Royal South Street Returns To Her Maj
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Royal South Street Returns To Her Maj
01 Sep 2025
THERE HAVE BEEN COUNTLESS EVOLUTIONS IN THE ROYAL SOUTH STREET SOCIETY. WHAT BEGAN, IN 1891, AS A DEBATING COMPETITION FOR YOUNG MEN HAS BECOME AUSTRALIA'S LONGEST-RUNNING PERFORMING ARTS EISTEDDFOD.
A launchpad for the country's talented performers and an iconic date on Her Majesty's calendar for decades, South Street returns to our stage this year. To mark this joyful moment, some of the local faces and industry names who grew up performing in the dance, singing, ballet and calisthenics disciplines look back on their time with South Street.
BEFORE SHE BECAME A MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER WORKING ALONGSIDE SOME OF THE BIGGEST NAMES IN THE AUSTRALIAN ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY, CHELSEA DONOHUE WAS A SOUTH STREET TRIPLE THREAT, COMPETING IN SINGING, PIANO AND BALLET.
I started ballet when I was three, and began competing pretty early. That was my first time in South Street, and my dream was always to be good enough to do a solo. Only the really good kids got to do the solos, so I was just rapt when I got my first one.
I've always been a singer. I came from a musical family. My mum and my aunty were singers and they performed in South Street when they were little girls. We even had the same singing teacher, Constance Coward-Lemke, who is really the centre of music in Ballarat. Any singer who's somebody was taught by Connie. She's a bit of a Ballarat icon.
I started competing in the singing competitions from the age of 10. When I moved from classical to the pop sections at South Street, that was the first time I won – for singing Marcia Hines' ‘I Got the Music in Me’. I got a gold medal, and it was the best thing ever. I was invited back to sing it – I think it was at the 125-year get-together – and I told the story that winning at South Street was the best moment of my life, as an 11-year-old.
Coming back to adjudicate the Mi Sound category in 2016 was special. I felt like I could actually give genuine feedback from my experience as a performer.
Her Majesty's has been synonymous with South Street – that's how people know it. So, it's great that it can get back to its heart now that the theatre has reopened.
I've always been a singer. I came from a musical family. My mum and my aunty were singers and they performed in South Street when they were little girls. We even had the same singing teacher, Constance Coward-Lemke, who is really the centre of music in Ballarat. Any singer who's somebody was taught by Connie. She's a bit of a Ballarat icon.
I started competing in the singing competitions from the age of 10. When I moved from classical to the pop sections at South Street, that was the first time I won – for singing Marcia Hines' ‘I Got the Music in Me’. I got a gold medal, and it was the best thing ever. I was invited back to sing it – I think it was at the 125-year get-together – and I told the story that winning at South Street was the best moment of my life, as an 11-year-old.
Coming back to adjudicate the Mi Sound category in 2016 was special. I felt like I could actually give genuine feedback from my experience as a performer.
Her Majesty's has been synonymous with South Street – that's how people know it. So, it's great that it can get back to its heart now that the theatre has reopened.
NOW A CORPS DE BALLET WITH THE WEST AUSTRALIAN BALLET, JOSHUA BALLINGER TOOK HIS FIRST DANCE LESSON AS A TWO-YEAR-OLD IN BALLARAT. BY 15, HE WAS COMMUTING TO MELBOURNE TO STUDY AT THE VCA, AND LATER WENT INTO THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET SCHOOL.
My mum danced and she would take me to the studio from when I was a baby. By the time I could start walking around, they decided I should probably be in the lessons rather than causing chaos up the front.
The shows at South Street and Her Maj all blur together a bit in my memory, but I remember my first troupe did La Bayadère. I had seen a video of Mariinsky [the Russian classical ballet company] doing it and it was very exciting for me to have my own special part in this piece. I think that was the first time where I felt like I understood what I could be, as a dancer. I must've been maybe eight or nine and I think a lot of my development was inspired by that first troupe.
I remember the backstage of Her Maj quite well, and the design of the theatre. The rake of the stage is very iconic. It's something we don't really get anywhere else in Australia. Dancing on that was a bit scary – you're not used to it. But now, looking back on it, it's special because that's not an opportunity everyone gets.
I'm of course not the only one who moved into full-time dance out of the Ballarat dance scene. And I think that really speaks to how strong the Ballarat dance community is. Having an event like South Street is a big reason why we have many schools with many, many talented dancers.
The shows at South Street and Her Maj all blur together a bit in my memory, but I remember my first troupe did La Bayadère. I had seen a video of Mariinsky [the Russian classical ballet company] doing it and it was very exciting for me to have my own special part in this piece. I think that was the first time where I felt like I understood what I could be, as a dancer. I must've been maybe eight or nine and I think a lot of my development was inspired by that first troupe.
I remember the backstage of Her Maj quite well, and the design of the theatre. The rake of the stage is very iconic. It's something we don't really get anywhere else in Australia. Dancing on that was a bit scary – you're not used to it. But now, looking back on it, it's special because that's not an opportunity everyone gets.
I'm of course not the only one who moved into full-time dance out of the Ballarat dance scene. And I think that really speaks to how strong the Ballarat dance community is. Having an event like South Street is a big reason why we have many schools with many, many talented dancers.
YEARS SINCE THE CURTAIN CAME DOWN ON HER FINAL ROYAL SOUTH STREET PERFORMANCE, PAIGE BROOKS IS STILL CONNECTED TO THE BALLARAT DANCE COMMUNITY, THROUGH HER WORK AS A PHYSIOTHERAPIST AT NEWINGTON.
I started performing at South Street when I was six years old. I was the youngest of four girls and we had all danced and competed, and I was the next one in the line. I think I stopped competing when I was about 20, so it was a long slog. I could still do my stage makeup without a mirror – it's that ingrained.
It was such an iconic competition in that the theatre; Her Majesty's and South Street just go hand-in-hand. As a performer on the stage, it was always a bit of a love-hate relationship: the rake is really difficult for tap shoes. It was hard, but it was our hometown theatre so you would get used to the uniqueness, of tiptoeing behind the back curtain to race around to the other side.
As a physiotherapist, I've been able to work with the young dancers in Ballarat. Being able to talk to them in their language is really nice. I'm in the unique position now as a practice partner that I can really push the performance medicine side of things. My practice has partnered with Royal South Street this year, so we're going to be one of their major sponsors and providing some onsite treatment. I'll be really lovely to feel like I'm part of it again.
It was such an iconic competition in that the theatre; Her Majesty's and South Street just go hand-in-hand. As a performer on the stage, it was always a bit of a love-hate relationship: the rake is really difficult for tap shoes. It was hard, but it was our hometown theatre so you would get used to the uniqueness, of tiptoeing behind the back curtain to race around to the other side.
As a physiotherapist, I've been able to work with the young dancers in Ballarat. Being able to talk to them in their language is really nice. I'm in the unique position now as a practice partner that I can really push the performance medicine side of things. My practice has partnered with Royal South Street this year, so we're going to be one of their major sponsors and providing some onsite treatment. I'll be really lovely to feel like I'm part of it again.
ANYTIME SHE SPOTS A LOOSE SEQUIN ON A STAGE COSTUME, ARTS ADMINISTRATOR LAUREN O'DWYER IS TRANSPORTED BACK TO HER DAYS SLICKING DOWN HAIR AND ADJUSTING HER CALISTHENICS LEOTARD.
I didn't even realise South Street existed when I started doing calisthenics. I grew up in Echuca and a coach did a demonstration for us at the local kindergarten. I just thought it was the coolest thing ever – and that was without all the Lycra and sequins!
Once I moved to Melbourne for uni, I thought that was going to be the end of my calisthenics career. But of course, it's like a cult. I joined a Seniors team in Box Hill where everyone was talking about this magical place called South Street.
Getting to perform at Her Majesty's was a whole different world. Making sure that your tights are actually hole-free and the corners on your eyelashes are perfectly glued on, that the braids were perfectly aligned from person to person – it was that type of precision that made a difference when jumping into South Street.
But it's really the theatre that made the difference because you realise that you're moving into something that is both historically quite significant, and has been a part of so many different clubs' legacies and generations of women and families.
The amount of people I have met working at Arts Centre Melbourne or as CEO of Collingwood Yards that have had some sort of run-in with a calisthenics concert or competition is ridiculous. I have been backstage so many times helping out with last-minute costume disasters with a needle and thread in my hands just because of the time I've spent in a calisthenics team.
Once I moved to Melbourne for uni, I thought that was going to be the end of my calisthenics career. But of course, it's like a cult. I joined a Seniors team in Box Hill where everyone was talking about this magical place called South Street.
Getting to perform at Her Majesty's was a whole different world. Making sure that your tights are actually hole-free and the corners on your eyelashes are perfectly glued on, that the braids were perfectly aligned from person to person – it was that type of precision that made a difference when jumping into South Street.
But it's really the theatre that made the difference because you realise that you're moving into something that is both historically quite significant, and has been a part of so many different clubs' legacies and generations of women and families.
The amount of people I have met working at Arts Centre Melbourne or as CEO of Collingwood Yards that have had some sort of run-in with a calisthenics concert or competition is ridiculous. I have been backstage so many times helping out with last-minute costume disasters with a needle and thread in my hands just because of the time I've spent in a calisthenics team.
