General News
24 February, 2026
Ballet dazzles City Oval
A RARE evening was enjoyed by a large crowd on Saturday at the Horsham City Oval, with The Australian Ballet delivering a varied, expressive and masterful series of performances for Ballet Under the Stars.
With the summer temperature still hovering around 32°C at 8pm, the main event began as the sunset beckoned, the gradually fading light revealing the night sky the event was named for.
Horsham College drama teacher, Brandi Galpin, has been a keen Australian Ballet follower for many years and was still buzzing two days later, saying it was “fabulous” to have such world-class performers in town.
“It was the best, amazing!” she said.
“Just seeing the exquisite costumes in the setting – our little old city oval – was just remarkable.
“At one stage, there was, like, 40 dancers on stage, all in synchronisation … then amongst all that was the weirdness of hearing the parrots and the corellas in the background.”
She said the Company’s choice of performances was excellent, starting with classical, and then moving into challenging contemporary dance, before finishing again with classical.
“There was one particularly memorable one they did to a very slow acoustic version of ‘Bad Romance’, and it was just beautiful,” she said.
“We could see people ... I think the football club had a bar there, and you could see them kind of looking a bit open-mouthed at what was going on. I know people who were there who aren't ballet dancers, and they were just blown away by what they saw.”
Paige Williams, 13, was one of four local student dancers selected for a curtain-raiser performance that night, and her mother, Felicity, said it was the culmination of several weeks of hard work and excitement, drawing on her nine years of dancing experience.
“To see her up on the big screen was pretty impressive,” Felicity said.
“It was an opportunity that doesn't come along very often, and we were super proud of her that she put in the application back in December and then was approved to actually dance with them.
“You should have seen the look on her face when she walked out with a hoodie that had 'Australian Ballet' written on the back of it!”
Avenue Dance Studio owner, Louise Ryan, said it had been a privilege to watch the work unfold at her venue with the local dancers.
“The Australian Ballet Education and Outreach team spent six hours ... during the January break preparing a routine,” she said.
“This was a fantastic opportunity and experience for regional students to be included in such an amazing event.”
Many young children also watched the entire evening's performance from very close quarters, walking up to the front of the stage, an experience that entranced many of them.
Brandi said she met with some of the performers afterwards, who said they “were absolutely thrilled with the quality of the facility that they had available to them”.
“That we could have that level of technical support surrounding them, and that level of stage for them to perform on, and with the big screens and everything was amazing,” she said.
“We saw the artistic director down Firebrace Street at 11, and I said, ‘Come back, please.’”
