Melbourne City Ballet
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Melbourne City Ballet was a
ballet company A ballet company is a type of dance troupe which performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-round ba ...
based in
Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...
. The company was founded in 2013 by artistic director Michael Pappalardo and experienced significant growth throughout the years. Originally created as a neoclassical/contemporary project based company, Melbourne City Ballet developed quickly to become a full-time operating arts organisation with an increasing focus bring
classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as pointe work, turnout of the legs, and high extensions), its ...
works to regional and remote communities across Australia. Melbourne City Ballet was a registered charity with the Australian Charity & Not for Profit Commission under the name MCB Incorporated and was overseen by a board of professionals. MCB seized operations in July 2019 due to lack of funding.


History

In 2013, Michael Pappalardo was frustrated with the limited amount of choreographic and career options available to professional
classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as pointe work, turnout of the legs, and high extensions), its ...
artists within Australia. Under the name "Melbourne City Ballet", he began to choreograph
contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...
and neoclassical works with other professional artists (including principal artist Yuiko Masukawa) in a studio in Fitzroy for project based productions. The group performed in various events throughout the year including the 2013 Short+Sweet Festival (''Consumption'') and
Melbourne Fringe Festival The Melbourne Fringe Festival is an annual independent arts festival in Melbourne, Australia, usually over three weeks from late September to early October. Held since 1982, the Festival includes a wide variety of art forms, including theatre, com ...
(''Parallel Connections''). In 2014, the company commenced an extensive fundraising campaign to obtain their own ballet studios and in June moved into their first location named the Bardin Theatre on Glenlyon Road,
Brunswick, Victoria Brunswick is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Merri-bek Local government areas of Victoria, local gov ...
. The venue featured one large studio in close proximity to the CBD, allowing the company to focus on developing works full time throughout the year. It was during this year that Melbourne City Ballet established an effective board to govern the company, known as MCB Incorporated, officially establishing not-for-profit status for the company. Melbourne City Ballet performed a full season within Melbourne consisting of ''D-Minor'', double bill ''Consumption'', showcase ''Placebo'' and a new adaption of ''
Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...
''. The company also toured to Sydney with their contemporary offering ''A Night with Melbourne City Ballet'' as special guests of the
Sydney Fringe Festival The Sydney Fringe is an alternative arts and culture festival held for the first time in September 2010 in the inner west of Sydney, Australia. The Fringe is an initiative of the Newtown Entertainment Precinct Association.
. New training programs began to be offered by the company’s artists, including the Melbourne City Youth Ballet and Junior Extension Program. In 2015, Melbourne City Ballet offered their first pre-professional course known as Finishing Year, whose participants trained alongside the professional company artists throughout the year. The 2015 season calendar saw the company slowly move away from contemporary based ballet and more toward a neoclassical ballet offering. The program featured an adaption of the traditional ''
Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...
'', contemporary showcase ''EXHALE'', a new adaption of
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
A Midsummer Night’s Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...
'', children's ballet ''The Magic Toyshop'', neoclassical season ''Piano Sessions'' and the tragic story of ''
Romeo & Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...
''. The company also embarked on a 12 venue tour of their 2014 work ''Carmen'' across New South Wales and Victoria. Melbourne City Ballet’s artists were invited to perform an excerpt of ''
A Midsummer Night’s Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...
'' at the
Australian Dance Awards The Australian Dance Awards recognise excellence and promote dance in Australia. They are awarded under the auspices of the Australian Dance Council (Ausdance) for performance, choreography, design, dance writing, teaching and related professions. ...
in Adelaide, South Australia. In 2016, the company relocated from their single studio into a state of the art, custom built venue on Pentridge Boulevard, Coburg. The venue was officially opened by the Moreland City Council Mayor Samantha Ratnam and named the Melbourne City Ballet Centre. With the opening of the company’s new facilities, Melbourne City Ballet opened their Elite Artist Program (full and part time training) to the public for the first time. The company’s annual program consists of a new adaption of the Bournonville ballet ''
Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
'', contemporary showcase ''PLAY/REWIND'', the ''Peter Pan''-inspired ballet ''Tink'', the dark story of ''
Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...
'' and the tragic ''
Madam Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Luther ...
''. Melbourne City Ballet also embarked on an extensive tour of their 2015 production of ''
Romeo & Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...
'' across regional/remote Queensland, Northern Territory, New South Wales and Victoria. The tour was funded in part through Playing Queensland. In September 2016, Melbourne City Ballet released their 2017 annual season "In Motion," in which the company began to focus on developing classical ballet further within regional and remote communities. Productions announced include ''
Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...
'', ''ECHO'', ''Once Upon A Time'', ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...
'', ''
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after s ...
'' and ''
The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...
''. The tour for the year included over 50 regional venues across four productions, supported by Creative Victoria and Arts Queensland. Seasons for 2018 were announced as ''Sleeping Beauty'' (touring Victorian venues), ''Carmen'' (national tour), ''Madame Butterfly'' (national tour), ''Peter and the Wolf'' (children's tour - VIC & NSW) and ''The Nutcracker'' (Victoria only).


Closure

The company was based at the Melbourne City Ballet Centre, within the grounds of the old
Pentridge Prison HM Prison Pentridge was an Australian prison that was first established in 1851 in Coburg, Victoria. The first prisoners arrived in 1851. The prison officially closed on 1 May 1997. Pentridge was often referred to as the "Bluestone College", " ...
in
Coburg, Victoria Coburg is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Darebin and Merri-bek local government areas. Coburg recorded a population of 26,574 at the 2021 census. Alt ...
. The venue featured five sprung studios (with work on a final studio to commence in late 2017) and an onsite Creative Department (Costumes, Sets & Props). Melbourne City Ballet managed jointly by the company's Artistic Director and executive director. The organisation continued to receive limited local and state based government funding with other funds obtained through training courses, box office sales, presenter fees and corporate sponsorships. On the 26th June 2019, the company’s dancers were informed by artistic director Michael Pappalardo that the company would not be able to continue. As a result, dancers have lost their jobs and students are looking for new schools. The company had a full schedule, with six to eight different shows a year and interstate and overseas travel.


Company

As of January 2018, the company consists of the following: * Artistic Director - Michael Pappalardo * Executive Director - Sean Memery * Principal Artists - Yuiko Masukawa, Brendan Bradshaw * Solo Artists - Tynan Wood * Company Artists - Kealy Fouracre, Emma Cheeseman, Yuma Yasui, Ariana Hond, Andrew Radak, Isabella Gemmell-Morgan, Charlotte Price, Audra Tory, Danielle Whitfort * Junior Artists - Alexandra Rolfe, Henry Driver, Alexia Cannizarro, Olivia Johnstone * Emerging Artists - Klarissa Gennusa, Jemima Vaya, Souji Shinse, Bronte Capone, Tamara Taylor, Charlotte Gleeson, Eleanor Gleeson, Sophia Maher, Siobhan Orgles, Amy Preddy


Repertoire

The company's classical ballet repertoire includesthe following productions: * ''Coppélia'' (Michael Pappalardo) * ''Tink'' (Michael Pappalardo) * ''Dracula'' (Brendan Bradshaw) * ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (Michael Pappalardo) * ''Romeo & Juliet'' (Michael Pappalardo) * ''The Nutcracker'' (Yuiko Masukawa) * ''Carmen'' (Michael Pappalardo) * ''The Magic Toyshop'' (Yuiko Masukawa) * ''Madame Butterfly'' (Michael Pappalardo) * ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (Michael Pappalardo) * ''Don Quixote'' (Michael Pappalardo) * ''The Nutcracker'' (Michael Pappalardo) The company also features an extensive repertoire of contemporary works including: * ''Signal'' (Yuiko Masukawa) * ''Arachnid'' (Michael Pappalardo) * '' nner' (Brendan Bradshaw) * ''Consumption'' (Michael Pappalardo) * ''Caruso'' (Brendan Bradshaw) * ''Four Seasons'' (Michael Pappalardo) * ''Quantum'' (Michael Pappalardo) * 8''-bit'' (Yuiko Masukawa)


Training programs

Melbourne City Ballets offer a number of training programs to assist young artists moving toward careers as classical ballet artists. These courses include: * Finishing Year Program (Pre-Professional Bridging Program) * Elite Artist Program (Full Time Training) * Melbourne Institute of Classical Arts (Part Time Ballet & Secondary Education) * Melbourne City Youth Ballet (Youth Performance Company) * Junior Extension Program (Technical Delivery Youth Program) * Junior Elite Interstate Program (JEAP)


References

* “About Us”. Melbourne City Ballet, http://melbournecityballet.com.au/aboutus/, January 2016 * “Harlequin Floors Reflects on 2015 Australian Dance Awards in Adelaide”, Dance Informa. http://danceinforma.com.au/articles/harlequin-floors-reflects-on-2015-australian-dance-awards-in-adelaide/, 15 September 2015 * “The Company”, Melbourne City Ballet, www.melbournecityballet.com.au/thecompany/, January 2016 * “Melbourne City Ballet Releases 2015 season”, Dance Informa, http://danceinforma.com.au/articles/melbourne-city-ballet-releases-2015-season/, 1 October 2014 * “Education”, Melbourne City Ballet, http://melbournecityballet.com.au/education/, January 2016 * “Meet the Stars of Melbourne City Ballet”, Harlequin Floors, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFcx-UWt6FA, 8 January 2015 * “One City, Two Companies: Double the Classical”, Dance Australia Magazine, December 2015


External links

* http://www.melbournecityballet.com.au {{authority control 2013 establishments in Australia Ballet companies in Australia Performing arts in Melbourne