New Breed, Sydney Dance Company, Carriageworks, Sydney, November 4 AN enduring issue in dance is the predominance of male choreographers. This is overwhelmingly evident in ballet; less so in contemporary dance. Nevertheless, if you look at Sydney Dance Company’s programs over the past few years, the choreographers invited to join artistic director Rafael Bonachela on…
Old wine in new bottles
The Grand Chapiteau, Entertainment Quarter, Sydney, October 28. THE theme of Cirque du Soleil’s Totem is nothing less than the progress of the human race. The show begins with the thrilling sight of a man descending from the highest reaches of the vast Cirque tent, his mirror-encrusted bodysuit catching the light as he swirls in…
Raise the roof
Hayes Theatre Co, Sydney, October 22 GLORY hallelujah! Miracle City has been resurrected. It is alive and it is well, if a little in need of fine-tuning. An explanation for those not steeped in music-theatre lore: in 1996 Nick Enright and Max Lambert’s show had a short season at Sydney, Theatre Company and it was…
It’s a wrap
Trisha Brown Dance Company. From All Angles: Pure Movement Program 1, October 23; Early Works, October 26 (afternoon); Pure Movement Program 2, October 26 (evening) Chunky Move, Complexity of Belonging, October 9 Heiner Goebbels, When the Mountain Changed Its Clothing, October 26 (afternoon) The Trouble with Harry, October 23 (afternoon) TRISHA Brown’s dance-making is deeply concerned…
Zest and immediacy
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Bell Shakespeare, Canberra Theatre Centre, June 15. IN an air raid shelter during the Blitz in London, some young people delve into bookshelves and pull out Shakespeare. Their stage is a room with a blackboard and some rackety shelves, their costumes nothing more than what they can put over…
Finding a place to belong
Regent Theatre, Melbourne, October 17 MATTHEW Bourne’s Swan Lake was a sensation when it premiered in 1995 and nearly 20 years later it is as gripping as ever. Swan Lake is surely the ballet text most frequently reinterpreted, whether tweaked minimally or extensively altered, but no version has captured the public’s imagination as tenaciously as…
Let’s get physical
Louder Than Words, Sydney Dance Company. Sydney Theatre, October 8. IT’S hard to know where to begin with Andonis Foniadakis’s fantastical Parenthesis, a piece that turns the dial up to 11 and then some. Perhaps praise for Sydney Dance Company’s ferociously committed dancers should come first. They are a super-talented and game bunch who can…
Tragedy, Tragi-comedy and lots of Sondheim
The Glass Menagerie, Belvoir, September 30 Howie the Rookie, Red Line Productions in association with Strange Duck Productions and Sydney Independent Theatre Company, Old Fitzroy Theatre, October 2 Sondheim on Sondheim, Squabbalogic Independent Music Theatre, Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre, October 3 EAMON Flack’s production of The Glass Menagerie for Belvoir is very beautiful; perhaps too…
Two up, two down
The Motherf**ker with the Hat, Darlinghurst Theatre Company and Workhorse Theatre Company, September 23 Children of the Sun, Sydney Theatre Company, September 24 (matinee) The Last Confession, Chichester Festival Theatre production, Theatre Royal, Sydney, September 24 (evening) Wicked, Capitol Theatre, Sydney, September 25 LET’S start with Wicked. It’s not quite The Lion King, which last…
David McAllister in conversation
THE Australian Ballet has designated 2015 its Year of Beauty, driving the point home with sumptuous imagery. Not since 2009 has the AB’s promotional material had such a romantic feel. The program, announced on September 16, culminates in a new production of Sleeping Beauty, to be staged by AB artistic director David McAllister, and begins…
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