Keeping the dream alive

Keeping the dream alive Fifty Years of the Queensland Ballet Company

Keeping the dream alive Fifty Years of the Queensland Ballet Company

Keeping the dream alive

Contents

5

Foreword

6

Chapter One // Foundation

16

Chapter Two // Building

26

The Thomas Dixon Centre

28

Chapter Three // Perseverance

40

Chapter Four // Finding a Home

52

The Queensland Dance School of Excellence

54

Chapter Five // Queensland Ballet Today

68

The Queensland Ballet Friends

70

Acknowledgments

ROLL OF HONOUR Major sponsor 72

JSA Digital

Key sponsors

Fifty Years of the Queensland Ballet Company

73

Arts Queensland

73

Bloch

74

Canstruct

74

CUA

75

German Australian Travel

75

Griffith University

76

JSA Design

76

La Casa Noble

77

Opera Queensland

77

Queensland Performing Arts Centre

78

Queensland Theatre Company

78

Queensland University of Technology

79

Royal Academy of Dance

80

Focus Publishing

Her Excellency

Ms Penelope Wensley AO Governor of Queensland Patron of the Queensland Ballet Company

T

he Queensland Ballet Company is one of the great assets of this State and I am very proud to be its Patron, continuing a tradition of support which has been maintained by successive Queensland Governors since 1962.

The story of the Company’s establishment and development over fifty years is a highly engaging one, which I am delighted to see recounted with such warmth and clarity in this book. It is, in many ways, a touchingly personal story, linked indelibly, in the early years, to the dreams, ambitions and artistic creativity of its founder, Charles Lisner, and to the dedicated men and women who shared his vision to perpetuate “a wonderful and worthy ideal”.

And as year followed year and the Company slowly gained ground, growing in confidence and ability, securing the support it needed from government and the arts community and winning the affection of the public, here, too, as we trace its story, we see the strong impact of successive artistic directors and choreographers, and the way that their individual talents and

imagination have inspired the Company’s growth, nurtured its professionalism and shaped the emergence of its distinctive personality.

The Queensland Ballet today is a wonderfully vibrant organisation, capable of ranking among the best in the world. Its repertoire is fresh and imaginative, combining classical works with contemporary productions that are both bold and beautiful; and its emphasis on Australian choreography and the production of new Australian works has become a recognised hallmark, evoking both keen interest and an enthusiastic response from local and national audiences. The versatility of the Company, its technical and artistic maturity have also drawn praise from international audiences.

While its reach and reputation have extended both nationally and internationally – and I am confident will continue to do so – here in Queensland the company is playing a key role in encouraging awareness and appreciation of the arts throughout the State. Its energetic outreach programs to schools and the wider public, its

regional tours, the training opportunities it offers to young dancers, choreographers, musicians and designers have been remarkably successful, adding greatly to the Company’s impact and popularity.

No wonder it is called affectionately ‘our Ballet’. As it has steadily, over fifty years, established its position as part of our landscape and our cultural heritage, so, too, has it claimed a place in the hearts of all Queenslanders who love dance, imagination and creativity. I am sure those Queenslanders join me in expressing our thanks and congratulations to everyone who has been part of the Queensland Ballet story to this point and in wishing the Company even greater success in the future, as it pursues its commitment to keep the dream alive.

5

LEFT Charles Lisner instructing dance students in his Duncan Street studio in 1956.

Chapter One // Foundation

W

hen Thomas Lisner persuaded his younger brother, Charles, to accompany him to a performance at Borovansky’s Ballet Academy in Melbourne, he could never have foreseen the events that would flow from their visit. Charles Lisner, who had gone “under sufferance”, was completely mesmerised by what he saw. “From the moment the curtain rose I scarcely dared to breathe,” he remarked years later of that pivotal moment in 1942 when he knew that ballet would be his life.

Far from being a lavish event, the performance took place in the simple surroundings of Borovansky’s dance studio, with its small curtained stage at one end. But the graceful spectacle of the dancers was all that was needed to stir the heart of Charles Lisner, a 14-year-old French boy already passionate about music. It was a passion that had started back in Paris, where he was born on 12 March 1928.

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10 ABOvE In 1977, Leslie White and Caroline Douglas reproduced Peter Darrell’s Games out of Court and performed in the work. (L to R Jacqueline Kay, Caroline Douglas, Leslie White).

ABOvE RiGHT (L to R) Harold Collins, Lynette Sorrensen, Mary Heath and Michelle McCormack in Charles Lisner’s Masquerade in 1963.

(Photographer: Geoff Dauth)

FOUNDATiON

lunch ticket and went for a walk to stave off his own hunger. It was an early example of self-sacrifice.

Despite the prevailing austerity, these were enriching years of artistic and personal development for Lisner. He appeared in the classic ballet film, The Red Shoes, where he understudied the Russian dancer and choreographer Leonide Massine, one of the film’s stars. He also took classes at Vera Volkova’s famous London studio, practising alongside Australia’s Robert Helpmann and Denmark’s Erik Bruhn. He absorbed everything he could – visiting art galleries and museums, delving deeper into the history of art and dance, and studying music and composition at the Royal College of Music.

Lisner also reflected on the pioneering work of Ninette de Valois, who in England had established the

Sadler’s Wells Ballet School and Sadler’s Wells Ballet Company, the forerunners of the Royal Ballet School and Royal Ballet (as they became in 1956). According to Lisner, de Valois’s work struck a spark “which was later to be rekindled into the flame of an ideal”.

De Valois offered Lisner a five-month scholarship to the ballet school, and in 1948 accepted him into the main Sadler’s Wells Company, now based at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He was soon dancing on the same stage as the luminous Margot Fonteyn – the company’s major star – and the brilliant technician Rowena Jackson, a New Zealander who became a lifelong friend. His contemporaries included Kenneth MacMillan and John Cranko, both of whom would become celebrated choreographers and artistic directors. Lisner also appeared in new ballets by the

ABOvE For Oedipus Rex, in 1969, Lisner created the powerful dramatic role of Jocasta on Mary Heath.

(Photographer: Derek Duparq) RiGHT Guest artist Robert Okell with company dancers, including Stan Chambers, in Act II of Swan Lake in 1969.

RiGHT Thanks to Charles Lisner’s connections to the Royal Ballet, Queensland Ballet was able to perform Frederick Ashton’s witty Façade in 1968.

FAR RiGHT Principal dancers, American Madonna Mabry and British-trained Paul Wright, led a cast of 10 in the première season of Lisner’s Danses Sacrées et Profanes in 1971.

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FOUNDATiON

energies on his school, opening branches around Brisbane and tailoring his ballet syllabus to suit the more athletic Australian physique. He even extended regionally to places like Bundaberg, Warwick and Coolangatta, and was operating some 50 branches at the height of the expansion.

Eventually, Lisner restricted the Academy’s operations to Brisbane, which he felt was far more manageable and cost-effective.

In 1955, the Lisner Academy suffered a minor setback when flames and smoke from a fire in the building’s ground-floor café raced up the stairway and damaged the studio.

Feeling somewhat despondent, Lisner’s sagging spirits lifted when his loyal students appeared with mops and buckets to help with the clean up. One of his students, Margaret Jeays, remembered how many of the senior students totally believed in his vision, and how their enthusiasm contributed to the Academy’s success.

Around this time Lisner began appointing his best students as teachers, as a way of paying their dancers’ salaries once he established the company.

One of his teachers was former pupil, Valerie Brunne, whom he married in December 1957.

“He was meticulous and strict,” said Valerie, “but he was a brilliant teacher”. Although Valerie gave up her dancing career, she would later play an important behind-the-scenes role in the company.

Undeterred by recent setbacks, Lisner decided to use the money from his schools to fund the theatre project himself. “I practise a philosophy that works for me,” he commented years later, admitting to a propensity for “wearing blinkers” and only looking straight ahead at his objective.

As the cost of building something new was prohibitive, Lisner eventually leased the second

floor of the Caledonian Building in Elizabeth Street, with high ceilings and a lack of pillars, and set about converting it into a theatre.

Wisely, he entrusted the renovations to Valerie’s brother, Kevin Brunne, a highly-resourceful builder who supervised the project in his spare time. Meanwhile, all classes from Duncan Street were transferred to the new location and conducted amid the dust and mayhem of construction.

There was no turning back. “I found myself engaged in hard physical labour every weekend for eight months,” said Lisner.

Others also lent a hand, including dancer Harold Collins, who would become the company’s first male principal.

With everything in place, Lisner invited then lord mayor, Sir Reginald Groom, to open the 220-seat Academy Theatre on 1 July 1959.

The press was thoroughly surprised by what they saw. It was a “real theatre” said Roger Covell, of The Courier-Mail, “not just a hall with a stage at one end.”

The theatre boasted a sloping auditorium, an overhead grid with 21 lines for curtains and scenery, and all the proper proscenium spotlights and footlights. “Its electrical dimming system, governing minute variations of lighting ... is exactly twice as big as the system used in the giant Festival Hall,” enthused Covell. The Academy was also hailed as the first live theatre venue built in Brisbane since the 1930s.

In September 1959, Lisner proudly announced the establishment of the Lisner Ballet. “I felt a great sense of excitement,” he said, realising that his long-held dream was about to become a reality.

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FOUNDATiON

LEFT Performances of Charles Lisner’s The Seasons in the Academy Theatre in 1960 featured the company’s first painted backdrop.

Chapter Two // Building

T

he Lisner Ballet’s inaugural performance on 29 April 1960 was as much a triumph of human will as it was of creative achievement. As the dancers waited in the wings, few people in the audience would have known of the determined efforts leading to that moment; even fewer would have realised the considerable sacrifices made.

Almost seven years earlier Lisner had arrived in Brisbane with empty pockets and practically no contacts, but with a singular dream to form his own ballet company. Not only had he accomplished this and choreographed the evening’s entire program, he had also composed the music for one of his new works.

The Gift was perhaps the most eagerly anticipated ballet that evening as Lisner was both choreographer and composer, and had performed his own composition on the piano and recorded it for the performance. “It had been music that led me into the world of dance,” he said, and the warm reception for The Gift – a darkly engrossing modern work – moved him greatly.

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18 ABOvE Donald Macleod and Dianne Storer in Dance Space 2 in 1979.

CENTRE “The Monster” bogged on a country road during the company’s tour in 1961 – a 14,000km journey visiting 85 towns in regional Queensland and NSW over 18 weeks.

RiGHT Jan Blanch and Paul Wright performed the grand pas de deux in Lisner’s Grand Pas de Six in 1972.

BUiLDiNG

Lisner’s dancers were young, but their heartfelt dancing elicited a glowing review from The Courier-Mail’s Covell. “Looking at the disciplined and accomplished debut of the Lisner Ballet in the Academy Theatre, I felt excitement stir into hope,” he wrote. Covell was equally impressed with the company’s second season in August, saying, “I believe we are witnessing the early stages of what could become one of the most significant developments in ballet in Australia.” However, as the spotlight shone on the dancers, their future after the curtain call seemed a little hazy.

By the company’s third season in December, the audience averaged 12 to 16 people per night, a small house in a venue seating over 200. “Brisbane is in danger of losing a priceless possession – its own

permanent professional ballet company,” warned The Courier-Mail. Yet Lisner refused to give in. “We have to have staying power!” was his favourite phrase, according to his wife, Valerie Lisner.

Realising they desperately needed external support, Lisner invited Dorothy Helmrich, the influential president of the Arts Council in New South Wales, to one of their performances during her visit to Brisbane. Helmrich took the company under her wing and agreed to sponsor five dancers from the Lisner Ballet on an 18-week regional tour of New South Wales and Queensland. Five ex-Borovansky dancers would accompany them, with each group responsible for its own repertoire.

With high hopes, Charles Lisner and his dancers set off in February 1961 in a massive 14-metre-long

pantechnicon (a very big truck), affectionately nicknamed “The Monster”. It was a hair-rising ride at the best of times as they travelled over some of the roughest, unsealed roads in Queensland, with their costumes and equipment rattling around in the vehicle.“The Monster fairly flew at such breakneck speed over the hilly terrain that we tended to become airborne in crossing from crest to crest,” Lisner recalled in his memoir.

Many venues were small and ill-equipped, with no curtains, backstage facilities or provisions for flying scenery or lighting. As there was no stage crew, the dancers had to do everything themselves, from unloading the truck to setting up the stage. Shire halls, church halls and even local barns had to be transformed into a performance space within a matter of hours. Once, nearly the entire stage had to be replaced before the evening performance after dancers broke 16 holes in the floor during the matinee. On other occasions dancers had to exit the venue and pick their way through flocks of sheep to make their entrance from the other side.

Despite the rigours of touring, the country hospitality was overwhelming and they were treated like royalty all the way from Mt Isa to Newcastle. “It was a hard slog,” said dancer Harold Collins, “but lots of people came to see us and we felt appreciated.”

In some towns the entire population turned up to the performance.

Although people were eager to see the classics, they responded positively to Lisner’s modern creations. “Lovers of ballet in Warwick should long remember last night’s performance in the City Hall, when an excellent program was presented by Charles Lisner,” reported the Warwick Daily News.

The loudest applause was reserved for The Gift, with the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin pronouncing it

LEFT A very Australian version of Coppelia was created in 1997 by Harold Collins, with folk dances choreographed by Dianna Laska-Moore, and designs by Christopher Smith.

Chapter Four // Finding a home

A

s a dancer, Harold Collins had never expected to lead a ballet company, let alone one founded by his mentor, Charles Lisner. Yet his tenure as artistic director would provide some of the happiest and most creative times for the dancers, and span some significant developments in the company’s history, including its 30th anniversary celebrations in 1990, its move to a new home in the Thomas Dixon Centre, and their first forays internationally.

A founding member of the Queensland Ballet Company, Collins had left Australia in 1964 to broaden his creative horizons. He would spend the next 10 years dancing overseas, before rejoining the company in 1974 under Harry Haythorne. Recounting the unusual circumstances of his appointment, Collins remembered how the board’s president took him aside after class one day and asked if he could fill the artistic vacancy left by Haythorne. “On Friday I was dancing and on Monday I was in the director’s chair with all the dancers’ futures in my hands and piles of paperwork,” recalled Collins. He had just one weekend to think about the task ahead: they had

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50 ABOvE Jacqui Carroll’s Carmina Burana was one of the company’s most popular and successful works of the 1980s.

RiGHT Harold Collins’s version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was created in 1990. Among the dancers to perform the lead roles were Michelle Giammichele and Michael Campbell.

FiNDiNG A HOME

provided a memorable rendition of the famous Carl Orff score for Jacqui Carroll’s stirring production of Carmina Burana (1982).

In 1991, the company moved from its cramped and draughty premises at Margaret Street into more spacious quarters at the Thomas Dixon Centre in West End. Formerly a shoe and boot factory, the building had been purchased by the Queensland Government in 1975 and transformed into offices and studios. The smartly refurbished building allowed dancers and staff to work more comfortably together in a wonderful new space tailored to the requirements of a professional ballet company. Taking full advantage of the venue, the company also created a studio-theatre for more relaxed in-house performances, which it opened in 1994 and named in honour of Charles Lisner.

The company initially shared its new home with the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra and the Queensland Dance School of Excellence (QDSE).

Established in 1982, the QDSE was the brainchild of ballet teacher Shirley Treacy, who wanted her daughter to pursue her academic studies while learning ballet.

The school employed ballet teachers to take classes in the morning, while in the afternoon a retired teacher supervised the students as they squeezed around card tables to complete their correspondence courses.

A close association was forged with Queensland Ballet in the mid 1980s after QDSE invited Harold Collins to give a class. “I never thought it would get so big,” said Treacy, recalling how she used to run the school from the boot of her car.

Queensland Ballet’s audience was now expanding, with subscriptions rising by 39 per cent in 1995. The company also secured triennial funding through to 1998 after being recognised by the federal government as one of the top 15 performing arts companies in Australia. By now, the company had acquired its first computer, which significantly reduced the time needed for preparing board reports and submissions.

Plans were also in the pipeline to tour the USA at the invitation of New York agents, Columbia Artists Management, who had agreed to meet most of the on-the-ground costs in America. However, it would be up to the company to get its dancers over there and to pay their airfares and salaries once they arrived. The fundraising efforts that followed showed the incredible depth of support for the company and the genuine excitement surrounding the prospect of Queensland Ballet’s first major international tour. “People just came out of the woodwork,” said then president, Lynette Denny, recalling how the ballet community rallied together and raised funds by holding school concerts.

The Queensland Ballet Friends, the Queensland

Government and a large number of corporations also gave generously to the USA tour fund.

At last, the long-held dream of international touring was realised when a 32-strong team, including 19 dancers, departed for America in October 1996. It was exciting but challenging, as over the next seven weeks they would be visiting 26 cities and performing three ballets, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Scheherazade and Pirates!. First performed by the company in Brisbane, Pirates! was a ballet adapted from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance by American choreographer Daryl Gray. It was a full-length work and a major drawcard of the tour.

Despite the company’s ambitious schedule, the dancers responded in a way that surprised and delighted their American audiences. From Los Angeles to New York, they performed with such joy and verve that San Diego critic Anne Marie Walsh said that, apart from the dancers’ considerable technique, they had something called “personality”. Some of the best reviews were in New York, where esteemed (and often feared) dance critic Clive Barnes told readers of the New York Post that “Under the obviously enthusiastic direction of Harold Collins, the Queensland Ballet is absolutely packed with dance talent.”

After completing a remarkable tour, Harold Collins began preparing for his valedictory year in 1997, during which the company would recognise his considerable achievements. Although ready for fresh challenges, he remained appreciative of his 26-year association with Queensland Ballet, in particular his 19 years as artistic director. “It was a great gift to be able to develop the company,” he acknowledged. Collins’s legacy was clear in Denny’s opinion: “Harold brought Queensland Ballet from one stage of its life to the next, and played a very important role in encouraging Australian choreographers to work with the company.”

The Queensland Dance School of Excellence The Queensland Dance School of Excellence is a unique Education Queensland program which was established in 1982 as the Queensland Full-time Dance and Education Course and, since 1987, has operated in partnership with Queensland Ballet.

T

he school was first run by the founders (vivianne Sayers, Shirley Treacy and Ailsa Hunter) from premises occupied by the Ballet Theatre of Queensland in Charlotte Street, Brisbane, with students completing School of Distance Education studies on card tables in the studio.

Thanks to the efforts of Darcy Howe, a teacher employed from 1983 to assist the students, the program was absorbed into the then Department of Education in 1984 and moved to the YMCA premises in Ann Street, Brisbane.

The students continued to study through distance education until January 1985 when they were officially enrolled at Kelvin Grove State High School (now State College), with Queensland Ballet providing advice on the dance curriculum. This arrangement was formalised as an agreement between Queensland Ballet and the Department of Education in January 1987.

When the YMCA advised that it would not be possible to accommodate the School after December 1991, the school moved,

with Queensland Ballet, to the company’s newly acquired premises in the Thomas Dixon Centre, West End, and has operated from this location ever since, with some classes conducted in the purpose-built dance facility in J Block at Kelvin Grove State College. The program was first established to give talented dance students in Years 11 and 12 the opportunity to combine academic studies with full-time dance training at a professional level. However, the program has grown to the extent that it is now possible for students to experience dance over the complete 10-year span from Year 3 to 12.

This growth began in 2002 with the introduction of a modified program of four classes per week for Year 10 students, and grew further in 2003 with the addition of a special program of introductory dance for pupils in Grades 3 and 4 at the College.

Called Trackdance, this program proved so successful in attracting both boys and girls to dance that it was extended to Year 5 in 2004, and to Years 6 and 7 as Mid-Trackdance in 2005. Finally, a QDSE

Development Program was introduced for Years 8 and 9 at the college in 2006. in that year, the partnership between Queensland Ballet and Education Queensland was formally recognised through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.

The program was run initially by the founding teachers, but as the school grew, Craig Phillips was appointed as instructor, followed by Graeme Collins and Caroline Douglas. in October 1986, the Department of Education appointed Angus Lugsdin to the new position of Coordinator with effect from 29 January 1987. Angus remains in the position today, and founding teacher, Shirley Treacy, continues her close association with the School, teaching, coaching and providing pastoral care as well as serving on the Artistic and Advisory Committee.

Auditions for the program now attract students from throughout Queensland as well as interstate and overseas, and because of the intensive daily training and the advanced supplementary work provided by Queensland Ballet’s artistic staff, graduates

righT QDSE graduate Renée von Stein went on to become a soloist with the company and is seen here as the Snow Fairy in François Klaus’s The Nutcracker in 2005. (Photographer: David Kelly)

of the program are often of an appropriate standard to audition successfully for entry to the Company’s Professional Year or training institutions such as The Australian Ballet School, New Zealand School of Dance, QUT and other interstate and overseas institutions.

Others enter tertiary dance programs or seek employment as commercial dancers in situations ranging from cruise ships in the Caribbean to the Moulin Rouge in Paris.

The activities of the School are overseen by an Artistic and Advisory Committee, with membership drawn from Queensland Ballet, Education Queensland, and the dance community. The Committee plans and sets artistic goals for the School in collaboration with Kelvin Grove State College and Queensland Ballet, as well as providing professional expertise in relation to dance training. The association with Queensland Ballet also enables the School to provide professional development opportunities for students through participating in company performances and through the teaching provided by Queensland Ballet staff.

LEFT Rachael Walsh (centre) with Melissa Tattam (right) in the explosive tobacco factory fight scene in François Klaus’s Carmen. Training in Spanish dance was part of the preparation for this 2007 production. (Photographer: Ken Sparrow)

Chapter Five // Queensland Ballet today

T

he appointment of François Klaus as the next artistic director of Queensland Ballet ushered in a new era for the company – although perhaps not in the way people expected. In the months prior to his arrival in late 1997, questions had been circulating in the local media as to why the board had chosen the only non-Australian on the shortlist. What could a Frenchman possibly have in common with the Australian dance scene or lifestyle?

And why wasn’t the public consulted over the choice of director?

Curiously, these questions showed a level of interest in the company that had not been evident for a long time, and Klaus himself was bemused by the fuss, especially when so many Australian dancers are engaged by European companies.

Furthermore, he was strongly committed to Australia through his marriage to Townsville-born dancer Robyn White, whom he met in Germany while they were both dancing at the Munich Ballet. “I just love Australia,” he said, pointing out that he had Australian children, Australian in-laws and, interestingly, a love of fishing off the Queensland coast.

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56 ABOvE Nicole Galea’s Troll Princess delighted audiences in both the 1998 and 2004 productions of Klaus’s Peer Gynt. (Photographer: Ken Sparrow) CENTRE Klaus’s Rite of Spring was presented with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in 2000.

RiGHT Hayley Farr and Tama Barry in the signature image for the International Gala, 2003.

FAR RiGHT Kimberley Davis playing the title role in The Little Mermaid in 2003.

(Photographer: David Kelly)

QUEENSLAND BALLET TODAY

At the time of Klaus’s appointment, arts companies in Australia were being strongly encouraged to adopt the practices and language of business. Klaus’s goal, simply expressed as “creating a world-class ballet company”, was attacked because it did not comply with what his critics expected in a vision statement.

His response was: “Our language is dance, not words.”

However, what people had not counted on was his determination to make things work. He revealed his excitement at the prospect of working in Brisbane in an interview for Preview, Queensland Ballet’s subscriber newsletter: “For me, a particular attraction about Queensland Ballet is its independence. It is far removed from the heavy, rather slow-moving infrastructures and schedules that are part of the opera house system in Europe.” There was also much better scope, he felt,

to develop the dancers by providing them with more frequent opportunities to perform.

In appointing Klaus, the Queensland Ballet board had sought someone who could fulfil the role of both artistic director and choreographer. Having danced with the Stuttgart, Munich and Hamburg ballet companies (the latter two as principal dancer), Klaus had worked closely with two of the greatest names in choreography – John Cranko in Stuttgart and Munich, and John Neumeier in Hamburg. He later moved to Switzerland to become artistic director of the Bern State Theatre’s ballet company, before founding his own ensemble, Ballett Art, where he could give full rein to his choreographic talents. “It was strikingly clear that François Klaus’s exemplary history as a dancer, teacher, choreographer and director with several of the finest

and most respected ballet companies in the world, proved he was the obvious choice,” said then board president, Lynette Denny.

By the time Klaus was appointed, Queensland Ballet’s artistic reputation was flagging. An article in The Review lamented its “mediocrity and oldfashionedness”, while Dance Australia’s editor, Karen van Ulzen, considered the company just a “bit tired and uninspired”. Reviving the company’s flagging image, firing the public imagination, and preserving its classical tradition in a contemporary context would be challenging, given Queensland Ballet’s size and resources.

The company in 1997 was still recovering financially from its USA tour the previous year, during which a series of unforeseen costs had seriously depleted its reserves. There was also a strong probability that it might lose certain avenues of funding if it could not reverse the budget deficit and rebuild those reserves.

Before arriving in Brisbane to take over as artistic director in January 1998, Klaus was therefore in regular contact with Queensland Ballet management, seeking ways to minimise costs and revitalise the company without sacrificing the quality of the work.

He was adamant that this would not be achieved by renaming itself the Queensland Dance Company, arguing that there was a plethora of “dance” ensembles, and that the company was better served by consolidating its identity as a ballet company.

The financial situation had been aggravated by the frequent turnover in senior administrative personnel prior to 1998. “We were really poor,” said current General Manager, Judith Anderson, whose appointment in 1998 coincided with Klaus’s. “We lived from hand to mouth for the first two years. We couldn’t afford to replace anything that broke down and relied heavily on the goodwill and generosity

58 of both staff and volunteers to get us through. But we were able to give François his top priority – a properly sprung dance floor.”

Careful management, stringent accounting practices, and clever programming were necessary for Queensland Ballet to negotiate this rocky financial patch. For Klaus’s first production in 1998, only 15 dancers were employed, administrative costs were dramatically slashed, and the Klauses’ own costumes, brought with them from Switzerland, were used for the company’s productions of Tightrope and Peer Gynt in 1998.

“Before I took up my position, I was told by the general manager of the time, Greg Rudd, that I would not be able to present more than two seasons in my first year,” said Klaus. However, Klaus was adamant that the company needed to perform frequently, and so

QUEENSLAND BALLET TODAY

59 pushed on with the task of remoulding the company.

“His determination and resilience were incredible,” said Anderson. During these crucial first months, Klaus concentrated on further “schooling” the dancers to bring them to a new level of technical and artistic maturity and develop their versatility. Developing a strong, clear direction for the company – and winning public support – was achievable only if the artistic influence was consistent, he explained. By supervising the dancers’ training regime and creating a series of works on them, he could build a much closer artistic relationship, which in a small company would allow him to adapt roles quickly for different individuals.

“One of the things that gave me great encouragement in the first few years was having dancers of the calibre of Paul Boyd, Kimberley Davis and Anthony Lewis,

who believed in my work and supported me. Rachael Walsh joined the company straight from The Australian Ballet school in 1998 and has continued to be a driving force in the company ever since, inspiring creations and providing wonderful leadership to the younger dancers,” said Klaus.

Another important survival strategy in those difficult first years was for Klaus to create most of the company’s works himself. “However, it is also important that this influence should not be the only one,” said Klaus. Once the financial situation improved, while he was eager to continue the policy of working with different Australian choreographers, he also wanted to offer more variety through reworking well-known classics to make them more fresh and appealing for contemporary audiences, and through

OPPOSiTE LEFT Klaus’s The Sleeping Beauty in 2002 featured Rachael Walsh and Jens Weber in the principal roles. (Photographer: David Kelly) OPPOSiTE RiGHT Principal dancer Christian Tatchev in Klaus’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2009. (Photographer: Ken Sparrow) ABOvE LEFT Natalie Weir’s The Last Song in 2004 featured soloists Adam Blanch, Zachary Chant, and Michael Braun.

(Photographer: Ken Sparrow) ABOvE Amelia Waller and Keian Langdon in Klaus’s adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire in 2009. (Photographer: Ken Sparrow)

QUEENSLAND BALLET TODAY

64 ABOvE Alex Wagner and Claire Phipps in the Grand Pas de Deux from The Nutcracker in 2005. (Photographer: David Kelly) ABOvE RiGHT Amelia Waller and Zachary Chant in Klaus’s popular Alice in Wonderland, created in 2000. (Photographer: David Kelly) OPPOSiTE LEFT Natalie Weir created the title role of her 2008 work, Orpheus, on soloist, Nathan Scicluna. (Photographer: David Magahy) OPPOSiTE RiGHT Audience favourites Zoran Markovic and Masa Kolar accepted invitations to perform in four different International Galas.

(Photographer: David Kelly)

QUEENSLAND BALLET TODAY

William Barton and his mother, Delmae, a respected Aboriginal elder. Financially, things had stabilised, too, with the company successfully rebuilding its reserves.

Income from subscriptions and single ticket sales increased, together with government grants. There were more full-time dancers doing a wider variety of performances in a larger number of venues throughout Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania than ever.

The company was clearly blossoming under Klaus’s artistic guidance, and audiences were impressed by his innovative and versatile choreography, the artistry of the dancers, and the beauty of the productions.

In 2006 the company embarked on its first overseas tour since 1996, captivating audiences in Germany and Switzerland. There were standing ovations, long-lasting applause and excellent reviews: “[Queensland Ballet] is

a vibrant young company, immaculate in appearance, with thorough classical training – and they catapulted with élan straight over the footlights into the hearts of the audience,” said Horst Koegler, an internationally renowned dance writer.

One of the most popular works on the program was an excerpt from Klaus’s nostalgic Cloudland, a perennial favourite since its Brisbane première in 2004, with principal dancer Rachael Walsh giving a moving performance in the lead role of Christine. Set during the Second World War, and danced to the evergreen tunes of big band legends such Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller, the ballet tells the story of Brisbane’s iconic Cloudland Ballroom, from its beginnings in 1939 to its scandalous demolition in 1982.

As Queensland Ballet’s reputation grew, other

65 countries began inviting the company to tour, with requests for specific repertoire. In March 2007 the company visited Singapore for the first time, where it delighted audiences in the historic Victoria Theatre with its whimsical production of Klaus’s Alice in Wonderland.

The Mad Hatter and Alice even hosted a tea party in the theatre’s foyer.

In October that year the company was back in Switzerland and Germany by popular demand. European audiences were so tantalised by what they had seen of Cloudland in 2006, the company was invited to return with the full production.

Japan was in for a similar treat when Queensland Ballet visited Osaka and Brisbane’s sister city of Kobe in April 2008 with the company’s production of The Little Mermaid. This story, made more potent through the

QUEENSLAND BALLET TODAY

RiGHT Yu Hui and Todd Sutherland feature in this image from the 2009 season brochure. (Photographer: David Kelly)

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language of dance, resonated with audiences during the company’s brief five-day visit. The dancers carried out their role as cultural ambassadors, giving ballet classes and attending official receptions. “Our principal dancer, Rachael Walsh, created a sensation when she appeared on Japanese television in a dress by Brisbane designer, Bora – it had such a low-cut back that the TV presenter commented (only half-joking) that some of their elderly male viewers might suffer a heart attack,” recalled White.

Back home in Brisbane it was time to pause and celebrate the company’s achievements under the artistic direction of François Klaus. Since 1998, Klaus had created 17 full-length ballets (almost all of them world premières). He had also choreographed several new short works specifically for children, devised dozens of shorter pieces to showcase the versatility of his dancers, and earned a reputation as a choreographer who was not afraid to take risks. In addition to his own work, he had introduced audiences to the works of many other choreographers and dancers through the annual International Gala and … with attitude programs.

François Klaus’s 11th year with the Queensland Ballet in 2008 coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Thomas Dixon Centre, the company’s home since 1991, and a space it now shared with Queensland Dance School of Excellence and Musica Viva’s Queensland branch (the Queensland Philharmonic having departed in 2000). In 2005, the Centre had been refurbished to improve access for people with impaired mobility and air-conditioning was installed in the Charles Lisner Studio Theatre for the comfort of dancers and patrons.

By 2008 Queensland Ballet was looking financially stronger, the number of dancers on full-time contracts had increased, and the technical standard of the

dancers, particularly the soloists and principals, had enhanced the company’s ability to present larger and more challenging works. Strong ticket sales during 2008, together with increased support from donors and corporate sponsors, would cushion the company in the short term from the impact of the global economic crisis in 2009.

Just as François Klaus and his dancers have earned the enthusiastic applause of fans, so too must the rest of the company’s team take credit for its excellent work. “What is special about this company is the team,” said Klaus. “I’ve been really lucky to have such a stable and committed group of people to work with.

Judith has been there as General Manager since the beginning, my wife Robyn is a constant support as Artistic Associate, and everyone on staff really believes in the company and wants to see it grow and prosper.

We’re also fortunate in the fantastic designers we have access to, particularly Graham Maclean, Noelene Hill and David Walters, who have worked so closely together in recent years.”

Queensland Ballet’s 50th anniversary is a celebration of the passion and drive of one man, its founder Charles Lisner, and the many individuals who have striven to keep his dream alive. “I think Charles would have been very proud to see the company stage its first ever full-length production of Swan Lake at the end of 2008,” says Klaus. “With more than 50 performers on stage in the QPAC Playhouse, dancers of the technical strength and artistry to perform this classic, a total audience of almost 10,000 for the production, fabulous sets, costumes, and lighting, and the Queensland Orchestra in the pit under the direction of an international conductor, it was a long way from that first program presented with just 11 dancers in Lisner’s own Academy Theatre in Elizabeth Street on April 29, 1960.”

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When Charles Lisner founded Queensland’s first professional ballet company, his greatest gift was the commitment to creative excellence he practised relentlessly and which he inspired in those around him. Fifty years on, Lisner has departed the stage, but thanks to his remarkable legacy – and the talent and commitment of its current members – Queensland Ballet is delivering better performances to wider Australian and international audiences than ever before.

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