West Australian Ballet will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2027 with a season that looks back to the company’s beginnings while introducing new works, productions and venues.

Australia’s oldest continuously performing ballet company will open its anniversary year at Perth’s Quarry Amphitheatre with Ballet at the Quarry: Kira, named in honour of the former Ballets Russes dancer Kira Bousloff, who founded the company in 1952.

Ballet at the Quarry. Photo © Hypnosis Creative Agency/Mauro Palmieri

The program (5-27 February) pairs Les Sylphides – Bousloff’s favourite ballet and a work she staged for West Australian Ballet’s first Perth Festival appearance in 1955 – with the West Australian premiere of Australian choreographer Stanton Welch’s Divergence. Welch is the son of former West Australian Ballet artistic director Garth Welch.

From 14 May, the company will present West Australian premieres of two major 20th-century works: Sir Frederick Ashton’s The Dream, his one-act interpretation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land. Ashton’s work forms part of the international Ashton Worldwide 2024–2028 festival, while the presentation of Kylián’s ballet coincides with celebrations marking the choreographer’s 80th birthday.

Genesis. Photo © Hypnosis Creative Agency/Mauro Palmieri

The company’s annual Genesis season (from 24 June), devoted to experimentation and new choreography, will also move to a new home in 2027. Having outgrown the West Australian Ballet Centre and moved to the Dolphin Theatre in 2026, Genesis will be presented at Studio Underground at the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia.

From 3 September, West Australian Ballet will then revisit one of the works most closely associated with its history with Coppélia. Bousloff commissioned the ballet in 1956, while subsequent versions have included Luis Moreno’s production and Chrissie Parrott’s distinctly Australian 1998 interpretation. The new production by West Australian Ballet resident choreographer Greg Horsman relocates the comic tale to 19th-century Hahndorf, South Australia, incorporating mechanical dolls, mistaken love and AFL.

The Snow Queen Hero. Photo © Hypnosis Creative Agency/Mauro Palmieri

The anniversary year will conclude (from 19 November) with the Australian premiere of Scottish Ballet’s The Snow Queen, created by Scottish Ballet artistic director Christopher Hampson. Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale that inspired Disney’s Frozen, it will be the first Scottish Ballet production presented by West Australian Ballet.

Artistic director Leanne Stojmenov said the anniversary was an opportunity to honour the company’s history while looking ahead.

“Our 75th anniversary is about honouring our past without being held by it,” Stojmenov said. “It’s about taking everything that is wonderful about this company, its history, its resilience, its sense of place, and celebrating the extraordinary people who will take it forward from here.”

For more information on the West Australian Ballet in 2027, visit waballet.com.au