlers and Milos Mutavdzic in a study for Askhat Galiamov's 'Le Corsaire Variations', West Australian Ballet, 2003

Green, Jon: Jacinta Ross Ehlers and Milos Mutavdzic in a study for Askhat Galiamov's 'Le Corsaire Variations', West Australian Ballet, 2003 (Picture): Location:; National Library of Australia; PIC/8823/18
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Green, Jon: Louise Chalwell, West Australian Ballet, 2004

Green, Jon: Louise Chalwell, West Australian Ballet, 2004 (Picture): Location:; National Library of Australia; PIC/8823/2 LOC nla.pic-vn3101869 Online access
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Green, Jon: Melissa Aurisch, West Australian Ballet, 2003

Green, Jon: Melissa Aurisch, West Australian Ballet, 2003 (Picture): Location:; National Library of Australia; PIC/8823/10 LOC nla.pic-vn3101860 Online access
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Green, Jon: Photographs by Jon Green, 2001-2004 (Picture): This portfolio of twenty digital images documents a range of choreographers and dancers working in Western Australia. Artists represented include Melissa Aurisch, Louise Chalwell, Jayne Cooper, David Cranson, Simon Dow, Connor Dowling, Jacinta Ross Ehlers, Callum Hastie, Benazir Hussain, Emiliana Lione, Milos Mutavdzic and Nicola Wade from West Australian Ballet; Paul Blackman, Paige Gordon and Tim Rodgers of Buzz Dance Theatre; Nanette Hassall of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts; and independent artist Olivia Millard. The collection also contains images relating to Phillip Adams and his Melbourne-based company BalletLab.; Buzz Dance Theatre ; Gordon, Paige ; Millard, Olivia ; Hassall, Nanette ; Adams, Phillip ; Hussain, Benazir ; Dow, Simon ; BalletLab; Location:; National Library of Australia; PIC 8823/1-20
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Green, John: Simon Dow in rehearsal for 'La Boheme', West Australian Ballet, 2004

Green, John: Simon Dow in rehearsal for 'La Boheme', West Australian Ballet, 2004 (Picture): Dow, Simon; Location:; National Library of Australia; PIC/8823/17
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de Prazer, Ashley: Ted Brandsen and Jacinta Ross Ehlers in rehearsal for Brandsen's 'Romeo and Juliet', West Australian Ballet, 2000

de Prazer, Ashley: Ted Brandsen and Jacinta Ross Ehlers in rehearsal for Brandsen's 'Romeo and Juliet', West Australian Ballet, 2000 (Picture): Brandsen, Ted; Location:; National Library of Australia; PIC/8792/12
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Research Materials Top

Other resources

Find more about West Australian Ballet in:

Internet - Google
Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
Pictures - Picture Australia