Once government subsidies of $7.8 million and donations from philanthropic patrons were added in, the Ballet had a small deficit of $0.6 million, the same as 2016.

And factoring in millions of dollars in special-purpose donations for renovations and bequests,  the Australian Ballet Group, including Orchestra Victoria, announced a surplus of $5.5 million.

Chairman Craig Dunn said the year was one of notable artistic triumphs in which the ballet and its audiences successfully navigated challenges of theatre availability, including the closure of its home, the Joan Sutherland Theatre, for refurbishment. It returned to the Opera House this month.

Last year, the company presented 13 revivals of Australian works, the acquisition of three new international works and the commission of a new Australian ballet.

It gave 284 live performances across Australian; its 157 mainstage performances
in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide were attended by 267,505 people.

The artistic centrepiece of the 2017 season was Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, presented in Melbourne and in Sydney, at the Capitol Theatre, drawing 75,840 paid audience members.

Bringing to life Alice, one of the biggest ballets in the company's history, was one of the year's highlights for artistic director David McAllister.

In all, more than 1.6 million people experienced the Australian Ballet in 2017, including its 22-hour live stream that took viewers behind the scenes of ballet rehearsals, class and interviews on World Ballet Day.

The company’s 2017 regional tour also delivered 25 performances of the full-length ballet Giselle to 12,118 audience members in regional Tasmania, Victoria and NSW.

The Australian Ballet’s production for children, Storytime Ballet – The Sleeping Beauty, was watched by 45,826 people across 101 performances in the ACT, NSW, Victoria and South Australia.