Established in 1991 by Christine Walsh AM and Ricardo Ella, The Australian Conservatoire of Ballet is renowned for its strong professional ballet training, preparing dancers for dance companies world wide.

The Australian Conservatoire of Ballet is both a classical ballet school and a training program. The creation of the ACB teacher training and assessment program (syllabus), half-day ballet/half-day academic and the full-time program, has enabled students to reach exemplary standards. The program is based of the Vaganova method, which has been adapted to suit the needs of Australian and international students attending academic day schools. Nearly 400 teachers now teach this program in schools across Australia, United Kingdom, USA, Taiwan, India, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau and the Philippines,

The school is continuing to enjoy the recognition of its training in classical ballet by the international dance community.  

A number of academic schools in Melbourne now participate with the ACB to facilitate the students undertaking their academic studies on a half-day basis devoting the other half of the day to their ballet studies at the ACB's purposed built ballet studios in Richmond. 

The Australian Conservatoire of Ballet Professional and Specialised Coaching Program provide students with broad and intensive training giving every opportunity to pursue professional goals in the dance industry. Throughout the program, students are given performing experience and audition opportunities.

The progress of all students is carefully monitored and they receive individual reports with assessments conducted regularly. The most up to date training techniques are taught to uniquely focus on the requirements of the profession, namely the refinement and dynamics of classical and contemporary techniques, physical fitness, artistic performance quality, development of individual skills, resilience, a professional attitude and guidance for employment preparation.

Many ACB graduates students have entered dance companies such as the Royal Ballet, Houston Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Australian Ballet, Queensland Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Kiev Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Bavarian National Ballet, Deutsche Staatsoper-Berlin, Ballet Ireland, Ballet du Rhin, Tokyo Ballet and many other European companies.