The McDonald College

For students at The McDonald College, bringing The Sleeping Beauty to the stage was about far more than learning choreography and preparing for a performance. Across months of rehearsals, students experienced the demands, discipline and collective responsibility of creating a full-length classical ballet, an opportunity Head of Classical Ballet Jane Kesby believes provides an important bridge between training in the studio and understanding what it truly means to work as part of a ballet company.

“As you can imagine, it is an enormous undertaking, yet so fulfilling,” Kesby says. Long before rehearsals begin, the production itself must be chosen with careful consideration of the dancers who will bring it to life. “The initial choice of production is always made with the students in mind. Who is capable of the principal roles, what opportunities are there, how many dancers are required, do we need any guest performers, do we have the costumes, and how do we make it come to life with an appropriate set in our performance space?” Once those decisions are made, rehearsals begin, continuing throughout Term 2 and into the July school holidays before performances in the first week of Term 3.

It is a significant commitment for students already balancing academic studies with an intensive ballet program, examinations, solo and group competitions and, for some, external training. Kesby says finding that balance requires flexibility from everyone involved. “We always try to make it work for all involved, it’s give and take. Not only do we ask students for commitment to the production and their peers by coming to all their rehearsals, but to also keep looking after themselves as well. Plenty of sleep, good nutrition and injury prevention are vital, particularly during Term 2 when they start to feel the effects of a demanding schedule.”

The rehearsal process is deliberately designed to give students an experience that reflects the expectations of professional ballet. Throughout the term, younger and senior students rehearse separately during their performing arts classes, before coming together during the holidays. Half day rehearsals take place during the second week of the July break, followed by a compulsory six-day rehearsal period for the entire cast. “This compulsory week is the first time that we can rehearse as an entire company altogether in the performance space,” Kesby explains. It is during this period that months of individual preparation begin to transform into a complete production.

For Kesby, experiencing a full-length ballet is an essential part of a young classical dancer’s education. Learning variations is important, but it cannot replicate the responsibility of contributing to an entire production. “It’s history. It’s tradition. It’s the foundations of all modern repertoire,” she says. “Working together as a company is so important, educational, fun and bonding. Your first contract in any ballet company would be as a corps de ballet dancer.”

That company experience teaches lessons extending well beyond technique. Students develop spatial awareness and stagecraft, learn backstage etiquette, take responsibility for props and costumes and discover how their individual performance affects everyone around them. “These are skills that the students will carry with them into all areas of their life,” Kesby says. “Together they are telling a story and creating a full-length production and when it all comes together, it’s magic.”

This year, The Sleeping Beauty offered an unusually large number of individual opportunities, allowing almost every dancer to experience a solo role of some kind. Kesby watched confidence build as the students moved from studio rehearsals into the theatre. “For those students that rehearsed regularly, we saw consistency, courage and their performance quality on stage,” she says. “During the final weeks of rehearsal, they are learning to correctly space themselves on stage, work their entrances and exits with the wings, and manage the lighting with a costume on. It is during this week that you really see just how much they have progressed from the studio to the stage.”

For Kesby, witnessing that transformation was one of the great rewards of the production. “This year was just beautiful to watch. I was just so proud of their maturity and how far they came with their technique, artistic quality, work ethic, focus and drive.”

Among the students taking on that responsibility was Matilda (Tilly) Byrne, who stepped into one of classical ballet’s most celebrated roles, Princess Aurora. It was a role she had long hoped to dance. “It is one of my dream roles, and I absolutely love the character,” Matilda says. “I was incredibly excited and grateful to be given this opportunity, especially as it is such a technically demanding role.”

With that excitement came an understanding of what lay ahead. Matilda was particularly looking forward to performing the Rose Adage, Aurora’s iconic variations and the Grand Pas de Deux, but she was also conscious of the expectations attached to such familiar choreography. “I was mostly nervous about being able to demonstrate the role in the best way possible, especially with things such as the iconic balances in the Rose Adage and being able to fully convey the story to the audience. However, I was just overjoyed and humbled when finding out I had been given this opportunity and role and was so excited to perform alongside my friends.”

The Rose Adage became one of the clearest measures of Matilda’s development. At the beginning, simply completing it felt daunting. “Starting rehearsals, it was very overwhelming and difficult to even complete the Rose Adage, and I was very worried that I wouldn’t develop the confidence and ability to perform it as well as I would want,” she recalls. Repetition gradually changed that. Running the choreography daily, listening to feedback and learning how to manage her thoughts allowed strength, stamina and confidence to develop together. “I found that staying calm and thinking of having less energy helped to ground and steady myself, as well as keeping myself focused and not dwelling on what could go wrong before going on stage.”

Her teachers were central to that progression. “My teachers helped me significantly to develop the strength and confidence to perform such dances through giving me plenty of rehearsal time and constant feedback to make me feel as prepared as possible,” Matilda says. “I definitely found my confidence growing while rehearsals progressed and my stamina significantly increased.”

Yet Aurora demands more than technical accomplishment. Across the ballet, she must evolve from the young princess celebrating her birthday into the mature ballerina audiences encounter in the final act. For Matilda, understanding that journey meant studying other interpretations before finding her own connection to the character. “I found inspiration from many professional dancers and watched how they played Aurora. I drew on these individual takes and tried to live her story as my own, as if I wasn’t playing her and instead that I was her. From that I could feel really connected to the character and was able to approach it more confidently.”

After months of preparation, it was the first complete dress rehearsal that finally shifted the production from something being rehearsed into something Matilda felt ready to perform. “I think the significant moment where I felt completely ready was after the first full dress rehearsal with lighting, as I could fully understand what performing would feel like and I felt more confident, mentally as well as physically, when completing the run.”

When the audience finally arrived and Matilda stepped onto the stage as Aurora, the nerves gave way to something unexpected. “The most overwhelming emotions that I felt were joy as well as accomplishment that I had made it to that point,” she says. “I remember feeling surprisingly calm when stepping onstage amidst all the nerves I was feeling beforehand, and I was overall proud that I was able to showcase what I had been working so hard on over the last two terms.”

The role ultimately showed Matilda something about her own capacity as a dancer. “I learnt more about what I am capable of as a dancer, as I was able to push myself to take on such a demanding role. Overall, I am proud of my development over the process and the improvement I have seen in not just my ability, but also my stamina and confidence.”

That development has continued beyond The Sleeping Beauty. Matilda recently attended Elmhurst Ballet School’s Summer School in the United Kingdom, giving her the opportunity to experience new teachers, choreographers and approaches to training. “It was such an amazing opportunity that I am incredibly grateful for,” she says. “I found it so interesting and beneficial to experience the training style of so many new teachers and choreographers.” The demanding days and unfamiliar repertoire challenged her while also giving her the experience of dancing within a completely new environment. “I particularly loved the experience of dancing in a new country and learning the way they danced in a new environment, while meeting so many new teachers and friends.”

For younger students, the production offered a different but equally important introduction to company life. Olivia O’Bryan danced Little Red Riding Hood, experiencing first-hand the commitment required to take a full-length ballet from rehearsal room to stage. “The whole experience was really rewarding; however, it was a really big commitment,” Olivia says. “We spent a lot of time in rehearsals, including during the holidays, but it was worth it to be part of such a big production.”

Olivia is also a boarder at The McDonald College, meaning the experience of the production did not necessarily end when rehearsal finished for the day. Back at the boarding house, The Sleeping Beauty remained part of the conversation. “It’s a mix, we’re usually exhausted after rehearsals, but we still help each other and talk about the show, and everyone is really supportive,” she says. Boarding itself has become an important part of school life for Olivia. “I really enjoy boarding because I get to be around all my friends. I especially love hanging out with them on the weekends.”

For many of the younger dancers, Kesby says their first full length production involves an exceptionally steep learning curve. They quickly discover that knowing the choreography is only the beginning. “They soon learn the importance of knowing the choreography well to support their corps de ballet skills with patterns and timing,” she says. “All the dancers have learnt to be adaptable. Injuries and illness can happen, and they can be moved into any position in a dance if required. It is always wonderful to see dancers stepping into positions without being asked to do so.”

Even the students entrusted with principal roles remain part of that collective responsibility. “The principal dancers are also required to dance within the group. This keeps them involved and humble,” Kesby explains. At the same time, the dedication required of those senior dancers becomes something the younger students can observe every day. “The commitment that the senior dancers show as they prepare for their solos and individual roles is incredible, and they are a shining example for the younger dancers to emulate.”

It is perhaps this shared experience that remains once the final curtain has fallen. For Olivia, her favourite part of performing Little Red Riding Hood was simply reaching the stage after so much preparation, but the memory she expects to carry with her happened once the performance itself was over. “The moment I’ll remember most is when the show finished and we were all celebrating and cheering,” she says. “It was really special after all the hard work.”

For Kesby, that moment is the culmination of everything a production such as The Sleeping Beauty is intended to teach. Principal dancers, soloists and corps de ballet may carry different responsibilities, but no role exists independently. Months of training, repetition, discipline and individual growth ultimately depend upon young dancers learning to trust one another and work towards something larger than themselves. By the time the curtain rises, they are no longer simply students performing individual steps. Together, they have become a company, and together, they are telling a story.