Christchurch Ballet Society

13/05/2026

The Christchurch Ballet Society is holding our annual AGM at 3pm on Sunday, 7th June, at Abberley Park Hall (15 Abberley Crescent, St Albans). We would like to formally invite you to this.

We are also seeking new members to join our committee. If you are interested, please contact us for a nomination form and bring it along with you. You will get to work with a bunch of great people and can become involved to whatever degree you like/can commit to. Our main focus is organising events such as the Evening of Dance and the South Island Ballet Awards; however, we also arrange masterclasses, host events, and support the dance community through providing information, grants and promotions.

We hope to see you there.

01/12/2025

We are super excited to share this news from the Royal New Zealand Ballet. Congratulations Breyah, all the hard work and perseverance is paying off. Breyah has been a participant at SIBA, winning the Junior award in 2016 and enjoying success in the Senior award as a finalist in 2021. She was a volunteer at SIBA 2025 and worked tirelessly backstage assisting the committee to run the event. We wish you every success as you embark on your professional career Breyah.

We are delighted to welcome five new dancers in 2026.

Lyn Lin joins us as our 2026 Todd Scholar. Lyn grew up in Auckland, undertaking her early training at Mt Eden Ballet Academy, and has just completed her second year at the New Zealand School of Dance. Lyn is currently seconded to the RNZB for The Nutcracker.

Breyah Takitimu (Ngai Tahu, Ngāti Porou) joins us as one of two 2026 Friedlander Foundation Scholars. Breyah grew up in Invercargill before moving to Christchurch to train with Canterbury Ballet. She spent two years in Chicago at the Joffrey Ballet Academy before returning to New Zealand upon graduation and is currently dancing in The Nutcracker as a guest dancer.

Charlotte Willis is our second 2026 Friedlander Foundation Scholar. Charlotte grew up in Wellington, receiving her early training at Chilton Ballet Academy, and is about to graduate from the New Zealand School of Dance. She has previously been seconded to the RNZB for Swan Lake (2024) and is currently with us for The Nutcracker.

We also have two Australian dancers joining us as Artists for 2026. Padraic (Paddy) Lum and Ethan Dwyer are both in the graduating year at The Australian Ballet School.

Paddy grew up in Sydney and trained at The McDonald College before moving to The Australian Ballet School in 2020.

Ethan grew up in Mildura, Victoria, and trained at The Jane Moore Academy of Ballet in Melbourne before joining The Australian Ballet School in 2023.

Read our full Leavers and Joiners news story through the link below ✨
https://rnzb.org.nz/kua-hua-te-marama-leavers-and-joiners-2025

08/11/2025

It's wonderful to see Christchurch ballet dancers exploring world wide opportunities. Thank you George Keene for sharing your experience with us. The Christchurch Ballet Society are proud to support young dancers like you.

Thank you very much for the generous grant that you gave me earlier in the year for my trip to attend the Royal Ballet School in London.

My three weeks at the school exceeded my expectation tenfold. It was an experience that I will never forget. Having the opportunity to dance everyday with a group of fellow male dancers provided the focused training that I needed to thrive and improve.

Each week was made of a combination of classical, contemporary, repertoire, choreography, character, and pas de deux classes. I had the opportunity to learn from world class tutors, including principals of the Royal Ballet itself. It was an exciting start to the programme with a repertoire class taught by Stephen Mcrae on the first day; I was more than a little awestruck.

Each day I arrived at the school around 8:30 to warm up and prepare for the 9:30 classical class. By the time that I finished at 4:30 each day with a half hour of practice with my dance partners afterwards, my body was more than ready to settle down and rest.

I met an incredible group of people from all over and it has opened my eyes to a world beyond New Zealand. Spending weekends exploring London was also amazing, especially considering I had never been out of Australasia before.

Thank you very very much once again, not only for the grant, but also for events like SIBA and everything else that the Christchurch Ballet Society does.

05/11/2025

Francesca Hayward in Ondine, photo by Andrej Uspenski ROH Władysław

03/11/2025

A romantic tutu this Tuesday from 1910, Tamara Karsavina in Giselle.

30/10/2025

A perfect Halloween post, thanks Progressing Ballet Technique

26/10/2025

Dylan O’Keefe is the Modern Dance National Young Performer Award Champion for 2025 🤩🏆 What a stunning result Dylan. Congratulations to you, your family and your teachers. The Christchurch Ballet Society is so proud to have Dylan as one of our nominees this year.

26/10/2025

Congratulations Dylan O’Keefe on reaching the Modern finals of the National Young Performer Awards 2025. We wish you all the very best of luck for the finals.

We are so proud to have Dylan and Ruby Cleverley representing us this weekend.

Congratulations also go to Christchurch dancer Belle Switalla for reaching the finals.

Woooooohoooooo. We on! We cannot wait to see you shine up on that stage, dancers! ✨

26/10/2025

Exciting news! Both of the CBS NYPA modern nominees have danced their way into the semi-finals.

Congratulations to Dylan O’Keefe and Ruby Cleverley on their performances. Good luck and chookas for the semis 🤩🤩

Congratulations to all the dancers representing our region who are also through to the semi-finals.

LESSSGOOOO MODERN. Such a huge group of talented performers. You should all be SO proud of yourselves.

15/09/2025

A little black swan this tutu Tuesday with Iana Salenko.