The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust
(AETT) was established under the guidance
of H. C. ?Nugget' Coombs (Governor, Commonwealth
Bank), Charles Moses (General Manager,
Australian Broadcasting Commission) and
John Douglas Pringle (Editor,
The Sydney Morning Herald),
to ?provide a theatre of Australians
by Australians for Australians'. Largely
driven by Coombs, it drew on concepts
explored by Gertrude Johnson in her National
Theatre Movement, and sought to commemorate
the visit to Australia of Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness
the Duke of Edinburgh in 1954. Financial
assistance from the federal and state
governments, industry and the public
enabled the establishment of the first
Australian organisation to direct substantial
public funds to the Australian performing
arts on a national basis.
With government assistance the Trust
acquired the Majestic Theatre, Newtown,
in 1955, to serve as ?a place where its
companies could be formed and from which
they could set out to visit all the States
of the Commonwealth'. In 1956, under
the auspices of the Trust, the Australian
Opera Company, was formed in Sydney,
later changing its name to the Elizabethan
Theatre Trust Opera Company, in 1957.
As part of the Opera's 1957 season the
Elizabethan Theatre Trust decided to
employ several dancers who formed the
short lived Elizabethan Opera Ballet
Company. The company's inaugural 1957
program consisted or three ballets: Eleonore
Treiber's
Ballet Academy to music
arranged by Georg Tintner, Laurel Martyn's
Sigrid to music by Edvard
Greig, and the specially commissioned
Wakooka by Valrene Tweedie,
set to the music of John Antill with
costume and set designs by Elaine Haxton.
According to the AETT's 1958 Annual Report
the performances did not prove ?sufficiently
popular to encourage [the AETT] to present
small-scale ballet in major theatres
at the present time.'
Hugh Hunt (Executive Director, AETT)
described the AETT's lack of early involvement
in the promotion of ballet, in 1956,
as follows: ?The one notable omission
from our activities has been the promotion
of ballet. Ballet companies are not grown
in a hurry and in any case the country
possesses a first-class Ballet Company
in the Borovansky Australian Ballet.
It is our hope that in time we may be
able to stimulate the development of
modern ballet in Australia with special
attention to Australian subjects.' In
1961, following the demise of the Borovansky
Ballet, the AETT moved to rectify their
previous omission and, together with
J. C. Williamson Ltd. and with the assistance
of a federal government grant, established
the Australian Ballet Foundation. The
Foundation was set up expressly to advise,
administer and assist in the creation
of a national ballet company, which it
achieved with the employment of Peggy
van Praagh as artistic director. The
company commenced its inaugural tour
in November 1962. In 1964 as the next
step in the Trust's policy to establish
ballet in Australia at a national level,
the AETT established the Australian Ballet
School. The school, under the direction
of Margaret Scott, received its first
intake of twenty-seven advanced ballets
students, following Australia-wide auditions
in 1963.
At first relying on the ABC orchestras
for its productions, the Elizabethan
Trust Orchestra was established by the
AETT in 1967, subsequently dividing into
Melbourne and Sydney orchestras in 1969.
These separate orchestras supported the
Australian Opera and the Australian Ballet
throughout around the country.
The AETT was also influential in the
establishment of the National Institute
of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), Marionette Theatre
of Australia, the Elizabethan Trust Orchestra,
and the Australian Theatre of the Deaf.
The Trust also provided significant support
for the Old Tote Company, Melbourne Theatre
Company and South Australian Theatre
Company.
The AETT's influence on Australian dance
also extended to the presentation of
a diverse range of international theatrical,
operatic, and dance companies to Australian
audiences. Amongst the many international
dance companies that the AETT has presented
since its inception are Kolo Yugoslav
Dance Company (1959), Bolshoi Ballet
(1959, 1962, 1970, 1985, 1987, 1992,
1994), Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
(1962, 1964-1965, 1985), Chitrasena Ballet
(1963), Jose Limon Dance Company (1963),
Zorba Song and Dance Company (1971),
Eleo Pomare Dance Company (1972), Leningrad
Kirov Ballet (1973), El Sali and his
Flamenco Dance Company (1973), Alice
Reyes Ballet (1974), Scottish Ballet
(1974), Stuttgart Ballet (1974), Dance
Theatre of Harlem (1975), National Dance
Theatre of Jamaica (1976), Chhau - The
Masked Dancers of Bengal (1977), Polish
Mime Ballet Theatre (1978), Jose Greco
Flamenco Company (1974-1975), and the
Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet (1982).
The activities of the AETT have also
extended into administration and publishing
services, providing the management of
tax deductible donations, costume and
props hire, management of superannuation
funds, auspicing of funds from governmental
bodies, and the publishing of numerous
magazines through their various state
offices. Despite operations having been
scaled down in recent years, the Trust
continues to manage the SBW Independent
Theatre, publish a newsletter, and organises
theatre parties, concerts and functions
for its members.
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