Royal Ballet Australian Tour, The (1958 - 1959)

Stringer, Walter: Susan Alexander and Donald Britton in 'Les Patineurs', the Royal Ballet, 1958

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The first tour to Australia by a company of dancers from the Royal Ballet began in Sydney in September 1958 and concluded in Melbourne in 1959. It was essentially a tour by dancers from the second company, the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet, under the personal supervision of the Royal Ballet's director Dame Ninette de Valois. The company consisted of fifty-five dancers, was led by Rowena Jackson, Philip Chatfield and Svetlana Beriosova, and included a number of expatriate Australians including Margaret Lee, Edward Miller, Kathleen Geldard, Alan Alder and, as guest artist, Robert Helpmann.

The company brought a number of classics from the international ballet repertoire, including Swan Lake, Giselle and Coppelia, as well as several twentieth-century works including de Valois' The Rake's Progress, Peter Wright's A Blue Rose, Helpmann's Hamlet, John Cranko's Pineapple Poll and Frederick Ashton's Les Patineurs and Façade.

See also: Alder, Alan ; Coppelia ; Giselle ; Helpmann, Robert ; Swan Lake

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