Dance Australia – June-July 2017

ALLET Theatre of Queensland (BTQ)

heraldedits80thanniversaryyearwith

aproductionofCinderellain January.

Directed and choreographed by the

company’sartisticdirector,TimBrown,it

featured a gorgeous Cinderella (Meghan Hansen

andZoeBrady)andadebonairPrinceCharming

(Tristan Fraser-Preston). Held at the

Queensland Performing Arts Centre, it was

thelatestproductionfortheyouthdance

company,whichoffersprofessionallystaged

performance opportunities for talented young

Queensland dancers.

BTQisAustralia’soldestballetcompany,

pre-dating both the Australian Ballet and the

QueenslandBallet.Itoperatesasanot-for-profit

incorporated organisation, governed by a board,

and is independent from any dance school. With

no government funding, the lavish productions

relyonthetalentsandexpertiseofthecreative

andproductionteamsoverseenbyexecutive

director Denise Richardson.

Thecompany'sbeautifullyproducedclassical

ballets are targeted at families and aim to foster

an appreciation of dance among the younger

generation. BTQ auditions annually for company

membersandstagesballetswithtwocaststo

provide dancers with the opportunity to perform

inavarietyofroles.

Cinderelladrew on the performance talents of

58dancersagedfrom10to18yearsfrom34

dance schools stretching from Hervey Bay to

Kingscliff.SetsweredesignedbyBillHaycock

andcostumesbyCarmelWenck.

Thecompanywasfoundedin1937byPhyllis

MayDanaher(MBE,thefoundingpresidentof

theQueenslandbranchoftheAustralasian

Operatic Dancing Society, later the Queensland

Ballet Society. In 1953 the society established the

Brisbane Ballet Theatre to provide professional

standard performance opportunities to local

dancers. Prior to their inception, ballet had only

beenseenbythepublicthroughirregularvisits

from international touring companies. The

company was renamed Ballet Theatre of

Queenslandin1963,withDanaherasitsdirector,

arolesheservedinuntil1984.

Many respected dancers and choreographers

have worked with the company over the years,

includingGarthWelch(nowapatronofthe

company), Marilyn Jones, Maggie Sietsma,

NatalieWeir,GrahamCollinsandWendyand

JudithLowe.Atreasuretroveofannualpast

productions includesLes Sylphides, Graduation

Ball,Pinocchio,Paquita,Sylvia,TheNutcracker,

PeterandtheWolf,BeautyandtheBeast,Snow

White,TheWizardofOz,PeterPan,Aladdin,

AliceinWonderlandandTheLittleMermaid.

From the 1970s to late 1980s BTQ toured

classicalballetsextensivelythroughoutsouth-east

Queensland, with dancers billeted by families of

local dance schools.

Thecompanyalsooffersacostumeandset

hireservice.ItofferstwoscholarshipstoBTQ

dancers. The Phyllis Danaher Memorial

Scholarshipisavailabletoadancerwhohas

danced with BTQ for at least one year and the

JodieWhite-BivonaMemorialScholarshipis

awardedtoadancerwhohasdancedwithBTQ

fortwoconsecutiveyearsandshowsoutstanding

ability,dedicationandloveofballet.This

scholarshipwasbeensetupinmemoryofJodie

White-Bivona, who passed away in 2012 and was

jointartisticdirectoralongwithherhusband,

BorisBivona,for10years.

TheuniquerecipethatisBTQhasprovided

theballetworldwitharaftoftalentwithmany

dancersmovingonfromthecompanyto

international performance careers and

opportunities.Justinthelastfewyears,dancers

from the company have been accepted to the

Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in Saint

Petersburg as well as the Royal Ballet School and

theAustralianBalletSchool.

TimBrownexplainsthatBTQoffersarange

of growth opportunities, including an

appreciation of “how dancers, choreographers

and designers come together to create a show

fromstarttofinish”.Hesaysthedancersalso

learn“agoodworkethicaswellastheskillsto

communicateandsocialisewithfellowdancers

inalargecompanysetting”.Thishelpstoprepare

themforlifeaswellasforworkingeffectively

withinateam.

Thecompanyhasacloseassociationwiththe

Queensland Ballet. Principal artist Clare

MorehenandformermembersAmeliaWaller

andHaoBinoftenvisit totakeclassorassistwith

rehearsals.“Workingwithpeoplewhoareeither

currently in the profession as dancers or

choreographers,orrecentlyretired,givesour

dancersaveryvaluableinsightintothe

profession,” Richardson says. “The generosity of

everyone we have invited to coach in passing on

theirvastexperiencehasinspired,extendedand

developedourdancersimmeasurably.Italsoacts

asaveryimportantvalidationofthewonderful

workTimandourrehearsaldirectorLizWhelan

do in creating these ballets.”

(DeniseRichardsonisoneofDance Australia's

Queensland correspondents.)

BTQwillholdanAnniversaryGalaat the Qld

Performing Arts Centre on July 30.

JUNE / JULY 2017 | WWW.DANCEAUSTRALIA.COM.AU

72 /CLASS

Australia'soldestballetcompany

celebrates an 80 year history this

year, writesMichelle Dursun.

80

th

AnniversaryofBallet

Theatre of Queensland

B

Artistic director

Tim Brown

rehearses with

Prince Charming

(Tristan

Fraser-Preston)

and Fairy

Godmother (Mia

Sandford).