Britain’s flagship ballet company will bring two Australian major premieres to the QPAC International Series in 2017.

The Royal Ballet will tour to Brisbane in 2017 for exclusive performances as part of the 2017 Queensland Performing Arts Centre International Series. Britain’s flagship ballet company, The Royal Ballet will perform the Australian premieres of two works, The Winter’s Tale  and Woolf Works.

“Royal Ballet director Kevin O’Hare is bringing the full company to the Queensland Performing Arts Centre where they will perform these two highly-acclaimed works for the first time outside of their home at London’s Covent Garden,” said Queensland’s Premier and Arts Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk.

^{Francesca Hayward and James Hay in The Winter’s Tale, photo © Bill Cooper/ROH}

Choreographed by the company’s Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon, The Winter’s Tale was created in 2014, the first full-length adaptation of a Shakespeare play by The Royal Ballet since Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet in 1965. The ballet features a score by Joby Talbot, with design and costumes by Bob Crowley. The ballet tells the story of King Leontes who becomes consumed with jealousy, believing his pregnant wife Hermione to be having an affair with his childhood friend King Polixenes.

^{Edward Watson and Natalia Osipova in Woolf Works, photo © Tristram Kenton/ROH}

Even more freshly minted is Woolf Works, a 2015 ballet choreographed by Wayne McGregor, The Royal Ballet’s Resident Choreographer, who will celebrate a decade in the post this November. McGregor’s Wolf Works is set to a new score – featuring orchestral and electronic music – by Max Richter and will also be enjoying its first revival in London in 2017. The three movements of the work are each inspired by one of Woolf’s novels: I now, I then from Mrs Dalloway, Becomings from Orlando and Tuesday from The Waves – mingled with influences from her autobiographical writings. The work won the 2016 Olivier Award for best new dance production and includes film design by Ravi Deepres and costumes by Moritz Junge.

^{Alessandra Ferri and Artists of The Royal Ballet in Woolf Works, photo © Tristram Kenton/ROH}

“For nearly a decade, the residency model of the QPAC International Series has seen, and will continue to see, some really important cultural exchanges from these international companies with both local artists and audiences alike,” said QPAC CEO John Kotzas. “Visiting artists become live ambassadors while they are in Queensland and, upon their return home, they become genuine advocates for QPAC, Brisbane and Queensland.”

This is just the latest in a series of high-profile productions the QPAC International Series has brought to Brisbane since it began in 2009, hosting productions by the Paris Opera Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet and more recently France’s Ballet Preljocaj.

“Audiences have come on a journey with us since 2009,” said Kotzas, “relishing a broad program that has seen grand balletic tradition united with innovation and bold artistry producing exceptional standards of performing arts experiences.”

The Royal Ballet’s The Winter’s Tale and Woolf Works arrive at the Lyric Theatre for an exclusive 2017 QPAC International Series season from June 29 to July 9, 2017. Tickets will be available from November 3 at www.qpac.com.au or by calling 136246