The Australian Ballet’s 2024 program is studded with boldface names. The company brings back George Balanchine’s glamorous Jewels for an Adelaide-only season. A revival of Peter Wright’s traditional, beloved The Nutcracker ends 2024, just in time for Christmas, while the year gets underway with the revival of Christopher Wheeldon’s family-friendly Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

There’s a ballet about the ever-fascinating, ill-fated Carmen, with a score based on Bizet’s opera, that’s new to Australia. On the contemporary front audiences will be introduced to one of this country’s hottest choreographers, Stephanie Lake, when she makes her mainstage TAB debut.

Principal Artist Callum Linnane as Oscar, The Australian Ballet. Photo © Simon Eeles

There is no bigger name, though, than that of legendary wit, playwright, novelist and poet Oscar Wilde. The extraordinary riches of his life and works will be fashioned into a full-length ballet by Wheeldon, arguably the world’s most celebrated creator of sumptuous big-scale works. There is Alice, of course, as well as The Winter’s Tale, based on Shakespeare’s play...