♦ Location: West End, Queensland – Australia
♦ Artistic Director: Ivan Gil-Ortega
♦ Affiliated School: Queensland Ballet Academy
♦ Founded in 1960 by Charles Lisner OBE
Queensland Ballet 2026 Season
The Queensland Ballet 2026 season, titled “A Season of Connection and Collaboration”, marks the first that Ivan Gil-Ortega has curated since taking over the helm in February of 2025. In the vain of the company’s mission for next year, internationally-renowned choreographers will make their mark on Australian soil.
“The 2026 season captures dance in all its breadth, timeless classical masterpieces, bold new choreographic voices shaping the artform’s future, and beloved ballets reimagined for today’s
audiences.Queensland Ballet’s season balances discovery and tradition, and is designed to inform, enlighten and broaden audiences’ understanding of dance.”
Ivan Gil-Ortega, Artistic Director of Queensland Ballet
Christian Spuck’s Messa da Requiem opens the season (in collaboration with Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Brisbane Chorale and Canticum Chamber Choir) while the Staatsballett Berlin director’s The Seventh Blue appears on the STRINGS triple bill alongside Goya Montero’s Chacona and Edward Clugg’s Chamber Minds.
After a showing in November 2025 in Surfers Paradise, Garry Stewart’s Elastic Hearts, set to music by Adelaide-born Sia makes its way to the West End. “The track, Elastic Heart, speaks to the strength and resilience of the human heart and human relationships, the interconnections we have to each other, and the necessity for finding community,” Stewart explains.
Hamlet, choreographed by Leo Mujić and set to Saint-Saëns and Tchaikovsky, will see its Australian premiere featuring costumes by Manuela Paladin Šabanović.
In the fall, Queensland Ballet will present the eighth edition of Bespoke, a program dedicated to raising the voice of Australian artists and – for the first time – invited choreographers, composers, and designers.
“I was trained under one of the 20 th centuries most prolific choreographers, John Cranko, who believed in developing not only dancers, but also musicians, choreographers and designers. That philosophy has stayed with me throughout my entire career,” Gil-Ortega explained.
Closing the season is a newly-commissioned Nutcracker to be directed and choreographed by Derek Deane and designed by Lez Brotherston. This re-imagined version of the holiday classic will introduce audiences to new characters and plot twists.
Source: Queensland Ballet
Queensland Ballet Upcoming Performances
Queensland Ballet: Messa da Requiem
Queensland Ballet: Elastic Hearts
Queensland Ballet: STRINGS
Queensland Ballet: Hamlet
Queensland Ballet: Bespoke
Queensland Ballet: The Nutcracker in South Brisbane
Queensland Ballet Reviews
Queensland Ballet News and Features
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