It seems appropriate that the most recent production of the Queensland Ballet of Romeo and Juliet was a tragedy. The problem is that, although the program is completed, the tragedy continues for the company, with shock media reports on restructuring, which essentially means job reduction jobs, including those of dancers.
The company that the former artistic director Li Cunxin has turned into power with an international reputation is now “besieged”, as a title said.
And even if we understand that times are difficult, it is sad to see this state of affairs disclosed in a national newspaper. What should have occurred is that the president of Queensland Brett Clark should have faced Brisbane's media to tell us what was going on to our company, which is largely going on with our money thanks to the funding of the State and Federal.
The incoming artistic director Ivan Gil-orta must be mortified. The first indication that something was wrong with it was the inconvenient separation of the company with its predecessor, the international star of the Ballet Leanne Benjamin, who left differences with the company on money. Now we know why.
The whole case has a touch of Yes, Minister on this subject. Do you remember the Swish hospital which costs so much that they could not afford the patients? Queensland Ballet has a new swishy building but cannot afford to keep all their dancers.
In the end, the company has only blame for the situation in which it has entered
The company recorded a deficit of $ 1.57 million in 2023 and has not published its 2024 annual report, but we can guess that this will not be good news.
The absence of an increase in federal funding does not help and it is a bit of a scandal in itself, but in the end, the company has only to blame for the situation in which it was based. Li Cunxin (who retired due to poor health at the end of 2023) developed the company and extended the Queensland Ballet Academy, which is an incredible institution. The federal government should inject money there, but is not. Instead, he still considers Sydney and Melbourne as more important than us.
Apparently, job losses will be a mixture of voluntary and compulsory redundancies. They still work that and are busy shaking in the process, publishing a declaration, but that no interview will be given and they have not said how many staff will be released.
“Queensland Ballet is proud to have set up firm foundations that will hold our 65 -year organization at Strong Stead for the future,” explains Brett Clark, president of the QB. “We have invested in our infrastructure by building houses for our artists, our next generation of artists and all in our sector and our community.
“We have also developed a culture of support from our audience family, donors and corporate partners who supported us thanks to annual support, capital campaigns and now to our endowment.
“Over the years, we have worked hard to take advantage of our basic subsidies from the governments of states and federals and we have shamelessly recommended the parity of federal funding to put us online with our peers in New South Wales and Victoria. To date, we have failed.
“In 2025, to ensure our continuous sustainability, we made the decision difficult to revise our organization through our artistic and commercial teams, which will see us goodbye to some of our artists and artistic workers. It's not an easy time for us. What we know is that we have to align ourselves. ”
It's sad, but obviously necessary. However, this is a shock and removes the brilliant to have the most spectacular headquarters of any Australian ballet business, in the renovated Thomas Dixon center, which cost $ 100 million and obviously emptied the chests.
The Minister of State for the Arts, John-Paul Langbroek, said: “The Queensland ballet is going through a period of restructuring their business and they continue to consult the staff as part of this process. The company is a respected brand in Queensland and I closely monitor this situation. ”
We love our state ballet company and we wish them good luck, but we need a little more transparency on their part.
