Children at the Ballet

Ballet is a wonderful introduction to the world of storytelling, beauty and make-believe. At the Australian Ballet, we love it when children attend our performances.

We generally recommend children be at least 6 years old before attending a full-length production, but it depends on the production and the child.

Every production and every child are different, and whether they’re old enough to enjoy a performance depends on a range of factors, including how long they’re able to sit happily and quietly, the time of the show, and—most importantly—the content and style of ballet. Some full-length ballets have a running time of 2 hours or less, while others can go for over 4 hours.

Please note that children 15 years of age and under must be accompanied by an adult over 18 years of age. Children aged 3 to 18 years are entitled to tickets in the 'Child' price category. You can view a full list of price types and concessions here.

Child-friendly ballets

For young children, the ballets we recommend as the most suitable are story ballets, such as The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Coppélia and The Nutcracker.

Storytime Ballet

Our Storytime Ballet series features interactive narrated performances that run for under an hour and are aimed at children aged 3 years and older. Stay tuned for our 2025/2026 Storytime Ballet announcement.

You can sign up for our mailing list to be notified when tickets are available to purchase.

2025 Season

Nijinsky

Nijinsky is a two-act narrative ballet about the sensational ballet star Vaslav Nijinsky and his tragic decline due to schizophrenia. The performance running time is 2 hours and 30 minutes, including 1 interval and contains adult themes and is recommended for mature audiences over the age of 15.

Carmen

Carmen is a two-act narrative contemporary ballet. The running time is 1 hour and 44 minutes, including 1 interval and contains adult themes, including sexual content and depictions of violence and contains use of theatrical weapons. We recommend Carmen is suitable for mature audiences over the age of 16.

Manon

This production is a three-act narrative ballet set in 18th-century France and has a run time of 2 hours and 45 minutes, including 2 intervals. Manon contains mature themes, including sexually explicit content and depictions of violence and is recommended for mature audiences over the age of 15.

Prism

Prism is a triple-bill non-narrative contemporary production from three of the world's most renowned choreographers. William Forsythe, Jerome Robbins and Stephanie Lake will feature pieces in this groundbreaking new work. As some of these ballets are still being created, the exact running time is unknown. Contemporary works can include aspects like strobe lights, bright design elements and loud sound effects. Prism is recommended for audiences over the age of 12.

The Sleeping Beauty

David McAllister’s fairy-tale ballet The Sleeping Beauty is a family-friendly ballet based on the classic story of Princess Aurora, who is placed under a spell where she will sleep for 100 years until woken by true love's kiss. The Sleeping Beauty is a three-act narrative ballet with a running time of 2 hours and 50 minutes, including 2 intervals, so it is a longer ballet recommended for children over the age of 6.

Babes-in-arms

For all performances and events, children under 2 years of age are permitted entry at no cost and without a ticket. In these cases, children will not be allocated a seat and must be seated on an accompanying adult's lap for the duration of the event. If the child requires their own seat, they will be required to hold a valid paid ticket.

We encourage you to be considerate of surrounding audience members if bringing babies or children to performances and to consider the appropriateness of performance content. For the safety and security of all patrons, prams and baby capsules of any description cannot be taken into the auditorium. The aisles, stairways and stairwells must be kept clear at all times.

Preparing for the ballet

Learning about the ballet before the show can greatly increase a child’s enjoyment of the performance.

Preparation might include being familiar with the 'story' of the ballet, hearing the music beforehand, watching one of our videos, learning about the role of the conductor and the orchestra, knowing about intervals and understanding theatre protocol in general.

A synopsis of the production, along with run times and casting information will be available on the production page of each ballet around one week prior to Opening Night.

At the performance

If a child is too talkative, becomes restless or fidgety, and is disrupting the enjoyment of the performance for others, we ask that you take your child into the foyer area to settle and re-enter the theatre at interval. There are generally one or two interval breaks of approximately 20 minutes.

Patrons are advised that some ballets have special effects such as dry ice and smoke machines, strobe lighting, and loud music and sounds. Where possible, this information will be available on the production page prior to purchasing your tickets. For new works, this information may not be available until closer to the performance time; in this instance, this will be included in pre-show emails and in-venue signage.

Lockout Policies

Latecomers will not be admitted into the auditorium until a suitable break in the performance, which may not be until the interval. This also applies when stepping out of the auditorium and wanting to re-enter during the performance. This policy is in place for the health and safety of the dancers on stage and to minimise disruption during the performance.

Enquiries

Feel free to call our customer experience team on 1300 369 741 Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm, excluding Victorian public holidays when considering a particular ballet's age suitability.