My review of Sphere was published online by Canberra CityNews on 15 May 2026, following its opening performance in Canberra. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the CityNews post. Follow this link to the CityNews review. ************************** 14 May 2026. The Vault, Dairy Road Precinct, Fyshwick ACT The Vault is a concrete bunker that used to be a storage
6 May 2026 (matinee). Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House The Australian Ballet’s 2026 presentation of John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet is quite simply extraordinary! To put it bluntly I can’t remember, in decades of watching dance, ever being so involved in the unfolding of a narrative production. The actual dancing, led at the performance I saw by Brett Chynoweth
The opening of 2026 Dance Week from Ausdance ACT took place on top of Canberra’s Mount Ainslie on 29 April, international Dance Day. Founded in 1982 by the International Theatre Institute, International Dance Day takes place annually on the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810). Noverre is generally regarded as the founder of modern ballet. The Canberra event began with a Welcome
My review of Invitation to the Dance was published online by Canberra CityNews on 25 April 2026, following its opening (and only) performance in Canberra. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the CityNews post. Follow this link to the CityNews review. ************************** It was a surprise to discover that the music ensemble Salut! Baroque, which has been performing music
My review of Aladdin was published online by Canberra CityNews on 24 April 2026 following its opening on 23 April in the Canberra Theatre Centre’s Playhouse. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the CityNews post. Here is a link to the CityNews review. ********************************** This is a surprising presentation of the story of Aladdin, a young man whose life
8 April 2026 (matinee). Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Almost 20 years ago, in October 1997, Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Australian Ballet collaborated on a production, Rites, choreographed by Stephen Page, then artistic director of Bangarra. It was a landmark event and the work has since been restaged and has toured and been the subject of a major
Perusing the Canberra program for Australian Dance Week I was instantly surprised by news of the opening celebration, which will take place on International Dance Day, 29 April. Ausdance ACT has programmed this event to occur on top of Mount Ainslie, a beautiful spot whose current vista would thrill the designers of Canberra, Walter Burley Griffin and his partner, Marion
Sydney Dance Company announced in March that Rafael Bonachela, artistic director of Sydney Dance Company since 2009, will leave the company in mid 2028. It was perhaps not surprising news but it certainly aroused many thoughts about Bonachela’s input into the company. What perhaps stands out, at least from my viewpoint, was the physicality that characterised Bonachela’s choreography. Bonachela did
27 March 2026. Glasshouse Theatre, Brisbane ’I don’t say we’re doing a ballet. I say we’re doing a production.’ Ivan Gil-Ortega giving his thoughts on Messa da Requiem ***************************** Messa da Requiem was created by Giuseppe Verdi in 1874. It was, as program notes tell us, a work that ‘transforms the traditional Catholic funeral mass into a gripping human drama’. The
My review of Swan? was published online by Canberra CityNews on 26 March 2026. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the CityNews post. Here is a link to the CityNews review. **************************************** 25 March 2026. The B, Queanbeyan First staged in Moscow in 1877, Swan Lake is one of the oldest ballets in the current theatrical repertoire. It is