Sidestepping a second season cancellation in a row has provided an extra layer of celebration for this milestone commemoration of Li Cunxin’s first decade at Queensland Ballet featuring an Australian company first.

It was touch and go as to whether QPAC’s Playhouse would be operational in time for Li’s Choice following the flood damage that cancelled QB’s Giselle at Easter. Reopening the theatre after three months made the occasion feel even more triumphant, especially after the lifetime’s worth of force majeure the past two years have packed in.

Elite Syncopations, Li’s Choice, Queensland Ballet, 2022. Photo © David Kelly

Seizing – and forging – opportunity has been a key factor making this past 10 years under Li the company’s most successful; apropos of this, the Artistic Director attended opening night just off the plane from London, where QB’s Jette Parker Young Artists performed in the Southern Lights cultural exchange for the Royal Ballet’s Next Generation Festival.

The three works Li selected for his eponymous program highlight his curatorial (and commissioning) acumen. It’s a perfectly balanced triple bill, teaming recent choreography by two internationally-acclaimed Australian talents resident at QB, Greg Horsman and Natalie...