The Australian Ballet Unveils 2027 Season

What were you doing in 1980? That was the last time Australian audiences witnessed Frederick Ashton’s comedic ballet Cinderella and its Sergei Prokofiev score.

Next year, after a 47-year hiatus, the show will return to stages from September to December, premiering in Adelaide before moving on to Melbourne and Sydney. It’s part of the Ashton Worldwide Celebration, a homage to the late British choreographer. The Australian Ballet is the only company in the southern hemisphere performing Cinderella for the five-year event. It’s one of five shows on the cards for 2027.

“Season 2027 is one of the biggest seasons we’ve ever presented; a year of grandeur, rich storytelling and masterful choreography,” the Australian Ballet’s artistic director David Hallberg wrote in a statement. “I believe this season reflects the diverse tastes of our audiences, offering something that resonates with every person who walks through our doors.”

The season commences in Melbourne in March, with Hallberg’s own interpretation of Swan Lake, featuring 250 costumes and a full orchestra playing Tchaikovsky’s score. The show originally premiered in 2023, but expect some slight tweaks this year at the newly refurbished Ian Potter State Theatre. Sydneysiders will get their turn in April, at the Joan Sutherland Theatre in the Opera House. The Australian Ballet has performed various versions of Swan Lake about 710 times, making it one of the most enduring productions in the company’s 64-year-history. 

The season features three more productions. Dutch show Kunstkamer, created by an ensemble of renowned choreographers – Paul Lightfoot, Sol León, Marco Goecke, and Crystal Pite – is one of the company’s most requested. The non-linear work is considered a modern classic, and features an eclectic soundtrack mixing classical, modern classical and pop music, from Franz Schubert to Benjamin Britten to Janis Joplin. It’s returning to Sydney and Melbourne after premiering in 2022.

Mixed Bill: Modern Masters, showing in Sydney and Melbourne, consists of three very different ballets: George Balanchine’s classical Duo Concertant, Jerome Robbins’s comedic The Concert and William Forsythe’s contemporary and intensely physical The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, which premiered in 1996.

Melbourne audiences will also be able to catch the Australian premiere of Mayerling, by the late Sir Kenneth MacMillan, former artistic director and principal choreographer of the Royal Ballet in London. Created in 1978, at his creative peak, the dark, dramatic work deals with Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf and his young mistress taking their own lives.

Swan Lake

Melbourne: March 16–27 at Ian Potter State Theatre

Sydney April 9–28 at Joan Sutherland Theatre

Kunstkamer

Sydney: May 6–19 at Joan Sutherland Theatre

Melbourne: June 11–19 at Ian Potter State Theatre

Mayerling

Melbourne: June 29–July 10 at Ian Potter State Theatre

Cinderella

Adelaide: September 4–11 at Festival Theatre

Melbourne: September 25–October 9 at Ian Potter State Theatre

Sydney: November 26–December 22 at Joan Sutherland Theatre 

Mixed Bill: Modern Masters

Melbourne: October 16–23 at Ian Potter State Theatre

Sydney: November 12–20 at Joan Sutherland Theatre

australianballet.com.au