Australia Dancing - National Theatre Ballet (1949

National Theatre Ballet (1949 - 1955)

Stringer, Walter: Joyce Graeme as the Queen Mother in 'Swan Lake' Act III, National Theatre Ballet, 1951

The National Theatre Ballet was an intrinsic part of the Melbourne-based National Theatre Movement under the direction of Gertrude Johnson. The Movement had included dance performances in its seasons as early as 1939 and had also presented some early works of Edouard Borovansky. The fully-fledged dance company, the National Theatre Ballet (also known as the National Theatre Ballet Company and the Australian National Theatre Ballet Company), however, did not give its premiere performance until 1949 when it presented a mixed bill comprising Aurora's Wedding, Joyce Graeme's Romantic Suite, Jean Alexander's Les Amours de Pierette and Prince Igor.

The company's first artistic director was the English dancer Joyce Graeme who had remained in Australia following the Ballet Rambert tour of 1947-1949. Over the period of her directorship Graeme produced a range of original ballets including works by Kira Bousloff, Laurel Martyn, Joanna Priest, Rex Reid and Graeme herself. She also produced the first full-length version of Swan Lake to be performed in Australia, which had its premiere in Melbourne on 7 February 1951. Graeme's directorship was also distinguished by the premiere in Sydney of Corroboree, a ballet choreographed by Rex Reid to the music of John Antill.

Joyce Graeme returned to Europe in late 1951 and was succeeded in 1952 by Walter Gore, another Rambert dancer. Gore introduced a number of his own ballets as well as staging several well-known classics. The third director of the National Theatre Ballet Company was Valrene Tweedie whose first season took place in January 1953. Under Tweedie's direction the company presented, in particular, revivals of works with which Tweedie was familiar from her time with the Ballets Russes companies in Australia and the Americas. But by 1955 the company was no longer a viable proposition and folded.

Bibliography:

Frank van Straten, National treasure: the story of Gertrude Johnson and the National Theatre (Melbourne: Victoria Press, 1994).

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