The West Australian Ballet has dismissed suggestions they are failing to support live musicians because their upcoming South Australian performances of the acclaimed ballet Dracula will use a pre-recorded soundtrack.
The fiery response from the Ballet Company comes after the union for musicians, dancers and other performers launched a campaign to encourage the ballet company to hire an orchestra for their South Australian season.
“The suggestion that West Australian Ballet does not support live music is simply wrong.” the company said in a statement.
“West Australian Ballet is one of the largest employers of performing artists in Western Australia, second only to the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO). Live music is central to what we do, and we have worked closely with WASO for decades – a strong partnership that continues today.”
The West Australian Ballet said it tour to South Australia was being created through its own funds and without government support, and it was not financially viable to recruit, rehearse and employ a local orchestra for the short season.
“Touring with recorded music, both nationally and internationally, is a well-established practice for many arts companies. For the Adelaide performances of Dracula, we will use an exceptionally high-quality recording of the award-winning arrangement of Wojciech Kilar’s score, performed by the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and conducted by West Australian Ballet Principal Conductor Jessica Gethin.
“The recording was made specifically for this production, with all musicians remunerated at the time, and with ongoing royalties paid in accordance with our agreement with WASO.” they said.
The West Australian Ballet said its 2026 Perth season of the production would be with a live orchestra.
The production of Dracula was created by the West Australian Ballet in 2018. Creating a ballet from scratch was a major investment for company and it received rave reviews when it launched its debut season.
Acclaimed Polish choreographer Krzysztof Pastor choregraphed the work, and the stage design and costumes were created by the highly respected team of Phil R Daniels and Charles Cusick Smith.
The Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA), the union that represents performers say the ballet company is shirking its responsibility to musicians, and compromising their own dancers.
MEAA Musicians Director, Paul Davies, said the move was part of an emerging trend of performance arts companies devaluing live music, driven by cost-cutting.
“As the union for Australia’s media and creative workers, which includes musicians, MEAA urges the WA Ballet to immediately reverse its decision to scrap live music from its upcoming Adelaide performances of Dracula,” Davies said.
“The WA Ballet has a responsibility to include live music in its productions, and we will continue to speak out when this doesn’t happen.
“It disrespects the audience by diminishing their experience, and at the same time it compromises dancers’ ability to practice their art with creativity and integrity and denies musicians the dignity of work.”
Adelaide-based violinist Nadia Buck said she would have liked the opportunity to be booked to play for Dracula.
“Being a freelance musician, work can be precarious so it’s quite disheartening to see the contribution of live music devalued in this way,” she said.
“But it’s not just about the income – though that’s obviously important – it’s also about being part of something special and dynamic, performing live with dancers, feeling their energy and inspiring the audience.
“A live orchestra follows the dancers’ steps in real-time, allowing us to be spontaneous and
expressive together. For the audience, recorded music just doesn’t compare to the real thing.” Buck said.
The union says musicians at many of Australia’s leading orchestras have given unanimous support to the call for West Australian Ballet to rethink their approach including musicians in the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Opera Australia Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
Musicians from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia, Orchestra Wellington and Christchurch Symphony Orchestra also backed the motion
Davies said companies, particularly those that received government funding, had an obligation to protect and preserve jobs.
“When organisations rely on taxpayer dollars to operate, as the WA Ballet does, it’s only fair to expect them to provide meaningful employment for real people, rather than seeking ways to cut corners and undermine the workforce – musicians must not be seen as optional extras.” Davies said.
“Years of underfunding in the arts can lead companies to make short-term decisions that devalue musicians’ and dancers’ work and leave audiences missing out. We must all work for a better system to support our public arts institutions, but funding problems are no excuse for bad management choices.”
The ballet company said they disagreed with the unions assessment of their commitment to developing opportunities for creative workers.
“We have repeatedly explained — publicly and directly to representatives of MEAA — that our upcoming Dracula tour to Adelaide is a short, four-day trial season to test whether interstate touring is viable for the company. Our ambition is not a one-off visit. Our goal is to return regularly and, when we do, to work with live musicians.
“This initial tour is proceeding without government touring funding. At this stage, the tour cannot sustain the cost of engaging an orchestra.” the company said.
Dracula will play at the Festival Theatre in Adelaide from 17 – 22 April, a Perth season will run at His Majesty’s Theatre in Perth from 15 – 30 May.
