Australia Dancing - Graduation Ball (1940

Graduation Ball (1940 - )

McMurdo, Don: Fiona Tonkin as Pigtails in David Lichine's 'Graduation Ball', the Australian Ballet, 1990

Graduation Ball was conceived and choreographed by David Lichine in Australia during the 1939-1940 tour by the Original Ballet Russe, receiving its world premiere in Sydney on 1 March 1940 at the Theatre Royal. Set in a Viennese girls' finishing school, this single-act ballet depicts the frolics of the excited young ladies and their partners, cadets from a local military college, at their annual ball. Their youthful romances are comically interwoven with a clumsy flirtation between the cadets' doddery old General and the girls' matronly Headmistress (danced 'en travestie'). The light-hearted style is complemented by a series of divertissements arranged as entertainment during the evening. Music by Johann Strauss was compiled, arranged and orchestrated by Anton Dorati for this ballet, and scenery and costumes by Alexandre Benois recreated the decorative style of mid-nineteenth century Vienna.

The work was an immediate success, with the Sydney Morning Herald reporting twenty-five curtain calls on opening night. The cast for this inaugural performance was led by Lichine and Tatiana Riabouchinska as the Junior Cadet and Junior Girl, with Borislav Runanine as the Headmistress and Igor Schwezoff as the General. Natasha Sobinova and Paul Petroff performed as La Sylphide and the Scotsman, with Alexandra Denisova and Genevieve Moulin in the Dance-step Competition, and Nicolas Orloff as the Drummer.

The charm of Graduation Ball has endeared it to audiences world-wide, and the work has enjoyed a long performance history in Australia. Following the Original Ballet Russe performances, it was presented by the National Theatre Ballet in 1952, featuring Leon Kellaway as the Headmistress and Ronald Reay as the General. This staging by Kira Bousloff replaced the Sylphide and Scotsman pas de deux with a duet entitled 'La Peri'.

In 1954, Kiril Vassilkovsky restaged the work for the Borovansky Ballet. On opening night, Claudie Algeranova and Vassilie Trunoff led as the Junior Cadet and Girl, with Paul Grinwis as the Headmistress, and John Auld as General. Lichine danced his original role as the Junior Cadet in a guest appearance with this company in 1956.

Phyllis Danaher reproduced Graduation Ball for the North Queensland Ballet opening season in 1970. The Australian Ballet premiere took place on 23 January 1980, as part of the triple-bill tribute to Edouard Borovansky presented under the directorship of Marilyn Jones. This staging was by guest artists Joan Potter and Vassilie Trunoff. Ken Whitmore performed on opening night as the Headmistress, with Joseph Janusaitis as the General, David Burch as the Leading Junior Cadet, Lynette Mann as the Junior Girl, Sheree Da Costa as the Pigtail Girl, and Dale Baker as the Drummer. Terese Power and Daniela Pantea featured in the Competition Dance, and Lois Strike and Gary Norman in the pas de deux of the Sylphide and the Scotsman. Jill Sykes commented in the Sydney Morning Herald that 'the painstaking work that Trunoff put into reproducing Graduation Ball was apparent in its loving detail and featherlight style'.

Graduation Ball has remained in the repertoire of the flagship company, notably being performed during the 1988 Bicentenary tour. It was most recently performed by the Dancers Company in 2006, as part of a Ballets Russes inspired program touring to regional areas.

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Find more about Graduation Ball in:

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