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50 Years Of The Australian Ballet
  • Browse through the decades; search for a ballet, person or event; or dive right in through the spotlight.

    • 2010s
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    • 1990s
    • 1980s
    • 1970s
    • 1960s
  • Some of the text in The Australian Ballet timeline is adapted from essays in Luminous. These were written by Valerie Lawson (The Sixties), Jill Sykes (The Seventies), Lee Christofis (The Eighties), Michael Shmith (The Nineties) and Deborah Jones (The New Millennium).

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All of
John Meehan


Ballet ’74, The Australian Ballet’s choreographic workshop, is held in Canberra.

26 September 1974

Marilyn Rowe and John Meehan are invited to dance the lead roles in every performance of the 10th-anniversary season of The Merry Widow.

November 1985

Anne Woolliams becomes artistic director and introduces John Cranko’s Onegin to the repertoire.

1 September 1976

Glen Tetley creates the sinuous, edgy work Gemini on The Australian Ballet.

March – April 1973

The Australian Ballet’s first choreographic workshop is presented in Melbourne.

8 July 1971

The company travels to the USA, where they perform The Merry Widow with a 57-year-old Margot Fonteyn.

8 June – 25 July 1976

The Merry Widow, the first full-length work commissioned by The Australian Ballet, has its world premiere in Melbourne.

13 November 1975

The Australian Ballet begins its long association with the Sydney Opera House as Garth Welch says farewell.

7 December 1973




Celebrating 50 Years Of The Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet Telstra


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