Australia Dancing - Conservatoire, Le

Conservatoire, Le

Stringer, Walter: Colin Peasley as the Ballet Master with artists of the Australian Ballet in 'Le Conservatoire', the Australian Ballet, 1983

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Le Conservatoire (Konservatoriet) was first presented by the Royal Danish Ballet at the Royal Theatre Copenhagen on 6 May 1849. In creating this work, August Bournonville drew on his formative experiences as a ballet student of Auguste Vestris at the Paris Conservatoire during the 1820s. Set to music by Holger Simon Paulli, Le Conservatoire was originally a strongly narrative piece in two acts, its light-hearted plot reflected in the alternative title ‘A Marriage by Advertisement’. The second act disappeared in 1934, and although it was reconstructed in 1995, the practice of presenting the first act excerpt 'The Dancing School' as an independent work has been an enduring feature of the performance history of Le Conservatoire. 'The Dancing School' is essentially a presentation piece, displaying both the Bournonville style and an insight into its important formative influence, the French classical method of the early nineteenth century. The charm of the nineteenth-century ballet studio, familiar to modern audiences through the art of Edgar Degas, sets the scene for Bournonville’s graceful choreography, with its distinctive buoyancy, intricacy, and use of epaulement.

The Australian Ballet holds the honour of being the first company outside Scandinavia to receive permission to perform Le Conservatoire. This occurred in 1965, when Poul Gnatt staged the work for the company. In his reproduction, Gnatt followed a tradition of integrating additional pieces from the Bournonville canon into the work. He added an introduction and three dances taken from Bournonville classes, set to excerpts of Kuhlau’s score to Elf Hill. The opening cast featured Elaine Fifield as Miss Eliza, Barbara Chambers as Miss Victoria, Bryan Lawrence as Mr Alexis and Barry Kitcher as the Musician. Gnatt himself took the role of the Ballet Master. Decor and costumes were by Desmond Digby.

Le Conservatoire was part of the repertoire for the Australian Ballet’s first overseas tour in 1965. This tour included the Baalbak International Festival and the Commonwealth Arts Festival, during which Le Conservatoire was performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where Elaine Fifield, Barbara Chambers and Barry Kitcher were joined by Douglas Gilchrist as the Ballet Master and Karl Welander as Mr Alexis.

The work was revived for the flagship company’s twenty-first anniversary season in 1983 and an excerpt, the pas de trois between Miss Eliza, Miss Victoria and Mr Alexis, was performed during the 2005 season as part of the commemoration of Bournonville’s 200th anniversary.

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