Dance diary. June 2026

Lucy Guerin moves on

Lucy Guerin, director and founder of the Melbourne-based contemporary dance company Lucy Guerin Inc, will step down from her position at the end of 2026. Guerin established her company 25 years ago and, while 25 years is a more than commendable time to have been at the helm of a dance company, the news came as something of a shock. Guerin said of her decision:

After 25 years, I have decided to step down as Artistic Director of LGI to explore new directions in dance. I founded the company in 2002 to support the making and touring of my productions, but over the years it has become so much more than that. It is now a centre for choreography, discussion, learning, connection and ideas and there are so many who have worked incredibly hard to support this organization. I am deeply grateful to all of them

Guerin will continue to lead the company until the end of 2026 and will perform a solo work in October before relinquishing her role as director. The LGI Board will begin a search for a new director in the coming weeks. It will be interesting to see who will be selected to take on the position vacated by Guerin, and what new role Guerin will take on in the future.

For posts about Lucy Guerin on this website follow this link.

Adelaide College of the Arts

I had the pleasure of being in Adelaide recently where I saw a performance by dance and design students from Years 2 and 3 at the Adelaide College of the Arts. The evening consisted of two original dance works, Made to_ by Singaporean guest choreographer Ru Ma, along with there & gone by Peter Sheedy, lecturer and course co-ordinator for the dance program at the College.

The students performed exceptionally well in both works although I especially admired the Sheedy work. It was a thoroughly abstract work making great use of onstage objects that were moved around the stage at various times. It also had the dancers constantly regrouping in various ways and was in fact an exceptional way of introducing students to the various possibilities of choreography. A great training piece although the dancers performed like professionals rather than students in training.

News from Loughlan Prior

Loughlan Prior’s production of Hansel Gretel, made originally for Royal New Zealand Ballet in 2019, has just recently been performed in Las Vegas by Nevada Ballet Theatre. It was really well received there and was described in one review as a ‘spectacular, surreal imagining’ of the well-known story with ‘stunning visual design’ and ‘high energy choreography’.

Read Jennifer Shennan’s review of the work as seen in Wellington in 2019 at this link, and also her review of the 2023 return season at this link.

Prior is currently working in London on a new show, The McRae/Vassiliev Project, in collaboration with director Natalie Abrahami, dancer and choreographer Steven McRae, musician Vasko Vassilev, and dancer Sarah Lamb. Inspired by the work of violinist Niccolo Paganinit, it will premiere in September in the Linbury Theatre at London’s Royal Opera House.

See more about The McRae/Vassiiev Project at this link.

Loughlan Prior and Laura Saxon-Jones performing with artists from the New Zealand School of Music, 2019. Photo: © Stephen Gibbs

Beth Dean

I quite accidentally came across a small manuscript collection of material about Beth Dean held in the National Library in Canberra (MS 10011, received 2004). I was always under the impression that her collection was held in Sydney at the State Library of New South Wales, and indeed there is a substantial collection there. But somehow a small number of items found their way to Canberra. It was a thrill to find some early photographs of Dean, which I had never seen before.

Beth Dean in Cleveland, Ohio, 1935. Photo: © Harry A Cole

But especially interesting, given that several years ago now (and without being aware of the NLA material), I had given a paper on dance in Australia in the 1950s. My talk focused on Australian themes and, not surprisingly, my mention of Dean included a brief discussion of her choreography to John Antill’s score Corroboree. So, I was especially interested in Dean’s writings in the NLA collection regarding her extensive research for her production of Corroboree, and the story as she conceived it. Of her approach to the story she wrote:

The story of my “Corroboree” was about a young boy and his initiation, and his facing of himself and of the chimeras of our fears and our imagination. The Dreamtime stories of his ancestors are shown to him, as they were when we sat in the red dust with those people during all their ceremonies.

And of her background research she wrote:

For my version of the ballet I had spent those months [on which she elaborates at length elsewhere in the papers] living with the Aboriginal people studying their mythology, but even more finding the beauty and the depth of their discipline.

It is totally fascinating material, provided we look at it as coming from the 1950s.

Press for June 2026

– ‘Opera Gala (Snow Concert Hall ).’ Review of Opera Gala. Limelight Magazine, 1 June 2026. Online at this link.

– ‘Physicality fuels Sydney Dance Company’s engine.’ Review of Engine, Sydney Dance Company. CBR CityNews, 25 June 2026. Online at this link

Michelle Potter, 30 June 2026

Featured image: Portrait of Lucy Guerin. Photo: © Amber Haines

Engine. Sydney Dance Company

My review of Engine was published online by Canberra City News on 25 June 2026, following its opening performance in Sydney on 24 June. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the City News post. Follow this link to the City News review.

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24 June 2026. Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House

Sydney Dance Company’s latest production, Engine, is a triple bill with works from Canberra-trained Melanie Lane, with a return of her acclaimed work Love Lock; Berlin-based, Spanish choreographer Fran Diaz, with the Australian premiere of The Mass Ornament; and Rafael Bonachela, artistic director of Sydney Dance Company, with a new work, The Journey Itself is Home.

The evening opened with Love Lock, which I first saw back in 2024 when it was part of Sydney Dance Company’s Twofold program. Then I was transfixed by the notion and nature of the love lock (a padlock that represents everlasting love), and its role in people’s connections with those who share their life. This time I was able to focus more on the choreography, which was like nothing I have seen from any other choreographer. Lane’s approach to movement was quite eccentric with its angularity from individual dancers set beside unity of groupings of bodies.

Costumes were by Akira Isogawa. He started out with plain black pants and tops in various lengths and shapes, but his exceptional additions made across the course of Love Lock eventually contributed to the individuality that characterised the work. A pounding score from [Chris] Clark, which he describes as ‘a dense collage of percussion/cello/synthesisers/voices/flutes’, and atmospheric lighting from Damien Cooper, also made exceptional contributions to the production.

Dancers from Sydney Dance Company in a scene from *Love Lock*, 2026. Photo: © Wendell Teodoro

After a brief pause while the stage was being reset, Fran Diaz’s The Mass Ornament, with very plain costumes in dark green satin-like material, also designed by Diaz, took us into a world that focused on a new look at, or changed approach to, popular music hall entertainment. With its relatively simplistic use of movement and groupings, it reflected a certain unison characteristic of early popular entertainment. But it nevertheless embodied an individuality from the dancers and suggested we look beyond superficiality at inherent emotional connections. The Mass Ornament was not my favourite work on the program, but was interesting as perhaps an example of an early German Expressionist approach to art? Then, after some thought, I accepted the title of the work, especially the Ornament aspect of that title, as being a subtle comment on the nature of popular entertainment.

Dancers from Sydney Dance Company in a scene from *The Mass Ornament*, 2026. Photo: © Wendell Teodoro

The evening concluded with Bonachela’s brand new The Journey Itself is Home danced to a score by Bryce Dessner and lit by Damien Cooper. Compared with the other two works, Bonachela’s choreography looked quite unusual, or at least more like Western contemporary dance as we tend to know it. The work certainly showed Bonachela’s choreographic fluidity and approach to connections between dancers. A section that was basically a series of duets, one duet replacing the previous one, was admirable.

Dancers from Sydney Dance Company in a duet from *The Journey Itself is Home*, 2026. Photo: © Wendell Teodoro

But what stood out for me in this work was the manner in which Bonachela had used unison dancing and had made it quite fast-paced. It carried the work forward in an unexpected manner.

Before the show began, I wondered why the program had the somewhat unusual title of Engine. It was quite clear, however, from Lane’s opening piece that the title referred to an intensity of movement seen in the full-on, engine-like physicality that characterised all three works. The triple bill format is always an intriguing arrangement and opens up a wealth of possibilities. This program opened up one very clear aspect of the evening’s presentation: the powerful manner in which dance can deliver its inherent physicality and connectivity.

But an engine-like visual effect was just one aspect of what we saw onstage. For a start, the dancers were breathtakingly brilliant in every work. Then the costumes and lighting were outstanding in the way in which they contributed to the different approaches of each of the three choreographers—from the idiosyncratic nature of Lane’s work, through the hard-core expression from Diaz, and on to the more gentle and predictable nature of Bonachela’s contribution.

Engine was a stunning show and well deserving of the standing ovation and loud cheers and exclamations that concluded the evening.

Michelle Potter, 28 June 2026

Featured image: Dancers from Sydney Dance Company in a scene from Love Lock, 2026, with a view of some of Akira Isolgawa’s additions to the costumes. Photo: © Wendell Teodoro

I was a guest of Sydney Dance Company at this performance.

The comment from Clark about the music for Love Lock comes his notes on the work as published in the program for Engine.

Opera Gala. Snow Concert Hall

My review of Opera Gala was published online by Limelight Magazine on 1 June 2026, following its opening performance in Canberra on 29 May. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the Limelight post. Follow this link to the Limelight review.

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For many, a gala is a large-scale event. Opera Gala, however, was a performance by just three artists, soprano Cathy-Di Zhang, mezzo-soprano Helen Sherman, and pianist Thomas Victor Johnson. It was curated and presented by Ana de la Vega, artistic director of Canberra’s relatively new, exceptionally designed Snow Concert Hall.

The program consisted of arias and duets from a range of operas including Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville, Rossini), Cosi fan tutte (Women are like that, Mozart), Madama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly, Puccini), Carmen (Bizet), Rusalka (Dvorak), and La clemenza di Tito (The clemency of Titus, Mozart). In addition, the aria fromMadama Butterfly was preceded by a short solo from the pianist. He played the Prelude to Act III of Madama Butterfly.

While Sherman and Zhang both sang beautifully throughout the evening, two items stood out for me. Zhang gave a moving rendition of ‘One Fine Day’ from Madame Butterfly. There was no extravagant acting as she sang, just a feeling of hope for the return of the man she loved, US Naval Officer Lieutenant Pinkerton, which we in the audience knew would not happen. It was an extremely poignant performance.

Secondly, I enjoyed the duet from Norma in which two female characters, Norma and Adalgisa, interact with each other when Norma learns she has been betrayed by her lover. But Norma and Adalgisa pledge solidarity with each other and there was strong interaction between the two women, which drew me into the story very easily.

I was also especially impressed with the work of pianist Thomas Victor Johnson. From his approach to the music of the first aria, Una voce poco fa from The Barber of Seville, to the final moments of the gala, an encore, his expressive playing filled the auditorium and added beautifully to the unfolding of the singing. He wasn’t simply an accompanist but a thrilling part of every aria and duet.

For those who were not familiar with the specific narratives that surrounded the arias and duets, Zhang and Sherman took turns in outlining the role played in each opera before performing each musical number. There was also a lovely moment following one of the arias from Cosi fan tutte when Zhang mentioned the reason why Mozart had given the aria such a wide pitch range. It had to do with Mozart’s interest in the way the singer, for whom the aria was originally created, moved her head in relation to varying sound. The audience loved the story! It was also interesting to see a different side of the singers as they explained what each song was about.

Over the four or so years of its existence the Snow Concert Hall, with its excellent acoustic properties, has become an exceptional Canberra performing venue. I can only say congratulations to Ana de la Vega for her magnificent ongoing curatorship, for which Opera Gala was a more than worthy item.

Michelle Potter, 1 June 2026

Featured image: Helen Sherman (left) and Cathy-Di Zhang with Thomas Johnson at the piano. Opera Gala, Snow Concert Hall, 2026. Photo: © Dalice Trost

Dance diary. May 2026

Alice Topp goes to Houston

In January 2026 Alice Topp lost pretty much everything in a devastating bushfire in Harcourt, the small town in regional Victoria where she lived. The rebirth of the town led to her latest work, Sisu, a Finnish word meaning, as Topp explained in an article in Houston Chronicle, ‘finding hope when you can’t see the light’. Sisu was premiered by Houston Ballet on 28 May 2026 and a reviewer for Houston Chronicle, Adam Castaneda, wrote:

Houston Ballet’s triple bill An Evening with the Stars opened Thursday night [28 May 2026] with a powerful and introspective world premiere of Australian choreographer Alice Topp. Sisu proved to be an evocative exploration of human responses to adversity, and how people survive through community, connection, and confluence.

In the circumstances that led to the development of Sisu, I am simply staggered that, in just under two months after the fire, Topp managed to produce her amazing production of Macbeth for Royal New Zealand Ballet. And now Sisu!

Beau Dean Riley Smith: a fellowship

Recently announced was the establishment of the Shaun Parker & Company Choreographic Fellowship funded by the New York-based Denise and Michael Kellen Foundation. The fellowship, which grew out of the development of a relationship with the Foundation by Shaun Parker, offers the astonishing amount of $100,000 per year to support the development of significant dance works by leading choreographic artists.

It is an absolute delight to hear that the inaugural recipient of the award is Beau Dean Riley Smith, who will receive the fellowship over two to three years and will, in due course, present the world premiere of a work created on the dancers of Shaun Parker & Company.

Beau Dean Riley Smith at the Bennelong Photoshoot, Photography Tiffany Parker, 2017 — Beau Dean Riley Smith. Photo: © Tiffany Parker, 2017. Photo taken at a photo shoot for Bangarra Dance Theatre’s work *Bennelong*

Beau Dean Riley Smith is a Wiradjuri and Gamillaraay man from Dubbo NSW, raised on Yuin Country in Culburra Beach, Nowra, now living on Gadigal land. For more about Beau Dean Riley Smith on this website see this link.

Back in 2017 Shaun Parker was interviewed for the National Library of Australia’s oral history project. Listen at this link.

The Denise and Michael Kellen Foundation is a private foundation based in New York. It supports education, philanthropy, voluntarism, and Human Services, primarily in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.

Reading in May

Some years ago now I was given a book that a colleague had found in a book sale, which I have only now got around to reading. The book is Twin Journey and is an autobiography by Beth Dean and Victor Carell.

I am somewhat shocked I have to say at the appalling way in which the book was edited. There are just so many typographical errors, including one in which Beth is spelled Bth! Not only that there must have been something wrong with the printer as at times the printing is quite black whereas at other times it is much lighter. Nor is there any evidence that a designer was employed as the pages are without any form of pleasing spacing. And I could go on ….

It’s just as well the subject matter is quite interesting and certainly gives a different take on what Dean and Carell accomplished.

Press for May 2026

– ‘Sphere turns industrial Vault into living stage.’ Review of Sphere. Australian Dance Party. CBR City News, 15 May 2026. Online at this link.

– ‘Sheltering (Bangarra Dance Theatre).’ Review of Sheltering. Bangarra Dance Theatre. Limelight Magazine. 25 May 2026. Online at this link.

Michelle Potter, 31 May 2026

Featured image: Alice Topp and Artists of Houston Ballet rehearsing Sisu. Photo: © Alana Campbell, 2026. Courtesy of Houston Ballet.

Sheltering. Bangarra Dance Theatre

My review of Sheltering was published online by Limelight Magazine on 25 May 2026, following its opening performance in Canberra on 23 May. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the Limelight post. Follow this link to the Limelight review.

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23 May 2026. Canberra Theatre, Canberra Theatre Centre

Sheltering, Bangarra Dance Theatre’s latest show, set out to present the audience with a reminder of the social and cultural issues that connect people and place. The three works that made up the program spanned just over ten years of Bangarra’s production history. The opening work, Keeping Grounded, with choreography by Glory Tuohy-Daniell, was first shown as part of a Dance Clan program in 2023; the middle piece, Brown Boys, a short film from Daniel Mateo, was also first shown in a Dance Clan program this time in 2024; and the final work, Frances Rings’ Sheoak, was first presented in 2015.

Keeping Grounded stood out largely as a result of the set by Shana O’Brien. It consisted of a large net, fishing-style, with a series of quite large holes scattered across its surface. The net hung from the flies but moved and spread itself out at times, and was manipulated in various ways by the cast of eight. There were moments when the dancers climbed onto the net and walked across it, and they often moved through the holes in an attempt to touch the floor area, which represented their need and efforts to stay grounded. The visual effect was powerful and added a clear understanding of the aim of this work.

The net from *Keeping Grounded*. Photo: © Daniel Boud. (Image from Dance Clan 2023)

The six minute film, Brown Boys, was performed by Daniel Mateo and co-directed by Mateo and Cass Mortimer Eipper. It focused on the stereotypes and stigma that often directed the feelings of acceptance, or non-acceptance, of First Nation’s male youth as they transited through life. It was somewhat confronting, although Mateo says in program notes that he was ‘offering [the work] as a gift to Brown Boys in the hope of supporting them on their journey of becoming.’ It was challenging nevertheless given some aspects of the film, in particular the strong, loud words spoken by Mateo and the close-up images that seemed to crowd out towards the audience as the film unfolded.

The final work, Sheoak from Frances Rings, represented the resilience of First Nation’s people as they engaged with the world in this 21st century. Rings used the symbolism of the endangered sheoak tree to examine the need to protect the culture of her people. Back in 2015, in a review of the program in which Sheoak was first presented, I wrote:

The sheoak tree, the grandmother tree in Indigenous lore, is endangered and, in the opening scene, we see pyramid of dancers gradually collapsing. The metaphor of the tree in Aboriginal society continues, and the keeper of the place in which the tree grows mourns its loss. Societal dysfunction results and the community faces the challenges of operating in a new environment.

A moment from *Sheoak* from its original presentation in 2015. Photo: © Jeff Tan

Sheoak also had a strong visual effect with dancers holding and wielding large sticks representing tree branches, and with its final moments depicting the birth of a spirit portraying hope for change and ongoing development. Jennifer Irwin’s costumes were arresting, especially in the final section when long, diaphanous skirts were decorated with quite intricate, rope-like elements.

Costumes by Jennifer Irwin for the final section of *Sheoak*. Photo: © Daniel Boud

But what continued to plague my thoughts throughout the show was the choreography. Bangarra has always had an exceptional collaborative aspect to its work and Sheltering was no exception given the powerful visual aspects of each of the works. But the choreography varied little from work to work. I began to wonder whether Bangarra had deliberately pursued the development of a particular Bangarra style similar to, say, the way some well-known contemporary choreographers had created a personal style to which they constantly moved: Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham for example. What I saw from Bangarra on this occasion, especially in the opening work, was movement that was highly grounded and filled with upturned feet and bent arms, often along with static or non-fluid moments. I have no objections to such a style but sometimes something more fluid or less angular and jerky would have worked well.

Sheltering was a program honouring David Page, whose contribution to the development of Bangarra was largely but not exclusively through his sound scores. The score for Sheoak was in fact from David Page. This Page brother died in 2016 and the presentation of Sheltering thus marked the tenth anniversary of his death. The printed program contained a double page spread outlining the extent of his contribution. Remarkable really.

David Page discussing his music for *Sheoak*, 2015. Photo: © Tiffany Parker

Michelle Potter, 26 May 2026

Featured image: Daniel Mateo in a moment from Brown Boys. Photo (still from the film): © Cass Mortimer Eipper

I was a guest of Bangarra Dance Theatre on this occasion.

Sphere. Australian Dance Party

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.

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14 May 2026. The Vault, Dairy Road Precinct, Fyshwick ACT

The Vault is a concrete bunker that used to be a storage depot for coins and then beer kegs. It is a blank space, without windows, without pillars and without any decorative elements. It is located in Canberra’s Dairy Road Precinct on the edges of the industrial area of Fyshwick. It can perhaps be described as an example of Canberra’s brutalist architecture.

Sphere is a work, according to Alison Plevey founder of Australian Dance Party, that focuses on two meanings of the word ‘sphere’, that of aspects of the universe and, as well, the sphere of influence of dance. It was also created in celebration of Australian Dance Party’s tenth year of existence and, given its wide focus and its presentation in the Vault, which on the surface is not a hugely theatrical space, it is perhaps a little surprising that it was as immersive as it was.

On entering the space for the performance, it was noticeable that seating was spread out and arranged irregularly—no rows or tiers of seats, just a few simple benches and a few small rows of regular seating scattered across the area. There were spaces too for audience members to seat themselves on the floor. We were invited, as the production began, to move around the space as the work unfolded and, as the desire took us, to be closer to some aspects of the performance.

The overall production consisted of several sections. There were group moments, including the opening section led by Jahna Lugnan. This was followed by a very physical duet, a solo or two, including a powerful performance by one of the male dancers, and a few more group sections, all taking place in different areas of the Vault’s space.

A scene from one of the solos in *Sphere*. Australian Dance Party, 2026. Photo: © Michelle Potter

I am not sure whether Sphere was specifically choreographed or whether it was largely improvised movement. The character of the movement was, however, distinctive of the work of Australian Dance Party. There was a strong emphasis on fluidity of the upper body and, when working in groups, the dancers moved together often with bodies twisted around each other. Unusual shapes developed.

But what made the work so immersive, was the magnificent video imagery that covered the walls of the Vault as the dancing moved ahead. Created by videographer Liam Budge of Creswick Collective, the imagery was largely shot in a very Australian landscape of eucalyptus trees, with the vision including shots of dancers performing amongst the quite magnificent trees. One section, however, was shot to include graffiti images found in a more residential part of Canberra.

As it happened, the invitation to the audience to move through the space and get closer to some sections was not taken up to any great extent. I didn’t move around and to tell the truth I’m not really sure if moving around the space would have added to my feeling for the nature of Sphere. But I was fascinated by a quite young boy who did get up from his seat and try out a bit of dance for himself.

While immersive was the word that kept coming to mind as the work progressed, I also felt there was a calming quality to the overall production. Perhaps it was brought on by the lighting design, which was quite dark, apart from the changing, well-lit areas in which the dancing itself was taking place. It was at times difficult to distinguish the dancers from the audience as the performers, when not dancing, were sitting in various spots within the space rather than being hidden in the wings of a more usual performing space. It seemed to break down, in a positive way, differences between people.

Sphere, with original music from Sia Ahmad, was an exceptional and unusual tenth birthday event.

MIchelle Potter, 15 May 2025

Featured image: A view of the setting for one stage of Sphere. Australian Dance Party, 2026. Photo: © Michelle Potter

I was a guest of Australian Dance Party for this performance.

Romeo and Juliet. The Australian Ballet (2026)

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 as Romeo and Yuumi Yamada as Juliet, was just brilliant. And it was not just the dancing but the acting as well, and that from across the entire cast, which held the show together. Every character, even those in the corps de ballet, appeared to have an individual personality. Not only did they demonstrate individuality in their every moment onstage, but their reactions with each other were also so exceptional and entertaining that the story just sped along and held one’s attention from beginning to end.

This production was staged by choreologist Mark Kay and Yseult Lendval, a former principal dancer with Stuttgart Ballet and currently ballet mistress in Stuttgart. I can only surmise that the extraordinary nature of the production was a result of this staging and in fact Lendval is well-known for her connections with Cranko’s works.

But in addition to the dancing and acting, I suspect that the beautiful look of the ballet had much to do with the lighting design by Jon Buswell. The lighting design moved from the outdoor brightness of the market-place scenes to the indoor evening event in which Juliet and Romeo meet and dance together for the first time, and in which the Capulet family and their guest give us those famous group dance moments. Then there is the romantic outdoor evening light in which the balcony scene between Romeo and Juliet unfolds. Every moment is thrillingly lit and so well captured by Daniel Boud’s photography.

Romeo and Juliet connect with each other outside the Capulet residence. The Australian Ballet 2026. Photo: © Daniel Boud

I suspect too that the costumes, designed way back in 1962 by Jürgen Rose, looked so spectacular in 2026 because of Buswell’s lighting (even though they may have been recently remade).

A scene from the Capulet Ball from *Romeo and Juliet*. The Australian Ballet 2026. Photo: © Daniel Boud

I was also thrilled to note that the Sergei Prokofiev score for the ballet (played by the Opera Australia Orchestra) was being conducted by Nigel Gaynor, whose work I have long admired during his time (now over apparently) with Queensland Ballet.

The one slightly jarring moment for me was in Act 3 when Juliet’s friends (and bridesmaids in waiting?) came into her bedroom to wake her up. The dance they did (and always do) before specifically approaching her as she lies in bed has always seemed too long to me. It did again on this occasion. Let’s get on with the story!

But all in all what a tremendous afternoon of ballet it was. I have purposely not singled out any of the dancers (other than mentioning Yamada and Chynoweth as the leads) as quite honestly everyone gave an exceptional performance.

Michelle Potter, 10 May 2026

Featured image, A moment from the carnival scene from John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet. The Australian Ballet, 2026. Photo: © Daniel Boud

I attended this performance as a member of the general public. My ticket cost $245

Dance diary. April 2026

Dance week opening event—Ausdance ACT

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 to Country delivered by Ngunnawal elder Aunty Serena Williams, who also prepared and administered the smoking ceremony. The International Dance Day message for 2026 was written by Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite. It was read to the assembled audience on Mount Ainslie by Elizabeth Dalman. Follow this link to read the message.

(left) Aunty Serena begins the smoking ceremony; (right) Elizabeth Dalman reads the International Dance Day message. Photos: © Michelle Potter

The official introductory messages, which also included a welcome from ACT MLA Caitlin Tough, were followed by a solo dance by Liz Lea from her forthcoming production Diamond, and then a group dance by a range of Canberra-based performers, also a sneak peek at what the Diamond presentation might look like. All dancers were spectacularly dressed and Diamond, due to take the stage in August, promises much!

A few changes …

April was filled with news of changes to the careers of several leading figures in the Australian dance world. A move by Callum Linnane, exceptional principal artist with the Australian Ballet, was the first to be brought to my attention. Linnane will leave the Australian Ballet in June to take up a role as principal artist with Hamburg Ballet.

Callum Linnane in rehearsal for Alice Topp’s *Aurum*. Photo: © Jeff Busby

I have admired Linnane’s dancing for some time. For more about him, and my thoughts on his dancing on this website, see this link.

Raewyn Hill is moving on from her position as artistic director of Perth’s Co3 Contemporary Dance, a company she has led since its inception in 2014. She will remain with the company, which is presently searching for a new director, until the end of 2026. It is not yet clear how Hill’s future will unfold.

Then Kyle Page and Amber Haines, co-directors of Townsville-based Dancenorth, will also leave the company at the end of 2026. Their futures are also not clear at this stage.

Vale

It was sad to hear that Ben Stevenson had died in Fort Worth late in March.

In Australia Stevenson’s choreography has been brought to our attention by Li Cunxin, who worked with Stevenson after arriving in America from China when Stevenson was directing Houston Ballet (1976-2003). Li brought Stevenson to Australia on occasions to stage several of his works for Queensland Ballet. Stevenson’s productions of Nutcracker and Cinderella were especially popular.

Ben Stevenson in the Queensland Ballet studio with Li Cunxin. Photo: © David Kelly

From a personal point of view I continue to recall walking down a street in Dallas, Texas, one Sunday afternoon in 2011 and seeing two tutu-clad dancers walking along the same street. They were on a mission to advertise Stevenson’s then forthcoming presentation of Nutcracker for Texas Ballet Theater, which he directed after leaving Houston Ballet.

Texas Ballet Theater dancers, 2011. Photo: © Michelle Potter

Another book from Brisbane

After my visit to Archives Fine Books in Charlotte Street, Brisbane, in October last year (2025), when I discovered their range of second hand dance books, I had another opportunity to visit the shop after seeing Queensland Ballet’s presentation of Messa da Requiem in March this year (2026). I headed, of course, straight to the dance section and was pleased to find another book that was not part of my collection: Diaghilev. Creator of the Ballets Russes, edited by Ann Rodicek with an extensive prologue by Rodicek and contributions from six authors. It was a book published to accompany an exhibition held at the Barbican Art Gallery in London in 1996.

Page of costume designs by Nikolai Roerich for *The Rite of Spring*. 1913

Without wanting to diminish in any way the strength of the prologue and written articles, what especially attracted me were the many images of the items that had been on display in the exhibition. In particular there were a number of costume designs that I had not seen before (see above). It was also fascinating to see portraits of those associated with the company (not necessarily dancers although they were there of course). A fascinating new look at Diaghilev and the work of his collaborators! And such a great second hand bookshop.

Press for April 2026

– ‘Aladdin retold through a ‘minimalistic’. Review of Aladdin. Victorian State Ballet. CBR City News, 24 April 2026. Online at this link.

– ‘Elegant dancing that was hard to see’. Salut! Baroque. CBR City News, 25 April 2026. Online at this link.

Michelle Potter, 30 April 2026

Invitation to the Dance. Salut! Baroque

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.

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It was a surprise to discover that the music ensemble Salut! Baroque, which has been performing music from the Baroque era for Australian audiences for over 30 years, was to present a program called Invitation to the Dance. Not only was the presentation to focus on music created with dance in mind, but it was to include a live performance from a dancer.

Musically the evening consisted of nine works, one each from Jean-Féry Rebel (Les caractères de la danse, 1715); Christoph Graupner (‘Le Desire’ from Overture in F Major (1731); Philipp Heinrich Erlebach (Trio Sonata No. 2 in E Minor, 1691); Georg Philpp Telemann (Overture Suite in B Flat Major, c. 1725); Henry Purcell (Instrumental Dances from The Fairy Queen, 1692); James Oswald (‘The Marvel of Peru’ from Airs for the Seasons, Autumn, 1755; Jean-Baptiste Lully (excerpts from Ballet des Saisons, 1661); Johan Helmich Roman (Golovinmusiken, 1728); and an anonymous composer with a Romani folk dance ‘Fa nyé mama’ from Collection Uhrovska, 1730). The dance component was performed by a Sydney-based specialist in Baroque dance, Aimee Brown.

My expectation was that Brown would perform in every, or at least almost every musical section. This was not the case. She danced for the whole of the opening piece, Rebel’s Les caractères de la danse. But for the rest of the evening Brown performed in just four of the items and then only for short moments from those four numbers.

Brown wore a 18th century-inspired, pale pink gown with three-quarter length sleeves ending in a frill, and with a few decorative elements as part of the gown. Her shoes were also pink and resembled ballet flats with a small heel attached. For the first item she wore a large, white feather in her hair.

There were slight changes of costume for each of her appearances, including changes to the headdress and additions to the costume including the addition to the dress of two side panels in a decorative Baroque design. In some items Brown also made use of what might be called props, including at one stage a chain of floral items and at another stage a fan.

Brown’s dancing was quite delicate with an emphasis on hand and arm movements along with footwork that consisted mostly of quite small steps that looked balletic but without the turnout that later came to characterise balletic movement. Her upper body was mostly held upright. Elegant is the descriptive word that comes to mind.

It was disappointing that Brown’s performance was not made more visible, but this seems to characterise those occasions where dance is included as part of a musical event. At a basic level, music is made to be heard but dance is made to be seen. When the dance is performed behind the orchestra, even when on a slightly higher level as was the case with the Salut! Baroque performance, the dance, especially what the feet are doing, is always largely hidden by the musicians. I had to stand up and move to the side of the hall to see Brown’s footwork, which showed a balletic quality but without the turnout that now characterises balletic movement. Then, and again this was the case with Invitation to the Dance, the audience is often not in a tiered seating arrangement. This hides much of the dance from almost everyone.

One very pleasurable aspect of the presentation was the very dance-like appearance of one of the musicians, John Ma. He played his Baroque violin not just with arms, hands and fingers, but with his whole body. As well as producing an outstanding sound, Ma moved his body according to the sound he was producing, up, down, sideways and so on. He was stunning to watch (and hear). A dancer-musician!

Michelle Potter, 28 April 2026

Please note that the dress worn by Brown in this image is not the one she was wearing in Invitation to the Dance. There appears to be no image from the Canberra presentation.

I was a guest of Salut! Baroque at this performance.

Aladdin. Victorian State Ballet

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.

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This is a surprising presentation of the story of Aladdin, a young man whose life is transformed by a magic lamp that he discovers when lured into a cave by a sorcerer.

The scenario is somewhat complicated and involves a lot of traditional mime by the leading characters—Aladdin (Michael Scott-Kahans); Jafar the Sorcerer (Tristan Gross); a Genie (Daniel Sierra), who obeys the demands of the holder of the magic lamp; Aladdin’s mother (Charlotte Jones); and Princess Jasmin (Elise Jacques), whom Aladdin eventually marries. Those mime gestures included ‘beautiful woman’, ‘to marry’, ‘to dance’ and others. I did wonder whether the narrative was clear to those whose knowledge did not include those gestures, which are rarely used and so probably little-known these days.

Nevertheless, the leading characters performed strongly both in terms of their dancing and in the development of the relationships between them. Scott-Kahans gave an exceptional performance as Aladdin. His dancing was filled with outstanding elevation and expressive partnering in which he always seemed to have a caring relationship with the woman he fell in love with. His fluid arms and upper body were just beautiful to watch and are characteristic of the work of Victorian State Ballet.

Gross maintained a certain mysterious quality as the Sorcerer until he managed to extract the magic lamp from Aladdin. After this the Sorcerer became a nasty individual who was eventually overcome.

Jacques danced beautifully throughout as Princess Jasmin. Her stage presence is remarkable and her technique is almost faultless.

Elise Jacques as Princess Jasmin. Photo: © Enpointe Productions, 2025

The only main character whose performance I thought needed a little more work was the Genie, danced by Sierra. I found his movement often quite static and his hands stiff and overly stretched. Sometimes, too, his partnering looked a little as though he was struggling to lift his partner. He was making a terrific effort to maintain, I think, a particular distance or difference from the human beings he was dealing with but somehow that interfered with his ability to dance smoothly.

Choreographic highlights came from the four duets representing the jewels that Aladdin found in the cave that he was lured into by the Sorcerer—emeralds, sapphires, rubies and diamonds. The dancers performing the duets were each accompanied by three dancers also dressed as those jewels. They filled the background during the duets and showed well the approach to using the space of the stage by the choreographers (Michelle Cassar de Sierra and Martin Sierra Robles).

The quite large corps de ballet (perhaps only seemingly large on the Playhouse stage?) also related well to each other when dancing, and when standing at the side of the activities while the story progressed. This kind of engagement seems to me to be a major strength of Victorian State Ballet.

The dancxers were costumed by Felicity Kerr, Jill Kerr and Jan Tredrea. Costumes were mainly Arabian-style outfits in a stunning array of colours and decorative elements, although they were replaced by tutus for the women in the closing section. That closing section included a section that looked back to an earlier period, that is it included a pas de deux by the leading couple followed by variations and a coda from them. Then followed a finale in which all the characters joined in the dancing.

Lighting was by Martin Sierra who (perhaps?) was also responsible for the imagery that took the place of a standard backcloth. Especially in Act II the backgrounds were remarkable visions of the palace in which Princess Jasmin lived.

The production took me back to some recent reading on the development of ballet in Russia in the late nineteenth century. It also made me realise how much dance has changed since that era. Although this production of Aladdin was a more than interesting watch, we have moved on from the nineteenth century and are used to a less fussy and certainly more minimalist approach to ballet from what Aladdin showed us. I wished for a slightly less jampacked (for want of a better word) production.

Michelle Potter, 24 April 2026.

Featured image: Dancers of Victorian State Ballet in a moment near the end of the company’s presentation of Aladdin. Photo: © Enpointe Productions, 2025.

I was a guest of Victorian State Ballet at this performance.