Australia Dancing - First Australian Ballet, The (1929

First Australian Ballet, The (1929 - 1950s)

Photographer unknown: Moya Beaver as Coppelia, Mischa Burlakov as Franz and Lindsay Kingsmill Shaw (?) as Swanilda in 'Coppelia', First Australian Ballet, 1934

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The First Australian Ballet was founded by Louise Lightfoot and Mischa Burlakov who together also ran a dance school in Sydney. The first public appearances by dancers of the Lightfoot-Burlakov school were in 1929 when pupils began appearing in opera performances and in various divertissements. By 1931 these early initiatives had developed to the stage where a small company led by Lightfoot and Burlakov, which they had named the First Australian Ballet, was ready to present its first production. A two-act version of Coppelia, designed, produced and staged by Lightfoot, was presented at the Savoy Theatre, Sydney, on 4 November 1931. Burlakov danced as Franz and the role of Swanilda was shared between Jessie Cree (Act I) and Bertha Minoutochka (Act II). The company continued to perform sporadically over the next decade. In 1936 Lightfoot choreographed her version of Petrouchka (called Petrouschka on the program). This production featured Trafford Whitelock as Petrouchka, Moya Beaver as the Ballerina and Burlakov as the Blackamoor and was presented on 18 and 20 July 1936 at the Conservatorium, Sydney. Other works presented by the company in the 1930s included Le Carnaval, Les Sylphides, Le Spectre de la rose, and Scheherazade. Original works included Roksanda with a commissioned score from Roy Maling, which premiered on 17 June 1933, and Lightfoot's production of The Blue God (Le Dieu bleu).

In 1938 Louise Lightfoot left the company to live in India. After her departure the First Australian Ballet was directed by Burlakov with the assistance of Barbara McDonnell, one of the company dancers and a teacher at the school. During the 1940s Burlakov produced Lake of Swans, a four scene version of Swan Lake, which premiered at the Sydney Conservatorium and featured McDonnell as Odette/Odile and Burlakov as Prince Siegfried. The company also staged and an Australian ballet called Billabong with a score by James Payton Kimlin and a scenario and designs by Kimlin's wife. The First Australian Ballet disbanded in the 1950s. Burlakov continued to teach at his school until his death in 1965.

Bibliography:

Edward H. Pask, Enter the colonies dancing: a history of dance in Australia 1835-1940 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1979).

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