Dancers at The Australian Ballet are poised to stage their first stop-work action in more than 40 years, delaying the company’s Melbourne opening night performance of Identity on Friday evening by “holding the curtain” for approximately 15 minutes.

Compared to some forms of industrial action, it’s a mild protest but it will be the first time that TAB dancers have resorted to withholding their labour since 1981.

The opening night audience will also be handed material explaining the dancers’ position in its ongoing negotiations with the company over pay. Dancers have also taken to social media to ask industry colleagues to show TAB management and board that the public supports dancers in their fight for financial security.

Meanwhile, The Australian Ballet has cancelled a one-off performance slated for the end of Friday’s show, a short work to be presented under its emerging choreographer Body Torque Up Late program. It is unclear whether its cancelation is related to the industrial action.

Daniel Riley’s THE HUM, part of Identity, performed by The Australian Ballet and Australian Dance Theatre. Photo © Daniel Boud

Pay negotiations began in September 2022 and in February 2023, dancers...