THE Australian Ballet will give Canberrans a special birthday present tomorrow to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

“Telstra Ballet in the Park”, will be a free event held from 7pm at Stage 88, Commonwealth Park, and will feature three Canberra-raised dancers, Lana Jones, Rachel Rawlins and Queabeyan-born Dimity Azoury, who was also this year nominated for the Telstra Ballet Dancer Award.

Our snapper SILAS BROWN got a special preview of the event, which will include excerpts of “La Favorita”, “Don Quixote”, “Giselle”, “The Nutcracker”, “Le Corsaire” and “Molto Vivace” plus a pas de trois from Graeme Murphy’s 2002 masterpiece “Swan Lake”.

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Ballerinas Dimity Azoury, Rachel Rawlins and Lana Jones. Photos by Silas Brown.

“Over 50 years, we have cultivated a very loyal audience across the whole of Australia, so we wanted to ensure that we shared our anniversary celebrations far and wide,” The Australian Ballet artistic director David McAllister said.

“We have a long history of touring to Canberra, from our first visit in 1965 to recent visits from The Dancers Company. This free performance is our birthday present to our passionate Canberra supporters.”

“Telstra Ballet in the Park”, class on stage at 5pm, performance at 7pm on Friday, Stage 88, Commonwealth Park. Free. More information at canberrafestival.com.au