Wish you could see the Australian Ballet's 50th anniversary gala but not going to be in Melbourne for the big event? With live sites, regional cinema events and broadcasts on free-to-air television, there are various ways you can catch the company's 50th birthday celebrations.
The gala will be filmed on 2 November and broadcast in full on ABC1 on Sunday 4 November at 3pm. In addition, a live-stream feed of the November 2 performance will be made available at various venues around Australia, both regional and metropolitan. The live stream feed will screen at cinemas in over a dozen regional locations, including Katherine in the Northern Territory, Port Augusta in South Australia, Devonport in Tasmania, Hervey Bay in Queensland and Orange in New South Wales. For a full list of participating cinemas, visit australianballet.com.au.
Live sites will also operate at Federation Square in Melbourne, Martin Place in Sydney and Northbridge Piazza in Perth for groups and families to watch the gala action under the stars for free. These screening will happen Friday 2 November (Perth 6:10pm, Melbourne and Sydney 7pm).
Artistic Director of the Australian Ballet, David McAllister, explains that the Australian Ballet has been exploring the possibilities of broadcasting performances for several years now. "We were the first arts organisation in Australia to broadcast into cinemas in 2007 with The Nutcracker Live and Swan Lake Live into regional cinemas as well as live sites, which was a fantastic experience for both the dancers and audiences," he recalls. "Our first live stream was last year when we broadcast our "Bodytorque" program in Sydney via Telstra’s BigPond and over 20,000 people watched it, as well as the 5,000 we could fit in the actual theatre. That’s an excellent result and means that more people get to enjoy it, regardless of where they live."
Of course, it's not going to be exactly the same as watching live, but McAllister believes that online viewing can still be impressive. "I don’t think watching a production on your laptop or TV will ever give you the exact same experience you get from a live theatre performance, but it’s pretty close," he says. "We work closely with the director to make sure all the cameras are in the right place so you’re getting the best angles and not missing any of the narrative action."
The Australian Ballet is not the only company to be celebrating a special milestone. 2012 marks dancewear company Bloch’s 80th birthday. Bloch has had a close relationship with the Australian Ballet over the last fifty years, and brings a special gift to the company this year in the form of a donation to assist in beaming the gala to the live sites in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, and ten regional cinemas across of Australia. “Bloch pointe shoes have been an integral part of bringing The Australian Ballet to the stage,” says McAllister. “We’re very thankful to the company for their contribution to our 50th Anniversary Gala, which enables us to broadcast the performance to screens across Australia.”
In addition to the broadcast of the gala performance, the Australian Ballet and ABC1 have partnered for another project. The ABC's Artscape program will present Swan Lake – The Australian Ballet at 50, a half-hour documentary that looks at the history of the company, through the prism of its ever-evolving productions of the perennial ballet classic. "The 50th year seemed the perfect time to let the ABC in and take a historical look at what the company has achieved over five decades, while also looking towards our future," comments McAllister, "Swan Lake is an interconnecting thread through our history - it was the first ballet we ever danced, it’s been revived many times through different choreographers and is one of our most-performed works, and this year we commissioned a new traditional version. The ABC accessed its own archives to find a treasure trove of old footage, which is amazing to watch, and they spent a lot of time here with us at The Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre in Melbourne interviewing dancers from today as well as our past."
Artscape: Swan Lake – The Australian Ballet at 50 screens Tuesday 30 October at 10pm.