The Australian ballet: opening act 1962-1972

It was a fortuitous evening when Harold Holt, then federal treasurer, approached Peggy van Praagh and advised her the he could provide the financial means to establish what would become Australia’s first national ballet company. The season opened in 1962 with a performance of Swan Lake at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Sydney and featured 40 dancers, chiefly comprised from the Borovansky ballet company, that van Praagh took over on the death of its titular founder. The company toured Australia, introducing delighted audiences to the classics, innovative pieces and new choreography including Melbourne Cup, and The Display and Yugen by Sir Robert Helpmann who would later join van Praagh as co-artistic director. Helpmann and van Praag represented two sides of the artistic coin - Helpmann a flamboyant promoter of the ballet without being actively involved in the day to day running, and van Praag, the English teacher and educator who maintained a strong bond between the company and her mother country. Introduced by Barry Kitcher and narrated by Helen Vaughan Roberts, this program presents archival footage of performances, highlights of international guests such as Sonia Arova, Erik Bruhn, Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev, original pieces from the 1950s, biographical information about Helpmann and van Praag and profiles Australian artists including Marilyn Rowe and Kelvin Coe.