STAGE TUBE: A YEAR INSIDE THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET Ep. 1

Today The Australian Ballet has launched a 10 part web series, A year inside The Australian Ballet, following Senior Artist Amy Harris and Corps de ballet member Jake Mangakahia as they embark on our 50^th anniversary.  A new episode will be posted each month and are produced by Melbourne based videographers The Apiary.

Check out the first episode here!

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a dancer in The Australian Ballet -- the hard work, the performance highs, the tight-knit friendships, the laughs and challenges? Focusing on Telstra Ballet Dancer Award nominees Amy Harris and Jake Mangakahia, this new ten-part series will take you behind the scenes as never before to show you the inner workings of the company. In Episode One: January, the dancers return from their break to gear up for the 50th anniversary season.

Artists and artistic staff of The Australian Ballet, past and present, share an openness and love of audiences, the confidence to take risks, a spirited attack and the belief that technique on its own is never enough.  They give approximately 200 performances across the country every year – from Petipa to punk, Balanchine to Bangarra.

The company looks different today, significantly taller and more culturally diverse, just as Australian society is different. Over the years, dancers and teachers have been welcomed from China, England, France, Russia, Spain, Sweden, the USA and the USSR. And new ballet school graduates from Asian, Latin American and European backgrounds are helping to make the company look like a snapshot of contemporary Australia. It is a company attuned to its time and place in the world.  For more information on the Australian Ballet, visit:  http://www.australianballet.com.au/