Melbourne City Ballet
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Melbourne City Ballet was a
History
In 2013, Michael Pappalardo was frustrated with the limited amount of choreographic and career options available to professional classical ballet artists within Australia. Under the name "Melbourne City Ballet", he began to choreograph contemporary and neoclassical works with other professional artists (including principal artist Yuiko Masukawa) in a studio in Fitzroy for project based productions. The group performed in various events throughout the year including the 2013 Short+Sweet Festival (Consumption) and Melbourne Fringe Festival (Parallel Connections).
In 2014, the company commenced an extensive fundraising campaign to obtain their own ballet studios and in June moved into their first location named the Bardin Theatre on Glenlyon Road,
In 2015, Melbourne City Ballet offered their first pre-professional course known as Finishing Year, whose participants trained alongside the professional company artists throughout the year. The 2015 season calendar saw the company slowly move away from contemporary based ballet and more toward a neoclassical ballet offering. The program featured an adaption of the traditional
In 2016, the company relocated from their single studio into a state of the art, custom built venue on Pentridge Boulevard, Coburg. The venue was officially opened by the
In September 2016, Melbourne City Ballet released their 2017 annual season "In Motion", in which the company began to focus on developing classical ballet further within regional and remote communities. Productions announced include Don Quixote, ECHO, Once Upon A Time, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Nutcracker. The tour for the year included over 50 regional venues across four productions, supported by Creative Victoria and Arts Queensland.
Seasons for 2018 were announced as Sleeping Beauty (touring Victorian venues), Carmen (national tour), Madame Butterfly (national tour), Peter and the Wolf (children's tour - VIC & NSW) and The Nutcracker (Victoria only).
Closure
The company was based at the Melbourne City Ballet Centre, within the grounds of the old
Melbourne City Ballet managed jointly by the company's Artistic Director and executive director. The organisation continued to receive limited local and state based government funding with other funds obtained through training courses, box office sales, presenter fees and corporate sponsorships.
On 26 June 2019, the company's dancers were informed by artistic director Michael Pappalardo that the company would not be able to continue.[1]
Company
As of January 2018, the company consists of the following:
- Artistic Director - Michael Pappalardo
- Executive Director - Sean Memery
- Principal Artists - Yuiko Masukawa, Brendan Bradshaw
- Solo Artists - Tynan Wood
- Company Artists - Kealy Fouracre, Emma Cheeseman, Yuma Yasui, Ariana Hond, Andrew Radak, Isabella Gemmell-Morgan, Charlotte Price, Audra Tory, Danielle Whitfort
- Junior Artists - Alexandra Rolfe, Henry Driver, Alexia Cannizarro, Olivia Johnstone
- Emerging Artists - Klarissa Gennusa, Jemima Vaya, Souji Shinse, Bronte Capone, Tamara Taylor, Charlotte Gleeson, Eleanor Gleeson, Sophia Maher, Siobhan Orgles, Amy Preddy
Repertoire
The company's classical ballet repertoire includesthe following productions:
- Coppélia (Michael Pappalardo)
- Tink (Michael Pappalardo)
- Dracula (Brendan Bradshaw)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (Michael Pappalardo)
- Romeo & Juliet (Michael Pappalardo)
- The Nutcracker (Yuiko Masukawa)
- Carmen (Michael Pappalardo)
- The Magic Toyshop (Yuiko Masukawa)
- Madame Butterfly (Michael Pappalardo)
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Michael Pappalardo)
- Don Quixote (Michael Pappalardo)
- The Nutcracker (Michael Pappalardo)
The company also features an extensive repertoire of contemporary works including:
- Signal (Yuiko Masukawa)
- Arachnid (Michael Pappalardo)
- [inner] (Brendan Bradshaw)
- Consumption (Michael Pappalardo)
- Caruso (Brendan Bradshaw)
- Four Seasons (Michael Pappalardo)
- Quantum (Michael Pappalardo)
- 8-bit (Yuiko Masukawa)
Training programs
Melbourne City Ballets offer a number of training programs to assist young artists moving toward careers as classical ballet artists. These courses include:
- Finishing Year Program (Pre-Professional Bridging Program)
- Elite Artist Program (Full Time Training)
- Melbourne Institute of Classical Arts (Part Time Ballet & Secondary Education)
- Melbourne City Youth Ballet (Youth Performance Company)
- Junior Extension Program (Technical Delivery Youth Program)
- Junior Elite Interstate Program (JEAP)
References
- ^ "Anatomy of a collapse". Dance Australia. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- "About Us". Melbourne City Ballet, http://melbournecityballet.com.au/aboutus/, January 2016
- "Harlequin Floors Reflects on 2015 Australian Dance Awards in Adelaide", Dance Informa. http://danceinforma.com.au/articles/harlequin-floors-reflects-on-2015-australian-dance-awards-in-adelaide/, 15 September 2015
- "The Company", Melbourne City Ballet, www.melbournecityballet.com.au/thecompany/, January 2016
- "Melbourne City Ballet Releases 2015 season", Dance Informa, http://danceinforma.com.au/articles/melbourne-city-ballet-releases-2015-season/, 1 October 2014
- "Education", Melbourne City Ballet, http://melbournecityballet.com.au/education/, January 2016
- "Meet the Stars of Melbourne City Ballet", Harlequin Floors, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFcx-UWt6FA, 8 January 2015
- "One City, Two Companies: Double the Classical", Dance Australia Magazine, December 2015