Brisbane misses out on The Australian Ballet in 2021 with QPAC booked out

The Australian Ballet has clarified exactly why they won’t be coming to Brisbane next season.

Things are starting to look normal at QPAC in 2021 with one major exception - The Australian Ballet’s season opener.

Each year the national company begins its annual season in Brisbane and in February this year the Lyric Theatre at QPAC hosted the world premiere of Graeme Murphy’s new ballet The Happy Prince.

But when the national company launched its 2021 season on Tuesday there was one omission - Brisbane.

The Australian Ballet’s executive director Libby Christie said the company was “hugely disappointed” that it wasn’t coming to Brisbane next year.

“We plan to start every year in Brisbane,” Ms Christie said. “We did it this year and we know we have a very loyal and fantastically supportive audience there.

“We don’t want to disappoint them ever and we take our role as the national company very seriously. But for next year the theatre just wasn’t available.
“I can’t wait until the pressure on QPAC is off and we can confidently plan to come back.”

The Australian Ballet Executive Director Libby Christie. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Ms Christie said when QPAC’s new theatre is finished in 2022 things will be easier.

The last time The Australian Ballet cancelled its regular season was due to a double booking at QPAC in 2015 and Ms Christie pointed out that the company made up for it by delivering a stunning production of Giselle on the Riverstage later that year. She said unfortunately nothing like that was possible this year.

Brisbane audiences flock to the company’s shows and love to see local dancers, including principal dancer Amber Scott who is from Brisbane.

Queenslander Amber Scott is a principal dancer with The Australian Ballet and usually an audience favourite in her hometown of Brisbane

QPAC Chief Executive John Kotzas said planning for this year started far later than usual due to COVID.

“There was only one slot that worked for The Australian Ballet and those dates were already taken by the Broadway hit musical Come From Away, a compelling story about American airline passengers displaced to a remote town in Canada at the time of the 9/11 attack,” Mr Kotzas said.

“We’re of course working closely with The Australian Ballet to ensure we can bring their artists back to Brisbane audiences as soon as their schedule allows.

“It’s wonderful when the Australian Ballet does come because they bring the whole company. It’s just a shame we can’t have them here in 2021 and if there was a way of us accepting a truncated version of something, we would take it. “

The good news for QPAC is that next year is now booked solid out until June and that means our premier arts venue is getting back on its feet.

The year begins with the hit show Shrek The Musical, followed by Come From Away.

The Australian Ballet launched its season on Tuesday and introduced new artistic director, the famous American dancer David Hallberg.

The new season includes major ballets such as Anna Karenina and Romeo & Juliet, with ballets being staged in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide throughout the season.

Libby Christie said it had been difficult programming for 2021 in the midst of the pandemic and that many versions of the season were being considered in the lead-up to Tuesday’s reveal.

She said Queenslanders had been enjoying the company’s digital season this year.

“We’ve had lovely feedback about that from people in regional Queensland,” she said.

“We will be back next year (2022) but this year just wasn’t possible. We wanted to return to Brisbane this year but the theatre just wasn’t available.”