Australia Dancing - Black Swan, The (1949

Black Swan, The (1949 - )

Photographer unknown: Dorothy Stevenson and Kenneth Gillespie in 'The Black Swan', Borovansky Ballet, c. 1951

The Borovansky Ballet temporarily disbanded in 1948 when financial assistance from the J. C. Williamson organisation was withdrawn. The company did not reform until 1951 and Edouard Borovansky returned to Melbourne, joining his wife Xenia in teaching at their school. In 1949, during this lay-off period, Borovansky's Educational Ballet Club was formed in celebration of ten years of Borovansky productions. The Club presented its first program in the studio theatre at the Borovanskys' Roma House studio in Melbourne. On the program was a revival of Frederick Ashton's Facade, a work choreographed by Xenia Borovansky, Impressions, and the premiere of a new ballet by Edouard Borovansky, The Black Swan.

The Black Swan was Borovansky's second ballet on an Australian theme, following on from his Terra Australis of 1946. Danced to music by Sibelius and with designs by William Constable, The Black Swan was based on an historical incident in 1697 when a Captain Vlaming from the Dutch East India Company discovered and named Rottnest Island and the river on which the city of Perth now stands. He was particularly struck by the number of black swans on the river and his crew captured several and took them back to Java. A libretto, written round this incident by M. Millet, told the story of the Captain entranced by a black swan, symbol of a new land.

In the 1949 performances Eve Gordon danced the Black Swan, Kenneth Gillespie performed as Lieutenant Brandt of Captain Vlaming's crew, Ole Nielsen was Captain Vlaming and Joy MacPherson Villemine the Captain's daughter. The work was restaged in 1950, both in the Roma House studio and at the Union Theatre of the University of Melbourne, when Edna Busse took the role of the Black Swan. When the Borovansky Ballet reformed for its 1951 season The Black Swan was revived and presented on the program of 1 June with Busse as the Black Swan, Gillespie as Brandt, John Auld as the Captain and Dorothy Stevenson as Villemine.

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