When David Hallberg became artistic director of the national ballet, he knew he would have to devise a program worthy of the company's 60th anniversary.
"If I can be honest with you, it was hanging over my head as a huge responsibility," he told AAP.
His 2023 program unveiled on Thursday features Anne Woolliams' iconic Swan Lake, Rudolf Nureyev's Don Quixote, George Balanchine's Jewels and a visit from the Tokyo Ballet with Giselle.
Expectations are high, but Hallberg hopes it will be a fitting tribute to the company's 60 years, and a statement of its contemporary agenda.
He's also commissioned a double bill around the theme of identity, from the Australian Dance Theatre's Daniel Riley and resident choreographer Alice Topp.
The Australian Ballet danced Swan Lake for its first ever performance in November 1962, and Anne Woolliams' 1977 version became an iconic part of the company's repertoire.
Hallberg's plan, and his first major commission as artistic director, is to re-imagine Woolliams' interpretation in the hope of creating yet another definitive Swan Lake.
The classic dance is a sure-fire post-pandemic hit with audiences and will tour Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane.
The 2023 program also brings up other more unusual moments in the ballet's history, such as Russian superstar Rudolf Nureyev and stage legend Robert Helpmann's Don Quixote, filmed in Melbourne in 1973.
Because it was created as a film rather than merely recording an onstage performance, Don Quixote was revolutionary for its time, and made the company's name internationally.
It was shot in an airport hangar over 25 days in the middle of summer, using fruit, vegetables and fish from the Queen Victoria Market as props, with one day especially sweltering, according to Hallberg.
"As the heat rose and the day moved on, the stench of warm fish, fruits and vegetables started permeating through the airport hangar," he laughed.
In revisiting both the Don Quixote film and Swan Lake, he is determined to keep things fresh, as it were, with new sets, costumes and lighting design making for radically different productions.
"The experience of the audience can't be like a museum piece, it can't be dusty, it has to be as fresh as possible," he said.
Much has changed since the company's founding artistic director Peggy van Praagh built the Australian Ballet almost from scratch, with dance careers lasting much longer thanks to a greater focus on health.
"We certainly go for more longevity, rather than just burning the candle at both ends for as long as it lasts," Hallberg said.
Season packages will be available from September 20 with tickets available to the public from November 29.
