Queensland Ballet 2017 Season

Corporate partners, subscribers and friends were given a sneak preview when Queensland Ballet’s Artistic Director Li Cunxin launched their 2017 season on September 19 in the QPAC Concert Hall. Two live excerpts – the white Pas de deux from Swan Lake with Laura Hildago and Victor Estevez, and the Widow’s glog dance from La Fille mal gardee gave tantalising glimpse of the riches the 2017 season will bring.

The blockbuster event of the year will be Ben Stevenson’s traditional production of the timeless Swan Lake. Set to Tchaikovsky’s glorious score, with costume and set design by Kristen Fredrickson, it plays the Lyric Theatre, QPAC, from 5 – 13 May.

It will be followed by the comedic La Fille mal gardee (The Wayward Daughter), a love triangle set in the French countryside in the 1950’s with choreography by Marc Ribaud, music by Ferninand Harold and John Lanchberry, costumes by Lexi De Silva and set design by Richard Roberts. A co-production with the West Australian Ballet it plays the Playhouse, QPAC, 4-19 August before embarking on a regional tour to Rockhampton (25 August), Maryborough (30 August), Gold Coast (8-9 September), and Toowoomba (15-16 September).

The season also sees two of the company’s most popular ballets remounted. After selling-out in 2015 Trey McIntyre’s Peter Pan returns. It has music by Elgar, sets by Thomas Boyd, and costumes by Jeanne Button and plays the Playhouse, QPAC, 25 October – 4 November. It will be followed by the company’s annual delight, The Nutcracker, with choreography by Ben Stevenson, music by Tchaikovsky, sets by Thomas Boyd and costumes by Desmond Heeley. Due to popular demand it will play the bigger Lyric Theatre, QPAC, 8-16 December.

All ballets will be accompanied by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

Three contemporary ballets under the title of Raw – Liam Scarlett’s No Man’s Land, Christopher Bruce’s Ghost Dances, and Greg Horsman’s Glass Concerto, will be performed at the Playhouse, QPAC, 17-25 March, whilst the company staple Dance Dialogues will be performed at the West End’s Thomas Dixon Centre, 7-17 June.

A new addition to the program will be Bespoke, which will explore opportunities to collaborate and work with a variety of artists and art forms. The initial production features choreography by Amy Hollingsworth, with Katie Noonan as creative consultant, composer and vocalist. It plays Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse, 10-12 February.

In 2016 Strictly Gershwin became the most successful production in Queensland Ballet’s history and with Li Cunxin announcing that he has just signed a new contract which will see him holding the artistic reigns until 2020 the future of the company could not be brighter.

Peter Pinne

Images: The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Peter Pan. Photographer: Harold David.