THE BALLET GALA

BALLET THEATRE’S GOLDEN JUBILEE WAS A MAGNIFICENT CELEBRATION

It was a celebration for all the teachers, young dancers, professional soloists, choreographers, producers, audiences and the army of volunteers who had brought wonderful ballets to Brisbane and regional south-east Queensland for the last 50 years. Overwhelmingly however, the gala event was a spectacular tribute to the Company’s former Artistic Director and co-founder Miss Phyllis Danaher, MBE, FRAD.  Only relinquishing her directorial role in 1985, she had been the driving force behind Australia’s oldest dance company and, indeed, the only company of its kind in this country.

And magnificent it was! The centre-piece of the program was Marilyn Jones dancing The Dying Swan from Swan Lake and the world premiere of Hades , the first ballet choreographed by her son Stanton Welch and danced by Stanton and senior members of Ballet Theatre. The evening also featured guest artists from the Bolshoi Ballet, The Australian Ballet, The Royal New Zealand Ballet, Human Veins Dance Theatre from Canberra, and Gold Coast Youth Ballet among others.

In the gala program The Royal New Zealand Ballet Artistic Director Harry Haythorne paid special tribute to “the group’s moving spirit Phyllis Danaher”:

I first worked with a Danaher trained dancer in Britain in 1950 and during the ensuing years have been fortunate enough to be associated with artists trained by her and others who have benefited from the experience which Ballet Theatre of Queensland provides. ... There are surely very few dance companies in Australasia which have not numbered Ballet Theatre graduates among their members at some time and of course we are all aware of those graduates who have gone on to attain star status and international fame.  Without Ballet Theatre of Queensland dance in Australasia would have undoubtedly been poorer; may it keep its standards high and go on to achieve another fifty years of providing valuable stage experience to many generations of aspiring dance artists.

Other celebratory events during the year included a new staging of Nutcracker produced by Wendy Lowe and Judith Lowe; a Golden Jubilee Dinner, and a Combined Teacher Recital organised by Sue McNutt and Marianne Grosskreutz.

Researcher and writer: Dr Christine Comans