- The Guardian
- Issue #2202
The growing use of recorded music in ballet productions is part of a broader trend that threatens the future of live performance in Australia.
Across the performing arts, producers are increasingly replacing live musicians with technology and pre-recorded soundtracks. Every time a live orchestra is removed from a production, audiences lose something essential and professional musicians lose opportunities to work, create, and contribute to Australia’s cultural life.
In the space of a single year, Adelaide audiences alone have seen productions by major ballet presenters including West Australian Ballet, The Australian Ballet’s touring program, and other commercial ballet producers rely on recorded soundtracks rather than live musicians. More recently, this includes the Australian Ballet On Tour production replacing musicians with recorded music in Adelaide, Alice Springs, and Darwin. What should be an exception is at risk of becoming normalised.
The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) says this is about more than jobs. Live music is a fundamental part of the artistic relationship between music and dance. The interaction between dancers and musicians creates a performance that is unique, responsive, and genuinely live. When recorded music replaces live accompaniment, audiences are denied a vital element of the art form and musicians lose opportunities to practise their craft.
We recognise that companies often distinguish between their mainstage productions and regional touring programs. However, that distinction cannot become an excuse for lower artistic expectations in capital cities around Australia. Audiences deserve the same commitment to artistic integrity that ballet companies rightly champion elsewhere.
Lachlan Bramble, musician and MEAA President for Musicians for SA and NT, says that publicly funded institutions such as The Australian Ballet have a responsibility to present ballet with artistic integrity, and that requires live musicians.
“The relationship between live music and live dance is not incidental to ballet. It is one of the defining features of the art form. The collaboration between dancers and musicians creates performances that are responsive, dynamic, and unique. Recorded music cannot replicate that artistic exchange,” said Bramble.
