When Queensland Ballet’s Elegantly Wasted opens at HOTA, Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast next month, it will mark the world premiere of a bold new contemporary ballet set to the music of Australian rock icons INXS.
For Ruby Day, one of the company’s youngest artists, it is also a significant moment in a career that has gathered remarkable momentum in a very short time.
Ruby Day officially joined Queensland Ballet in November 2024 after receiving the Rudolph Nureyev Foundation’s Best Young Talent Award at the prestigious Prix de Lausanne. Her journey through Queensland Ballet Academy, from the Associate Program to Company Artist, has been an unusually rapid one, bypassing the Jette Parker Young Artist program along the way.
Her first season with the company culminated in sharing the role of Clara in The Nutcracker. Now, she finds herself at the centre of a brand-new work, created by acclaimed Belgium-Colombian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, whose previous Queensland Ballet production, Coco Chanel: the Life of a Fashion Icon, was a sell-out success.
It is quite a leap for a young dancer who, remarkably, didn’t grow up in a dancing family. A Brisbane local, Day discovered ballet without the kind of longstanding family connection to the art form that often characterises the early lives of professional dancers. Her trajectory since then has been anything but conventional.
Elegantly Wasted also presents a very different challenge from the classical repertoire that has helped establish her with Queensland Ballet. Dancing to the unmistakable music of INXS, the work explores the band’s music through a contemporary lens, bringing together dance, music and a distinctly Australian cultural legacy.
Yesterday The Scoop joined Queensland Ballet in the rehearsal room to get a glimpse of Elegantly Wasted before its Gold Coast season. We sat down with Ruby Day to talk about stepping into a world premiere, working with Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, dancing to INXS and the extraordinary journey that has brought her to this point. Read the full interview below.
What was your first reaction when you found out you’d be dancing to the music of INXS? Were you familiar with their music?
When I first heard we were dancing to the music of INXS, I didn’t actually know who they were. I went through Spotify and I listened to their music. I knew the classics, but apart from that, I didn’t have much of an idea of who they were as a band. I watched the Mystify documentary and the Kylie Minogue documentary, and now I understand who they are.
The conversation was that this was a three-year partnership. We did Elastic Hearts last year to the music of Sia, which was incredible, so fun. And we got to do it again earlier this year. And then I had the opportunity to be part of the photoshoot to promote the INXS piece. I didn’t really know exactly what it was to be used for, whether it was just going to be for Instagram. But how the images turned out is pretty cool. And then for INXS to repost them, it was definitely quite exciting.
Elegantly Wasted is set in a luxury hotel lobby, with these young influencers constantly performing and curating their lives. How would you describe the world you’re stepping into and what is Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s movement vocabulary like to dance?
I think the world we’re stepping into with INXS is honestly very relatable. In one of the first rehearsals, Annabelle actually had us on our phones, walking around with them. And the following day I caught myself doing that in real life. It made me reflect, the world that we’re exploring is quite familiar.
I’d say the vocabulary of the movement’s a little bit more commercial. It has elements of classical ballet and familiar positions, but we also explore quite a lot of walking heel toe and it’s a bit more grounded. In rehearsal, a lot of the choreography started in flats and in sneakers and then evolved to a more classical technique in pointe shoes.
Is there a particular INXS song in the ballet that you’ve really connected with, either because of the choreography or simply because of the music?
I am fortunate to be performing a pas de deux with Edison Manuel to Never Tear Us Apart, which is one of their most famous songs. It’s very acrobatic and physical, so it’s been super exciting to work on that.
The last song in the piece is Don’t Change, which became quite famous as the last song INXS often played at their concerts. It’s become one of my favourites to perform in the piece, because of Annabelle’s choreography and the meaning behind the song.
I first saw you dance in the 2024 season of Soirée, just as you were transitioning from the Academy into the Company. Did you ever imagine your journey would move this quickly? What have you discovered about yourself that you didn’t know when you first joined Queensland Ballet?
I never thought my career would go on this trajectory. Since joining the company, I discovered that there’s a very wide world of ballet. It’s not just the classics, there’s a lot of different avenues. Even with the contemporary ballets, there’s some in flat barefoot and some in pointe shoes. I had quite a fixed mindset on what ballet was, and I think becoming a professional has definitely broadened my horizons on that.
For someone who thinks they don’t know anything about ballet, but they love INXS, why should they come and see this?
I think the exciting thing about this collaboration is that Queensland Ballet and HOTA are combining two completely different audiences. Someone who may never think to come and watch the ballet but knows the music of INXS may feel inspired to open a door to a new world of art, and vice versa for those who wouldn’t usually go to a music concert.
I think those die-hard INXS fans who may be deterred by the ballet aspect should definitely come and see it because the way the music’s been orchestrated completely brings it a new life. It’s so different to what you would expect, but it works so well, especially with the choreography.
Elegantly Wasted: Featuring the Songs of INXS is presented by Queensland Ballet in partnership with HOTA, Home of the Arts. It runs 10 – 12 September at HOTA on the Gold Coast.
Tickets: https://www.queenslandballet.com.au/performances/2026/elegantly-wasted
Website: https://hota.com.au/events/elegantly-wasted-featuring-the-songs-of-inxs
Socials: Socials: https://www.instagram.com/hotagc/ and https://www.instagram.com/qldballet/
Hero image: Ruby Day, photo by David Kelly
Creatives. Music INXS Concept and choreography. Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. Sound Designer Jake Rodriguez. Additional Music Production Nigel Butler. Costume Design Josh McIntosh. Set and Lighting Design Jon Buswell.
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