The FIRST AUSTRALIAN BALLET
CLASSICAL BALLET
In the early 1930s, when Australia was considered a cultural backwater, Louise Lightfoot and Misha Burlakov (who had danced with Pavlova’s Company) founded the First Australian Ballet from the students of their large ballet school in Sydney, where they taught the Cecchetti method of ballet.
They first produced COPPELIA in 1931, followed by a number of both Pavlova’s and Diaghilev’s ballets, including Autumn Leaves, The Nutcracker, Le Spectre de la Rose, Les Sylphides, Carnival and Lake of Swans, performed at venues such as the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Savoy Theatre, as well as studio performances and many charity performances all over Sydney.
Before the Ballets Russes ever visited Australia, the First Australian Ballet had already performed the ballets Scherezade and Petrouchka.
The last ballet Louise Lightfoot produced for the First Australian Ballet, before moving to India, in 1938 was The Blue God.
In the early 1930s, when Australia was considered a cultural backwater, Louise Lightfoot and Misha Burlakov (who had danced with Pavlova’s Company) founded the First Australian Ballet from the students of their large ballet school in Sydney, where they taught the Cecchetti method of ballet.
They first produced COPPELIA in 1931, followed by a number of both Pavlova’s and Diaghilev’s ballets, including Autumn Leaves, The Nutcracker, Le Spectre de la Rose, Les Sylphides, Carnival and Lake of Swans, performed at venues such as the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Savoy Theatre, as well as studio performances and many charity performances all over Sydney.
Before the Ballets Russes ever visited Australia, the First Australian Ballet had already performed the ballets Scherezade and Petrouchka.
The last ballet Louise Lightfoot produced for the First Australian Ballet, before moving to India, in 1938 was The Blue God.
Students of Lightfoot-Burlakov Studio performing modern dance.
Sun photo
MODERN DANCE
Lightfoot felt that fluid dance was as necessary for a dancer as ballet training is. In the 1930s, Lightfoot studied, performed and taught the modern 'plastic' dance style of Mary Wigman, and choreographed and produced original modern ballets for the First Australian Ballet, including Incoming Tide, Rebirth, The Fruit of Forgetfulness, and Roksanda to a modern score by composer Roy Maling.
Lightfoot felt that fluid dance was as necessary for a dancer as ballet training is. In the 1930s, Lightfoot studied, performed and taught the modern 'plastic' dance style of Mary Wigman, and choreographed and produced original modern ballets for the First Australian Ballet, including Incoming Tide, Rebirth, The Fruit of Forgetfulness, and Roksanda to a modern score by composer Roy Maling.
