Queensland Ballet

Queensland Ballet
General information
Name	Queensland Ballet
Previous names	Lisner Ballet Company
Year founded	1960
Founders	Charles Lisner, OBE
Principal venue	Thomas Dixon Centre, West End, Brisbane, Australia
Website	www.queenslandballet.com.au
Artistic staff
Artistic Director	Li Cunxin
Ballet Mistress	Janette Mulligan Mary Li
Music Director	Andrew Mogrelia
Ballet Master	Greg Horsman
Other
Associated schools	Queensland Dance School of Excellence
Formation	Principal Dancer Soloist Company Dancer Young Artist

The Queensland Ballet, founded in 1960 by Charles Lisner OBE, is the premier ballet company of Queensland, Australia and is based in Brisbane. Queensland Ballet is one of only three full-time professional ballet companies in Australia.

Performances

With 23 dancers, Queensland Ballet is a company which presents a varied repertoire of dance works. In addition to performing in Brisbane, the company tours each year to centres large and small in regional Queensland, as well as making interstate and overseas visits.

Under the artistic direction of French-born François Klaus since 1998, the company presents approximately 100 performances each year. Its repertoire ranges from popular classics and full-length story ballets to new works in a variety of dance styles by reputed Australian and international choreographers, as well as emerging local talents. Works such as The Little Mermaid, which are designed especially to appeal to children and families, are another feature of the annual program.

The company’s home is the historic Thomas Dixon Centre for Dance in Brisbane's West End. Celebrating its centenary in 2008, the building was first built as a shoe factory in 1908. It now contains four large dance studios, one of which, the Charles Lisner Studio, can be adapted as a performance venue. These facilities enable the company to offer a full range of training and community access programs.

Queensland Ballet offers dance students from as young as 11 years training in the Junior Extension and Professional Year Programs, as well as in the Queensland Dance School of Excellence (a program offered in partnership with Education Queensland).

History

Lisner trained with Edouard Borovansky and danced with the Borovansky Australian Ballet prior to travelling to London to continue his dance studies and education with the Sadlers Wells Ballet School. He later joined the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden. In 1953, Lisner returned to Australia to open the Lisner Ballet Academy, and in 1960, the Lisner Ballet Company.

The company was renamed Queensland Ballet in 1962 and became the first ballet ensemble in Australia to tour to regional centres throughout Australia.^[1] Eminent author and social scientist Ross Honeywill was one of the Queensland Ballet's many general managers - he served in the role between 1970 and 1973.^[2] In 1974, Charles Lisner resigned as Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of Queensland Ballet, to be succeeded by Harry Haythorne. Following Harry's departure in 1978, founding company member and principal dancer, Harold Collins, was appointed Artistic Director. Collins led the company until his retirement in 1997, maintaining Lisner's commitment to the creation of uniquely Australian dance, and to forging a strong, independent, original, and visually intriguing company.

Collins was succeeded in 1998 by François Klaus, a respected and experienced European dancer, teacher and choreographer. Under Klaus's artistic stewardship, Queensland Ballet has continued to expand, retaining and remaining a significant force in the Australian cultural landscape. In 1981, Roma Egan retired from the Australian Ballet, in order to take up the position as assistant artistic director for the Queensland Ballet. In July 2012, renowned Chinese dancer Li Cunxin was named as Artistic Director of the Queensland Ballet.^[1]

Dancers

Dancers of the Queensland Ballet, as of 2015.^[3]

Principal Dancers

Name	Nationality	Training	Other Companies
Hao Bin	China	Beijing Dance Academy	National Ballet of China
Laura Hidalgo	Argentina	L'Institute Superieur d'Art	American Ballet Theatre Dutch National Ballet Staatstheater Nürnberg Royal Ballet of Flanders Slovenian National Ballet
Clare Morehen	Australia	Victorian College of the Arts The Royal Ballet School	Birmingham Royal Ballet
Meng Ningning	China	Beijing Dance Academy	National Ballet of China
Yanela Piñera	Cuba	Center Pro-Danza Provincial School of Ballet Cuban National Ballet School	National Ballet of Cuba
Shane Wuerthner	United States	Kirov Academy of Ballet	Vienna State Opera Ballet San Francisco Ballet

Soloists

Lisa Edwards
Camilo Ramos

Junior Soloists

Vito Bernasconi
Teri Crilly
Emilio Pavan

Company Dancers

Nathan Brook
Zach Fang
Eleanor Freeman
Tamara Hanton
Mia Heathcote
Alexander Idaszak
Lina Kim
Yu Lingpeng
Jack Lister
Brydee Lyttle
Vanessa Morelli
Charles Riddiford
Katherine Rooke
Tara Schaufuss
Mia Thompson
Rian Thompson
Sarah Thompson
Joel Woellner
Neneka Yoshida
Sophie Zoricic

Young Artists

D'Arcy Brazier
Harley Campbell
Liam Geck
Phebe Murison
David Power
Georgia Swan
Ari Thompson
Atau Watanabe

References

1 2 "History". Queensland Ballet. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
↑ Schmidt, Lucinda, Sydney Morning Herald. 15 September 2010.
↑ "Dancer". Queensland Ballet. Retrieved December 2013.

External links

Official website

Ballet companies

Africa	Cairo Opera Ballet Company Cape Town City Ballet

Asia	Ballet Manila Ballet Philippines Guangzhou Ballet Hong Kong Ballet Iranian National Ballet Company Israel Ballet K-ballet Korea National Ballet National Ballet of China Philippine Ballet Theatre Shanghai Ballet Company Singapore Dance Theatre State Ballet of Georgia Tokyo Ballet Universal Ballet

Europe	Ballet Cymru Les Ballets Persans Barcelona Ballet Bayerisches Staatsballett Béjart Ballet Berlin State Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Cork City Ballet Royal Danish Ballet Donetsk Ballet Dutch National Ballet Eifman Ballet English National Ballet Finnish National Ballet Sukhishvili Georgian National Ballet Greek National Opera Hamburg Ballet Hungarian National Ballet Kiev Ballet La Scala Theatre Ballet Mariinsky Ballet Mikhailovsky Theatre Ballet National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Moldova The Monte-Carlo Ballet National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria Northern Ballet Norwegian National Opera and Ballet Novosibirsk Theatre Ballet Original Ballet Russe Paris Opera Ballet Perm Theatre Ballet Polish National Ballet National Ballet of Portugal The Royal Ballet (London) Rambert Dance Company Russian State Ballet of Siberia Saint Petersburg Ballet Theatre Scottish Ballet Spanish National Dance Company Stanislavski Ballet Stuttgart Ballet Royal Swedish Ballet Théâtre du Silence Turkish State Opera and Ballet

North America	American Ballet Theatre Anaheim Ballet Atlanta Ballet Ballet BC Ballet Des Moines Ballet Magnificat! Boston Ballet Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Carolina Ballet Cleveland Ballet Cincinnati Ballet Cuban National Ballet Dayton Ballet Houston Ballet Joffrey Ballet Los Angeles Ballet National Ballet of Canada National Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico New Jersey Ballet New York City Ballet Oklahoma City Ballet Oregon Ballet Theatre Pacific Northwest Ballet Pennsylvania Ballet Pittsburgh Ballet San Francisco Ballet Tulsa Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet

Oceania	The Australian Ballet Queensland Ballet Royal New Zealand Ballet West Australian Ballet

South America	Ballet Municipal de Lima Chilean National Ballet Colon Theater Ballet Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro

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