Ballet Theatre of Queensland (BTQ) heralded its 80th anniversary year with a production of Cinderella in January. Directed and choreographed by the company’s artistic director, Tim Brown, it featured a gorgeous Cinderella (Meghan Hansen and Zoe Brady) and a debonair Prince Charming (Tristan Fraser-Preston). Held at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, it the latest production for the youth dance company, which offers professionally staged performance opportunities for talented young Queensland dancers.
BTQ is Australia’s oldest ballet company, pre-dating both the Australian Ballet and the Queensland Ballet. It operates as a not-for-profit incorporated organisation, governed by a board, and is independent from any dance school. With no government funding, the lavish productions rely on the talents and expertise of the creative and production teams overseen by executive director Denise Richardson.
The company's beautifully produced classical ballets are targeted to a family audience and aim to foster an appreciation of dance among the younger generation. BTQ auditions annually for company members and stages ballets with two casts to provide dancers with the opportunity to perform in a variety of roles.
Cinderella drew on the performance talents of 58 dancers aged from 10 to 18 years from 34 dance schools stretching from Hervey Bay to Kingscliff. Sets were designed by Bill Haycock and costumes by Carmel Wenck.
The company was founded in 1937 by Phyllis May Danaher (MBE, the founding president of the Queensland branch of the Australasian Operatic Dancing Society, later the Queensland Ballet Society. In 1953 the society established the Brisbane Ballet Theatre to provide professional standard performance opportunities to local dancers. Prior to their inception, ballet had only been seen by the public through irregular visits from international touring companies. Danaher choreographed the company’s first original work, The Wasps, which was performed at Brisbane City Hall in 1956, followed by Variations Symphoniques in 1957. The company was renamed Ballet Theatre of Queensland in 1963, with Danaher as its director, a role she served in until 1984.
Many respected dancers and choreographers have worked with the company over the years, including Garth Welch (now a patron of the company), Marilyn Jones, Maggie Sietsma, Natalie Weir, Graham Collins and Wendy and Judith Lowe. A treasure trove of annual past productions includes Les Sylphides, Graduation Ball, Pinocchio, Paquita, Sylvia, The Nutcracker, Peter and the Wolf, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland and The Little Mermaid. From the 1970s to late 1980s BTQ toured classical ballets extensively throughout South East Queensland, with dancers billeted by families of local dance schools.
The company also offers a costume and set hire service to ballet schools, high schools and youth performance companies along with two scholarships available to BTQ dancers. The Phyllis Danaher Memorial Scholarship is available to a dancer who has danced with BTQ for at least one year and the Jodie White-Bivona Memorial Scholarship is awarded to a dancer who has danced with BTQ for two consecutive years and shows outstanding ability, dedication and love of ballet. This scholarship was been set up in memory of Jodie White-Bivona who passed away in 2012 and was joint artistic director along with her husband, Boris Bivona, for 10 years.
The unique recipe that is BTQ has provided the ballet world with a raft of talent with many dancers moving on from the company to international performance careers and opportunities. Just in the last few years, dancers from the company have been accepted to the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in Saint Petersburg as well as the Royal Ballet School and the Australian Ballet School.
Tim Brown explains that BTQ offers a range of growth opportunities for dancers including an appreciation for “how dancers, choreographers and designers come together to create a show from start to finish”. He says the dancers also learn “a good work ethic as well as the skills to communicate and socialise with fellow dancers in a large company setting”. This helps to prepare them for life as well as for working effectively within a team.
The company has a close association with the Queensland Ballet. Principal artist Clare Morehen and former members Amelia Waller and Hao Bin often visit to take class or assist with rehearsals. “Working with people who are either currently in the profession as dancers or choreographers, or recently retired, gives our dancers a very valuable insight into the profession,” Richardson says. “The generosity of everyone we have invited to coach in passing on their vast experience has inspired, extended and developed our dancers immeasurably. It also acts as a very important validation of the wonderful work Tim and our rehearsal director Liz Whelan do in creating these ballets.”
The John Oxley Library in Brisbane has more information on the history of BTQ following the 2013 donation of the Dayne Cory Records. Cory was a dancer and administrator with BTQ for over 20 years. His donation of programs, newspaper clippings, flyers, posters, recordings, choreographic instructions and costume designs along with over 1000 negatives and photos showcases the extensive contribution of BTQ (and those who have supported the company) to the history of ballet in Queensland. Richardson says that in addition to the John Oxley Library collection, the State Library of Queensland has recently approached BTQ asking permission to archive its website in its mission to "build a comprehensive collection of Queensland publications to ensure the availability of our documentary heritage both now and in the future”.
(Denise Richardson is one of Dance Australia's Queensland correspondents.)
Pictured: Cinderella (Meghan Hansen) and Prince Charming (Tristan Fraser-Preston) rehearse. Photo: Caitlin Boag Photography.
– MICHELLE DURSUN