The stars were out and so was the moon. The audience gathered, as always, on the terraces at City Beach’s Quarry Amphitheatre with the traditional picnic baskets and wine to hand. The dancers of West Australian Ballet warmed up on the open-air stage and all was as it usually is. Except, that is, for the…
Category: Dance
Breaking Plates: a new film from Karen Pearlman smashes past and present together
If you want to sum up the thrust of Karen Pearlman’s witty new short film in one piece of advice it’s this: women, whatever you do, do not gaze wistfully through a window. This passive act of watching and waiting is anathema to Pearlman, as it should be. She simply will not allow it in anything she…
Ivan Gil-Ortega named new artistic director of Queensland Ballet
Queensland Ballet has chosen Ivan Gil-Ortega to be its next artistic director. The Spanish-born international artist will be the company’s seventh AD. He will start in February after a period of considerable turmoil for QB. Gil-Ortega’s high-profile predecessor, Leanne Benjamin, stayed in the role for only six months. In a statement at the time Benjamin…
The year in review: 2024
It’s been a few years since I’ve done a year’s-best list. Everyone loves a list, including me, and it’s fun to see what others found memorable. But while I’m always happy to share my opinions about live performance it’s a bit of a mug’s game to say this thing was “better” than that thing when…
Oscar. Choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. The Australian Ballet, Melbourne, September 13, 2024. Sydney, November 8, 2024.
Can something be simultaneously too much and not enough? That was the case for Oscar Wilde in his tumultuous, ill-fated, on-off relationship with the mercurial Lord Alfred Douglas and it’s the case with Oscar, Christopher Wheeldon’s new full-length work for The Australian Ballet. The extraordinarily rich score by Joby Talbot and Wheeldon’s abundant storytelling gifts join…
Coco Chanel: the Life of a Fashion Icon. Queensland Ballet, Playhouse, QPAC, Brisbane, October 4
The unwieldy name of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s bio-ballet carries the intimation that not everyone will know who Chanel was. Tell that to Brisbane, where Coco Chanel: the Life of a Fashion Icon sold out all 17 performances before the season started. I reckon Chanel herself would have gone for a more streamlined title. She was, after all,…
‘We can be the future only if we know the past’: Francesco Ventriglia talks about his new role at Alberta Ballet. October 8, 2024
Francesco Ventriglia became artistic director of Alberta Ballet in January 2024. Now 46, he has worked as a dancer, artistic director and choreographer in Italy, New Zealand, Uruguay, Australia – where he established his Sydney Choreographic Centre – and now Canada. The company premiere of La Sylphide in September was his first program for Alberta Ballet. I…
Romeo & Juliet. West Australian Ballet, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth, August 30 and 31, 2024
When announcing her 2023 season for Royal New Zealand Ballet, then-artistic director Patricia Barker described the returning Romeo & Juliet as “a glorious production made for the St James [Theatre] in 2017”. She was referring only to the sets and costumes designed by James Acheson. Barker added: “Andrea Schermoly is creating new choreography that will revive the classic…
The Australian Ballet announces its 2025 season
In what will be David Hallberg’s fifth year as artistic director of The Australian Ballet, the company’s 2025 program offers new works by William Forsythe and Stephanie Lake, the return of John Neumeier’s Nijinsky, the company premiere of Jerome Robbins’s Glass Pieces and, for Melbourne and Canberra, Johan Inger’s powerful Carmen following its Australian premiere in Sydney this year. Revivals of…
Solace, Royal New Zealand Ballet. Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch, August 16, 2024
Solace is a beautiful, onomatopoeic word. It sits softly in the mouth and the taste of its meaning lingers. It promises comfort, although has little to do with being comfortable. This is comfort that exists to alleviate sadness or distress. It is light in the darkness. The three works in Royal New Zealand Ballet’s 2024…
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