Hooked on dance: The Ballet Team seeks Illawarra’s next Peter Pan for Neverland production

After the success of its adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan in 2018, Illawarra’s premier ballet company The Ballet Team will take flight once again this year with Smee, an original work inspired by the same story.

When it commissioned its dance adaptation of the production seven years ago, it was Wollongong’s first original ballet to hit the stage of the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, where it received a sold-out season.

Artistic director Ryley Gillen said that performance featured more than 60 dancers, a live orchestra and female choir from the region, along with Chris Lavilles in the role of Peter Pan who has since continued his rise on the international stage with the Singapore Ballet.

Ryley said the company was now seeking a new Peter Pan for its latest return to Neverland, with auditions on 16 February.

Written by Ryley, Smee is based on the characters from J.M. Barrie’s infamous text which has been converted into numerous films, games and stage shows.

“In 2018 we commissioned a composer from Sydney to write the music, which was massive,” he said.

“It’s the first ballet the community had ever commissioned.

“So off the back of that, we had a lot of success, because people loved the characters and they loved Neverland, so we wanted to pay homage to that commission we did, which really sparked this train of us staging original works.”

Ryley said the company had helped foster the next generation of Illawarra dancers, with some going on to WAPA in Western Australia, the Queensland Ballet Academy and the Australian Ballet Academy since its first show of The Nutcracker in 2016.

Among its success stories is Chris Lavilles, who is forging a name for himself as a professional ballet dancer working with Singapore Ballet.

As a child, Chris began dancing in Wollongong at Beverley Rowles School of Dance under Marshall Rowles, and he first danced with The Ballet Team in that 2016 The Nutcracker production.

In 2018, he was accepted into the Alberta Ballet School Canada’s postgraduate program on scholarship, before moving back to Australia and working with the Victorian State Ballet for three years from 2021 and joining Singapore Ballet in January 2024 where he works currently.

“I am passionate about the ways ballet and dance can connect people of all abilities,” Chris said.

“Ballet offers dancers a truly impactful way to express and communicate stories and emotions.”

Ryley agreed, saying the company proved that ballet could be an accessible art form, for performers of all ages and abilities and for audiences that “just like a good story”.

In fact, that strong support of ballet in the region had allowed the company to continue to champion the creation of original ballets, with it resulting in it picking up two CAT (Combined Area Theatre) Award nominations for its production of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, with winners to be announced 15 February.

Nominations include “Best Dance Production” and “Best Original Work” for the music composition, with choreography by Meryl Dalton and music and story by Ryley.

Auditions for Smee are set for 16 February and The Ballet Team is looking for dancers of all ages and abilities to join the community production, set to hit the stage of the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre on 9-10 May.

“Obviously, our leads we try to have experienced or emerging ballet dancers, but we work with dancers of all abilities and of all ages,” he said.

“Luckily, with shows like this, we have lots of different characters that we can assign cast members to.”

Visit The Ballet Team website for more information on the 16 February auditions.