The story of the Anzacs has been represented through art from the beginning.

The film Hero of the Dardanelles (1915) recreates the landing at Gallipoli. Official war artists were commissioned to document the conflict. One of the most powerful paintings was the ghostly Midnight at Menin Gate (1927) by Will Longstaff.

Banjo Paterson penned an ode to Gallipoli, We’re All Australians Now, in 1915, and novels abound exploring the impacts of war on soldiers and society.

What about dance? As in film, the human body can convey events past. Like fiction, it can present a distinct narrative. Like poetry, it distils human experience. Like paintings, it needs no words to inspire intense emotions.

World War II first inspired some choreographers to convey or critique overseas wars through dance. Here are four different war ballets created in Australia and New Zealand over eight decades.

En Saga was choreographed by Laurel Martyn and first performed by the Borovansky Ballet in Melbourne in 1941.

Martyn had grown up in a depressed post-first world war Australia. At the time of this ballet her fiancé, brother and fellow company members were fighting in World War II.

Set in 19th century Finland to Jean Sibelius’ rousing score, the story was inspired by the Australian home front.

En Saga opens with the women farming the land. The men return from war to some celebration, but many are physically and psychologically........

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