For both of them, these included the leads in all the company's productions of the classics, as well in modern pieces by Kylian, Cranko and many others - and in 'Spartacus'. Later it occurs to us all that it might look rather good in the round at some time, but that's another story. Perhaps their greatest accolade was bing invited twice to the triennial World Ballet Festivals in Japan - a major compliment as the Festival sets out to be a gathering of some of the great dancers of the world. So, by the early 90s they were established stars in Australia, in demand as a partnership as well as for their individual talents, and becoming known world-wide through their guest appearances. The answer seems to lie mainly in geography.
Sheer distance means that Australia is still quite isolated in ballet terms.
Economic considerations have put an end to the long and frequent tours which the old Ballets Russes companies, for instance, used to make, and Australian Ballet is much the largest homegrown company - Western Australia Ballet and the Queensland Ballet operate on a much smaller scale. So the opportunities for the top dancers to see and measure themselves against their peers in the rest of the world are few, and Lisa and Greg eventually decided that to continue the process of artistic growth, they needed a wider experience. I think its good that you can take ballet out to these places that would never otherwise see it. This seems to sum-up the robust Australian 'get up and do it' attitude. In fact reliability is the only thing they admit they have bought to ENB, their essential modesty showing once again.