A dazzling duo
The Firebird with My Brilliant Career in association with AVIS will light up Christchurch.
In the world of ballet, great pairings can be magical. Just as dance partners bring out the best in each other, the Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB) is presenting a breathtaking double bill that pairs two strikingly different yet equally thought-provoking works by two award-winning choreographers – Loughlan Prior’s The Firebird and Cathy Marston’s My Brilliant Career.
RNZB artistic director Ty King-Wall describes the upcoming season as a showcase of “a pair of stories set in different times and different worlds,” each possessing “enormous spirit and heart”. Indeed, these two ballets, though stylistically distinct, share a core theme: transformation. Whether through the mystical power of the Firebird or the unwavering determination of Sybylla Melvyn, both stories explore the power of change, hope, and resilience.
First staged in Paris in 1910, The Firebird was a groundbreaking ballet that changed the course of dance history. Set to Igor Stravinsky’s electrifying score, it has inspired generations of choreographers, from Michel Fokine to Alexei Ratmansky. RNZB choreographer-in-residence Loughlan Prior – named one of ‘25 to Watch’ in 2025 by the prestigious US publication Dance Magazine – has reimagined this timeless tale for today’s world, setting it in a strikingly different landscape: a barren desert where water is more precious than gold.
The RNZB’s 2021 production of The Firebird was a runaway success, with sell-out performances in Wellington and Auckland before the tour was cut short due to Covid-19 restrictions. Now, audiences in the South Island will finally experience this visually stunning ballet, with Tracy Grant Lord’s mesmerising set designs and immersive projections by POW Studios that transport viewers to a world teetering on the edge of collapse. As the captive Firebird offers a path to redemption, this ballet delivers a hauntingly relevant message about environmental crisis and humanity’s hope for renewal.
In stark contrast to The Firebird’s sweeping spectacle, My Brilliant Career is an intimate and deeply personal narrative. Based on Miles Franklin’s seminal 1901 novel and the 1979 film starring Judy Davis and Sam Neill, this one-act ballet tells the story of Sybylla Melvyn, a headstrong young woman in rural Australia who dreams of becoming a writer. In a world that expects her to settle for marriage and convention, she dares to forge her own path.
Renowned British choreographer Cathy Marston, celebrated for her emotionally charged, character-driven works, has crafted a ballet that captures Sybylla’s fierce independence and passion. Her adaptation of My Brilliant Career – which premiered with Queensland Ballet in 2023 – now comes to Aotearoa for the first time.
Excitingly, the ballets will be performed with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra with conductor Hamish McKeich, ensuring a feast for the senses.
This double bill is one of the most anticipated ballet events of 2025. In The Firebird with My Brilliant Career, each story tells of an individual – one mythical, one real – who refuses to be contained. Whether through the Firebird’s defiant flight or Sybylla’s unwavering ambition, these ballets remind us that transformation is always within reach.
29 May–1 June, Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch | rnzb.org.nz