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Australian Ballet principal artist Amy Harris has announced her retirement, to come at the end of the November Ashton double bill season in Sydney. She will be dancing Marguerite in Marguerite and Armand . Miss Harris, wife to senior artist Jarryd Madden (who will be co-hosting AusBallet's World Ballet Day stream once again) and mother to daughter Willow and son Phoenix, has been with the company 22 years. She's always been a popular dancer, winning the People's Choice in the company's internal Ballet Dancer Awards twice before winning "the big one". She joined AusBallet in 2002 and was promoted to coryphée in 2007, soloist in 2011 and senior artist in 2012. In 2018 she was promoted to principal artist on stage after dancing the secondary lead of Tertulla in Lucas Jervies' Spartacus. She's never danced Giselle, but Myrtha. Not Alice, but the Queen of Hearts. Not Cinderella, but Stepmother. Never Odette or Odette-Odile in any of the three Swan Lakes we've had during her time in the company. Not Juliet, but Lady Capulet. Not even a Sugar Plum Fairy as far as I can remember. Quite odd. London audiences may remember her as the Baroness in the Graeme Murphy Swan Lake some years ago, or in pdds from Concerto and Anna Karenina in the recent 60th anniversary gala, both with Nathan Brook, who will be her Armand. He btw is my tip for next male principal.

Australian Ballet dancers will hold the curtain for 15 minutes tomorrow night. I shall report, as I will be there. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/jun/22/australian-ballet-dancers-strike-first-industrial-action-42-years?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Our daughter just finished a Diploma of Dance in Australia. We are trying to decide if it’s worthwhile for her to do the Advanced Diploma or whether we should put the money towards extra training. She’s very keen to explore opportunities in Europe, so we’re also not sure what Australian qualifications, or level of qualifications, are useful. Does anyone have experience or knowledge of heading to Europe after studying in Australia?

Melbourne: The Happy Prince - new Graeme Murphy - 19-26 March Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Wheeldon - 8-22 June LAC - Jean-Christophe Maillot - Les Ballets de Monte Carlo - 27 June-6 July Sylvia - Stanton Welch - 31 August-10 September The Nutcracker - Sir Peter Wright - 17-28 September Sydney: Verve - mixed bill of Stephen Baynes' Constant Variants, Alice Topp's Aurum, and Tim Harbour's Filigree and Shadow - 5-25 April The Happy Prince - 1-18 May Sylvia - 8-23 November The Nutcracker - 30 November-18 December Plus Alice in Brisbane 25 February-2 March and The Nutcracker in Adelaide 8-12 October. Plus Paris in July, and a mixed bill at the Joyce Theater in New York in late May, comprising Aurum, Unspoken Dialogues by Stephen Baynes, and a new Tim Harbour. Casting will be available on the company website approximately one week before each season opens. Allegedly. My brother and I have a joint subscription to Australian Ballet's Melbourne seasons. This means five nights over the period March-September. For 2017 it was $636 each for second-rank seats. For 2018 the exact same seats will cost us $812 each, which is $176 or (I think) a 27% increase. And for three of five shows we're further back than usual as they're removing the front two rows to accommodate a larger orchestra pit. Sadly all the cheaper seats are either way at the side (restricted view although they rarely admit it) or way up the back. Grrr 😡

I've started a new topic as the other one is focused on casting. QPAC's YouTube channel has several film clips re: Royal Ballet events. This one gives an overview of their Made on the Body choreography exhibition.

I am so sad to learn of the death of Richie Benaud this morning. He was one of the heroes of my childhood and adolescence. He captained Australia and was one of the most formidable bowlers of his day. After distinguishing himself on the cricket field he began a new career as a broadcaster. I regarded his commentaries as one of the most insightful of all. This clip from the BBC website records his achievements over half a century. I now feel very much older than I did before I read this news. Such an unhappy start to the new cricket season.