Panel discussion
Reckoning and Reflection: Intergenerational voices in Australasian ballet
How do we reckon with ballet’s past to imagine its future? A free evening panel discussion featuring Janet Karin, Lynette Wills, Tammi Gisell, Serena Graham and Nicole Corea. Join us as we reflect on the place of ballet in Australian cultural life.
Hosted by Gareth Belling, with Yvette Grant, the conversation will invite personal reflections and critical perspectives on where ballet in Australia has come from, where it now stands and what futures might be imagined for it.
In keeping with the symposium theme, the panel will ask: what ghosts linger on our stages, in our institutions and in our studios? What skeletons lurk in the closets of Australia’s ballet institutions? And what experiences continue to haunt the repertoire?
All are warmly invited to attend what promises to be a lively and searching conversation with five living ballet legends. The panel discussion will be held on Wurundjeri land at the University of Melbourne’s Parkville Campus.
This is a FREE EVENT, but please register your intention to attend. Discussion will begin at 5:30pm and run through to 7:00pm.
Register for this Event via Humanitix
Symposium
Locating the Spectral in Australasian Ballet
A one-day symposium bringing together experts from around the country to investigate how ballet remains haunted by its past — by ghosts, spirits, colonial histories and fraught absences.
Expect a day of thought-provoking discussion, performances of memory and glimpses of ballet’s hidden and forgotten stories.
The symposium will be held at the University of Melbourne’s Parkville Campus and will feature multiple sessions showcasing original research from across the country.
Presentations will trace how ballet’s traditions are unsettled by the ghosts of colonialism, gendered conventions and migrant exchange, while also exploring ballet’s spectral presences in contemporary dance, art objects and archives.
The day also features an interview with former Australian Dance Theatre dancer Kialea-Nadine Williams, and a boutique exhibition of ballet ephemera.
The symposium is ticketed and includes morning and afternoon teas, as well as admission to the free panel discussion (above).
Join us for a day of conversation, scholarship and spooky discoveries as we bring Australia’s haunted ballet histories into the light.
All paying symposium attendees will receive a discount code for one production in The Australian Ballet 2026 Melbourne season. The discount code will be emailed to attendees after the symposium. The production title will be announced at a future date. Our thanks to The Australian Ballet for this generous offer.
Symposium Program
Download Symposium Program PDF
A list of abstracts and biographies is now available.
Download List of Abstracts PDF
Download List of Abstracts and Biographies PDF (presenters only)
Download List of Biographies PDF (including chairs and panel guests)
Registration Information
Please Register for this Event via Humanitrix.
Please send enquiries to:
ballet-history@unimelb.edu.au
Call for Papers for reference.
Organisers
Rachel Fensham, Andrew Fuhrmann, Caitlyn Lehmann with Yvette Grant and Gareth Belling, University of Melbourne.
For any queries, please write to the organisers at the email address provided above.
Banner image credit: Roger Kemp, Figure in Action - Ballet Series, c.1936-1940. Unsigned, oil on card. Private collection, with permission kindly granted by the Kemp family
We regret that the planned interview with Garry Stewart is no longer able to go ahead. We know many of you were looking forward to this, and we appreciate your understanding.
Supporters
The Organising Committee wishes to acknowledge the support of:
The Australian Ballet
The Clem and Nina Christesen Bequest
School of Culture and Communication
Australian Research Council (LP220200559): Re-Activating Australian Dance Theatre’s Archive for the Future
K M Christensen and E A Bond Bequest
Victorian College of the Arts