NTGent and Les Ballets C de la B. Playhouse, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, September 3. It was a stroke of genius to build this knotty, sometimes exasperating, always fascinating piece about mortality around the playing of a brass band. Breath. That’s the fundamental thing – breathe in, breathe out. If that is happening, we are still…
Horses in the Sky: Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company
Sydney Opera House, August 31. Israeli choreographer Rami Be’er wears his heart on his sleeve in Horses in the Sky. The name comes from a doleful song by Canadian band Silver Mt. Zion but inevitably summons thoughts of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the end of days, which are faced with defiance, fear, small…
Giselle: Royal New Zealand Ballet
Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch, August 23 Every traditional Giselle is drawn in the same broad strokes; it’s the myriad finer details that distinguish one production from another, making yet another Giselle not just another Giselle, but a vivid and immediate experience. At the end of the first act, for instance, Giselle lies dead, literally heartbroken…
Off the Record: Force Majeure with Dance Integrated Australia
Carriageworks, Sydney, August 17. Marnie Palomares has Alex Jones pinned against a wall and is trying to put words into his mouth. Literally. This would be a resonant image under any circumstances but as Jones is deaf it seems an even more intrusive and futile act than usual. Except it’s a moment that also feels…
Aladdin, Capitol Theatre, Sydney
Disney Theatrical Productions, August 11. “Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess,” said Oscar Wilde, who obviously wasn’t in a position to advise Disney on Aladdin but would not have been able to fault its abundance. It confidently contrives a standing ovation before interval, secure in the knowledge there’ll be another one at…
Lest We Forget, Queensland Ballet
Queensland Performing Arts Centre, July 29. The Andrews Sisters style is all honey, sunshine and an irresistible life force, even when there’s a touch of wistfulness in the lyrics. No wonder the trio was so popular with US troops during World War II. The silken close harmonies, bouncy syncopations and light-on-the-feet melodies were made to…
In praise of Sydney’s Ensemble theatre
A History of Falling Things, July 13; Betrayal, July 22 Tucked away in Sydney’s Kirribilli, in a secluded – and highly enviable – spot right on Sydney Harbour, the Ensemble quietly goes about the business it’s been devoted to for nearly six decades. You won’t often read about it in the mainstream press and while many…
Mr Gaga: Ohad Naharin and his Batsheva Dance Company
Any Australian with more than a passing interest in contemporary dance must have seen Ohad Naharin’s Batsheva Dance Company. It could have been at Barrie Kosky’s Adelaide Festival in 1996 – my first acquaintance with Batsheva – or David Sefton’s Adelaide Festival of 2014. Possibly Melbourne’s festival in 2000 or 2015, or Jonathan Holloway’s final…
Character building: dance isn’t only for the young
The received wisdom is that ballet is strictly a young person’s game. When a classical dancer gets near or just beyond 40 there is much marveling at their longevity and conjecture about what they will do when they retire. There are always exceptions, of course. Think of the wondrous Alessandra Ferri, who on June 23…
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown
Hayes Theatre Co, Sydney, July 6 I’m sure the good folk at Charlie Hebdo magazine won’t mind when I say, after seeing You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown at the Hayes last night, that je suis Charlie. I must also say that je suis Lucy, or at least the better bits of her (I hope)….
deborah jones: FollowSpot 