Alice Springs the final stop of the Australian Ballet’s regional tour

The national ballet company extends its footprint by performing in regional Australia, and is encouraging young dancers along the way.

Australian Ballet dancers Marcus Morelli and Riley Lapham on Anzac Hill, Alice Springs, during the company’s regional tour. Picture: Emma Murray

The Australian Ballet is used to performing Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet for well-heeled audiences in capital-city theatres, but once a year it goes out on the road and across the wide brown land. The ballet goes bush.

The national ballet company spends about $1m a year on its ­regional tour, supported by government funding, philanthropy and ticket sales.

On Saturday, the Australian Ballet makes the final stop on this year’s tour at the Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs, presenting a program of classical pas de deux and contemporary works.

Australian Ballet executive ­director Libby Christie said it was important that the company, which receives base federal funding of $6.3m a year, performed for audiences across the country and not only in the big cities. “We want everyone in Australia to have the opportunity to see us, preferably live,” she said. “We know that nothing beats live performance, so we want to get out to regional Australia.”

This year’s tour started in Launceston and took in Hobart, Bendigo, Mildura, Broken Hill and Darwin. Tickets are priced to be affordable: $69 for adults in Alice Springs, or $180 for a family of four.

Ms Christie said the regional tour was an important way for the Australian Ballet to connect with audiences, and also with the next generation of dancers.

The tour is a partnership with the Australian Ballet School, where professional dancers such as Riley Lapham and Marcus ­Morelli appear on stage with graduation-year students.

A community outreach and education program is part of the tour – including a workshop this week at the Alice Springs School of the Air, held via Zoom.

Local dancers also had the ­opportunity in some locations to audition for a place in the dancer immersion program, in which ­selected students are invited to spend a week at the Australian Ballet’s studios in Melbourne.

Lapham, 22, and Morelli, 27, both went on regional tours with the Australian Ballet when they were students at the Australian Ballet School.

One of the tour’s many benefits, Lapham said, was the opportunity for student dancers to gain real-world performing experience in a variety of unfamiliar venues.

Morelli said the tour was a chance for the national company to play to different audiences, and people were not shy of showing their appreciation. “We get a lot of vocal audience members,” he said. “They get loud, which is very nice. We feed off the energy of that when we’re on stage.”