Countless hours of dedicated planning, creativity, and passion from our students, creative team and staff came to life in a breathtaking premiere season. On opening night Possum Magic author Mem Fox wept tears of joy and laughter. Illustrator Julie Vivas and her family were uplifted and amazed by the experience. Across the sold-out performances, our audiences gasped with joy, laughed out loud and enthusiastically clapped along to the curtain call. Loughlan Prior’s choreography and creative vision, combined with Emma Kingsbury’s inspired costumes and sets, and Claire Cowan’s incredible original score allowed our students to shine.
Dance Australia reviewer Susan Bendall said ”With elite student performances, the choreography beautifully showcased their talents, blending technical prowess and artistic brilliance… A feel-good piece that captivated not just the young, but the young at heart.”
After the interval, our younger students performed Degas Dances by Paul Knobloch, with our senior students returning to perform Nexus by Stephen Baynes and Techno Requiem by Lucas Jervies. All three works were created in our studios - an invaluable learning and performance experience for our young artists-in-training.
ArtsHub Reviews Editor Thuy On wrote “Collectively, in Possum Magic and the three shorter pieces, the dancers’ tender ages belied their skills and technical prowess; Australian ballet’s future generation of artists is assured. Possum Magic The Ballet deserves a national tour, across all the cities visited by Hush and Grandma Poss.”
We are incredibly grateful to our students, staff, creatives, donors and partners for playing a part in this new production, and for making 2023 such an incredible year. Special thanks to our Board of Directors, The Ballet Society Victoria, Bloch Australia, Quest Southbank and The Australian Ballet.
Wishing everyone a happy holiday season and all the very best for 2024!
Photo by Sergey Konstantinov
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