Tchaikovsky was “charmed and captivated” when asked to write the music for The Sleeping Beauty by the director of the Imperial Theatres, Ivan Vsevolozhsky. Audiences have felt the same since the work’s premiere in 1890. The composer and choreographer Marius Petipa worked closely and harmoniously together and created one of the ballet canon’s enduring masterpieces. The Sleeping Beauty has been…
Tag: Brett Chynoweth
Jewels, The Australian Ballet, Adelaide Festival Centre, July 11. The Australian Ballet on Tour, Civic Theatre Newcastle, July 12
George Balanchine’s Jewels was premiered by the Australian Ballet as part of the company’s 60th anniversary celebrations last year and very welcome it was too. It’s unlike anything else in the repertoire and it’s hard to think of a work that, moment for moment, is more glamorous. Sydney, Melbourne and London saw it last year; now it’s Adelaide’s turn. …
Carmen. The Australian Ballet, Sydney Opera House, April 10, 2024
Johan Inger sees Carmen as a nightmare, which it is. In his darker-than-dark version of a story that just won’t go away, the Swedish choreographer gets inside the head of the woman’s murderer, Don Jose, and chillingly finds nothing there. Well, there’s a writhing, stuttering collection of destructive impulses but otherwise Inger’s Don Jose is…
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The Australian Ballet, Sydney, February 20, 2024
Christopher Wheeldon is a ballet choreographer who doesn’t stay in his lane. Neither did George Balanchine, Agnes de Mille or Jerome Robbins. Ditto Twyla Tharp, still making new work at the age of 82. In the younger generation, New York City Ballet’s Justin Peck has been tapped to make dance for Broadway and film (Carousel,…
The Australian Ballet at 60: Don Quixote, Identity, Jewels, April-May 2023
The way The Australian Ballet’s calendar works meant Sydney had a unique opportunity to assess the company’s form and direction at the halfway point of its 60th anniversary celebration year. The ballets came thick and fast in the harbour city. After opening in Melbourne – TAB’s home base – in March, Don Quixote moved on to Sydney in…
Four Romeos and four Juliets at The Australian Ballet, October and December 2022
The return of John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet to The Australian Ballet after nearly 20 years is a reminder of how few narrative ballets surpass it for range and complexity. Cranko’s version of Shakespeare’s tragedy, made in 1962 for Stuttgart Ballet, has been in TAB’s repertoire since 1974 and until 2003 was staged relatively regularly. Not all…
Instruments of Dance, The Australian Ballet, Sydney Opera House, November 10, 2022
Australian audiences know Wayne McGregor from Dyad 1929, made in 2009 as part of The Australian Ballet’s Ballets Russes celebration; Chroma, choreographed in 2006 and brought into the repertoire in 2014; and Infra, staged by TAB in 2017 but dating from 2008. Obsidian Tear, the opening work in the Instruments of Dance triple bill, is not that Wayne McGregor. Absent…
Romeo and Juliet, The Australian Ballet, Arts Centre Melbourne, October 7, 2022
The Australian Ballet is in a nostalgic mood. The company’s 60th birthday is just around the corner – its first performance was in Sydney on November 2, 1962 – so thoughts naturally go to the past. Next year has been designated a year of celebration with key planks of the program being a “reinvention” of former…
Counterpointe, The Australian Ballet
Sydney Opera House, April 27, 2021 Does Counterpointe shine an illuminating light on the journey of classical dance from the 19th century to the 20th or is it a mighty clash of opposing forces? The Australian Ballet’s new artistic director, David Hallberg, sees it as the former. The Australian Ballet’s social media ads, on the other hand, frame Counterpointe as a…
Verve, The Australian Ballet
Sydney Opera House, April 5 The Australian Ballet’s contemporary triple bill Verve, having a Sydney season this year after its premiere in Melbourne last year, presents works from the company’s three resident choreographers, each with a distinctive style that serves the program well. Veteran Stephen Baynes, who has held his post since 1995, is a…
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