Executive Director Libby Christie suggests philanthropy drives could support arts companies without Government funding.

There was a literal embarrassment of riches for the Australian Ballet this morning, as the company had to issue a retraction for a release sent to the media yesterday claiming the company made a $14 million loss in 2015. The company’s 2015 Annual Report, published on Monday, in fact recorded a surplus of $3.158 million – a healthy profit, albeit less than 2014’s record-setting financial surplus of $8.68 million. In addition to the positive financial news, the company also performed across its biggest ever footprint, delivering 229 performances of 18 ballets (including four world premieres) across six capital cities and ten regional centres in Australia, as well as two cities in China.

The erroneous $14 million deficit cited in yesterday’s release was actually in reference to the company’s “performance gap” – the difference between ticket sales and actual production costs – which is an expected shortfall experienced by almost every major dance, theatre and performance company. Even this negative figure was good news for the Australian Ballet, coming in at over $370,000 less than 2014’s performance gap, and representing just a 30% shortfall compared...