Queensland Ballet 2026 Season
Image: Bespoke
Queensland Ballet’s Artistic Director – Spanish-born Ivan Gil-Ortega – is a former principal with Stuttgart Ballet and Dutch National Ballet. For his inaugural season for Queensland Ballet, Ivan is bringing his global creative connections to Brisbane, including five international choreographers: Christian Spuck (Germany); Leo Mujic (Croatia); Derek Deane (England); Anabelle Lopez Ochoa (Argentina); and Goyo Montero (Spain). Just ahead of Queensland Ballet’s season launch, Beth Keehn spoke to Ivan to learn more about his creative programme for 2026.
Beth Keehn (BK): It looks like a very exciting year ahead. How would you sum up your 2026 season in one word?
Ivan: Excellence!
BK: And how do you design a Queensland Ballet season?
Ivan: Before I put the season together, I look at the Company and where it is, and what I feel it needs. The Company has had a rollercoaster couple of years, so I plan where we want to start in order to get to where we want to go. I decided that what was important was a repertoire to build the Company, bring balance, and create an atmosphere for a unified Company, looking at how we can be strong together. I look at how we can make a difference, and how we can have a unique identity. I am also a huge advocate for bringing a lot of the arts together. Because I grew up in an Opera House – everybody lives under the same roof, everybody has the same stage. We all have the same passion and we can also share the stage together – and that is something that has been a very important part of my career – being able to do things with the opera, with the orchestra, with the dancers all together – I am really keen on exploring those collaborations where we can, and to show that we are more than just individuals.
Also, I want audiences to have a feeling of belonging. This Company belongs to them. It belongs to the people. It belongs to Queensland.
Image: Ivan Gil Ortega. Photographer: Karine Grace.
BK: You are the only Australian-based judge on several prestigious international ballet competitions. To stay informed about upcoming talent and developments in ballet do you travel a lot throughout the year?
Ivan: I don’t travel a lot, especially this year because my priority is Queensland Ballet and making sure that everything that happens here now has a direction, has a purpose, and everybody is on the same page … but I have travelled around Australia and next week I am going to China to the Beijing Men’s Academy competition – the Director in Beijing is someone I know very well, and I am trying to keep in touch with the people I have crossed paths with in my career. That helps me to know what’s happening, and the talent that’s coming through at all levels, and I think that’s important. We need to keep it real, but up to date. That’s why part of the season’s programming is bringing that international flavour here to Brisbane, to enrich the audience, but also – most importantly – the dancers, and the future creators that we have within our community. That’s why our Bespoke programme is very important – because I want to be able to export, not only import.
BK: Is this part of the legacy that you’d like to leave with Queensland Ballet?
Ivan: Absolutely! I want to create that platform to show the world that we create a lot of interesting stuff here too that can be exported.
BK: Queensland Ballet will be performing in many different venues across the state – from Home of the Arts (HOTA) at the Gold Coast to the new Glasshouse Theatre at QPAC.
Ivan: Yes, Elastic Hearts will premiere at HOTA before the show comes to Brisbane. We have a three-year deal with HOTA where we present specific works with them and then take them to Brisbane and Queensland audiences to have that experience.
Image: Elastic Hearts. Photo David Kelly
BK: Elastic Hearts is inspired by the music of Sia. Your 2026 Season notes say that you will also be using the music of the Bee Gees and INXS. What is your thinking behind these pieces?
Ivan: These shows are still at the idea stage and I’m working on those to make them come true. It’s all about connecting dots. Also, I think there can sometimes be a preconceived idea of what ballet looks like – but tutus and pointe shoes are just part of ballet. Our Bespoke programme shows that ballet is much broader than that. Also, where are we going to be in 15 or 20 years? We have another generation to come, and at Queensland Ballet, we can do something that I think is very important for humankind, which is live performance. You don’t see us through a screen and a camera – you have to experience the live performance. And I think that’s what makes the Arts so important. At the Talbot Theatre, there is almost no distance between the dancers and the audience, and you can really engage with what’s happening on stage.
BK: You have lived in Brisbane now for almost a year – but have you ever experienced an Australian Christmas?
Ivan: No, I have never been in Australia for Christmas! And this year I will be in Spain with my mum and my family – first in Zurich and then to Spain. I lived in Zurich for the past 11 years and prior to that, 20 years in Germany, so I like my winters with snow! I was here in Brisbane this winter and I said, ‘Do not say this is winter!’
BK: What else do you miss about Europe?
Ivan: I miss being up in the mountains skiing. Skiing is my thing! It is my way of meditation and being in peace and with myself and enjoying the connection with nature. The best thing about being up in the mountains is that your phone doesn’t work!
Image: Academy Gala
BK: I suppose when you were dancing, you were not allowed to ski?
Ivan: I was definitely not supposed to!
BK: Do you remember when you decided that ballet was what you wanted to do with your life?
Ivan: I almost don’t remember because I have been in ballet all my life! I do remember having a conversation with my mother when I had to decide whether ballet was what I was going to do or not. I was 13 years old! My mother sat me down and said: “OK we need to have a serious conversation. If you want to be a ballet dancer, there are some things we need to do; and if you don’t, there are some things you need to do!” So, she gave me a couple of weeks to think about it. This was an important decision because it meant I had to leave home – I was 14 when I went to Madrid to study. My mum was working, and we lived with my grandparents. I was away during the week and every weekend I travelled for 8 hours on the bus to home, and 8 hours on the bus back to the school. That lasted until I was 17, which is when I had my first contract to go to Stuttgart.
BK: Had anyone in your family been involved in dance?
Ivan: No, nobody! My mum loved going to the theatre in Barcelona where she used to watch the ballet and opera. I was a hyperactive kid and in kindergarten, one of the activities was ballet. The director said, “Look at him, he never stops moving, so why don’t we put him in ballet?” There were three boys – I was four, and the other two were five and six years old. That is now 44 years ago and we three are still friends today.
BK: Queensland Ballet has a worldclass talent pipeline with the Jette Parker Young Artists and the Queensland Ballet Academy, and your season highlights that training as well.
Ivan: Yes, our training programme means we are able to do so much. We don’t have to think little about ourselves – on the contrary. And in fact, we also create in Brisbane and in Queensland. We can create, and that's what we are here for.
BK: What are you most looking forward to about the 2026 Season?
Ivan: I am looking forward to getting into the studio. I will be staging a couple of works, and where I really get joy is working in the studio with the dancers. Normally the demands of my role don’t allow much time with the dancers, but I like to do it and I think it’s important because it gives me a one-on-one with all the dancers – it’s good for them and for me and good for the Company – so that’s what I really look forward to.
Queensland Ballet’s 2026 Season will include:
27 March to 4 April 2026 – Glasshouse Theatre – Messa da Requiem (Verdi), directed and choreographed by Christian Spuck, in collaboration with Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO), Brisbane Chorale, and Canticum Chamber Choir.
Image: Messa da Requiem. Artists Stattsballett and Stattsoper Berlin. Photographer: Serghei Gherciu
30 April to 2 May 2026 – Talbot Theatre, Thomas Dixon Centre – Elastic Hearts, directed and choreographed by Garry Stewart, featuring music by Sia, arranged to orchestral score by Elliott Wheeler and recorded by the QSO.
22 to 30 May 2026 – Playhouse, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) – Strings: A Triple Bill – Chacona (choreographed by Goyo Montero from Spain); The Seventh Blue (choreographed by Christian Spuck from Germany); Chamber Minds (choreographed by Edward Clugg from Romania) – three Australian premieres that will tour to Toowoomba and Cairns.
Image: Hamlet by Leo Mujic. Artists Croatian National Ballet Zagreb. Photographeer: Darja StravsTisu
19 June to 18 July 2026 – Talbot Theatre, Thomas Dixon Centre – Australian premiere of Hamlet, choreographed by Leo Mujic (Croation National Theatre), costumes by Manuela Paladin Sabanovic, staging by Stefano Katuna.
26 June to 4 July 2026 – Talbot Theatre, Thomas Dixon Centre – Red Riding Hood and the Wolf: A Fairytale First Step into Ballet, choreographed by Paul Boyd with narration by Sarah McIntosh.
6 to 8 August 2026 – Talbot Theatre, Thomas Dixon Centre – Gala, the Academy of Queensland Ballet’s annual gala, celebrating the future of ballet.
24 to 26 September 2026 – Talbot Theatre, Thomas Dixon Centre – Soiree, the Academy of Queensland Ballet, inspired by the visual art of Jeffrey Smart, in collaboration with Philip Bacon Galleries and Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra.
2 to 17 October 2026 – Talbot Theatre, Thomas Dixon Centre – Bespoke, a contemporary platform for new creative voices, featuring new works by Australian choreographers, designers, composers and artists.
9 to 19 December 2026 – QPAC – The Nutcracker, a new commission directed and choreographed by Derek Deane (Royal Ballet and English National Ballet), designed by Lez Brotherston (Adventures in Motion Pictures).
Find out more: www.queenslandballet.com.au
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