ECDysis. Mirramu Dance Company and guests from Taiwan

My review of ECDysis was published online by Canberra CityNews on 26 October 2025. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the CityNews post. Here is a link to the CityNews review.

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25 October 2025. Courtyard Studio. Canberra Theatre Centre

ECDysis celebrates Elizabeth Cameron Dalman’s decades of dance creation and performance. Dalman founded Adelaide-based Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) 60 years ago. She directed the company for 10 years before moving elsewhere. She is now based at Weereewa (Lake George) near Bungendore in New South Wales, where she established Mirramu Creative Arts Centre and Mirramu Dance Company (MDC).

The works on the ECDysis program were performed by members of Dalman’s current company along with colleagues from Taiwan. The program was diverse and comprised not only choreographed works but also film clips from across Dalman’s career including some recent discussion of her current interests. There were also words of introduction and explanation spoken before each dance work, given sometimes by Dalman herself, sometimes by Vivienne Rogis currently assistant director of MDC. Especially interesting was one section in which Dalman discussed her connections with Taiwan, whose dance culture has become an intrinsic part of her career.

(left) Elizabeth Dalman in *Welcome Dance*; (right) Vivienne Rogis in *Spiritual*. *ECDysis,* 2025. Photo: © Sigo Tseng

The dance aspect of the program began with Welcome Dance, created in 2025 by Dalman. It was relatively simple choreographically but was a charming introduction to what followed and quite moving given that, despite having been dancing for decades, Dalman has lost little of her stage presence.

The first half of the program focused on early works made for ADT in the 1960s and 1970s. Especially engrossing were excerpts from This Train, created in 1965 and danced to songs by Peter, Paul and Mary. It demonstrated the basic elements of Dalman’s choreography, which have stayed with her but which she has developed over the years: beautifully shaped and placed arms, movement that is carried through the whole body, and the exceptional projection of an emotional response to movement. The dancer that stood out for me in demonstrating those elements was Miranda Wheen, although everyone involved in This Train gave a moving demonstration of Dalman’s early approach.

After interval the program focused largely on the years Dalman has spent at Weereewa, and the development of her connections with Taiwanese dancers. This second section included not only works created by Dalman but also some by her colleagues including Vivienne Rogis, Miranda Wheen and Peng Hsiao-yin (Grace).

A standout item on the second half was Broken Umbrella from a longer work, Tango Lament, and was made in 2008 by Miranda Wheen. Danced in large part by Wheen with what was indeed a very broken umbrella, it was created in response to the closure of a university dance program. Wheen’s choreography had moments of fast-paced movement juxtaposed with slower sections and her dancing was technically outstanding and conveyed an engrossing involvement with the topic.

In addition, the second half contained some exceptional visual elements in the 2005 work ‘Mountain Skirts’ from Bride in the Desert choreographed and performed by Wheen, Rogis and Amanda Tutalo. The costumes (designer not given) lent themselves to visions of billowing cloth.

Throughout the program it was particularly interesting to see some of the aspects of life and culture that have inspired Dalman’s work. Homage to Botticelli from 1969 was inspired by a visit to Florence and Dalman made a surprising link between the Renaissance era of Botticelli and aspects of life in the 1960s.

Silk from 2002, danced to music by Andreas Dalman, was inspired by the creation of silken fabric from its beginnings to its use as a fashion item. It had an outstanding performance from Christopher Chu (as a silkworm?). Refugee (Flight for Life—Destroyed) from 2018 was commissioned by the Taiwanese Youth Foundation and was performed by Amanda Tutalo and Fu-rong Chen. It examined difficulties, including death, faced by those fleeing certain cultures.

ECDysis closed with a new work, Family Tree, newly choreographed by the members of the ECDysis creative team to music by Sigur Ros. The evening, danced against a simple drop cloth lit in different colours for each work, was an exceptional example of creativity and cross-cultural connections.

Elizabeth Dalman (centre) and Mirramu Dance Company dancers in a moment from *Family Tree*. *ECDysis,* 2025. Photo: © Sigo Tseng

Michelle Potter, 26 October 2025.

Featured image: A moment from Mountain Skirts. ECDysis, 2025. Photo: © Sigo Tseng

I was a guest of Elizabeth Cameron and Friends/Canberra Theatre Centre at this performance.

Continuum. Sydney Dance Company

22 October 2025. Roslyn Packer Theatre, Walsh Bay (Sydney)

I loved the title of Sydney Dance Company’s latest production—Continuum. It was a triple bill of works from three choreographers, Stephen Page, Rafael Bonachela and Tra Mi Dinh and It encouraged me to think on the development (and continuation) of the choreographic and dancerly art that has characterised Sydney Dance Company over the several decades of its existence. Page danced with the company in its earliest days before going on to direct Bangarra Dance Theatre; Rafael Bonachela is the company’s current director; and Tra Mi Dinh, the youngest of the three, was the recipient of the Keir Choreographic Award in 2022, which resulted in a commission to her from Sydney Dance Company.

The evening opened with Bonachela’s Spell, a work he says was inspired by singer Alice Smith and her cover presentation of I put a spell on you. Along with this cover, extra music included a choral arrangement by Olafur Arnalds, and a suite of three songs for solo violin from composer Bryce Dessner. In his program notes Bonachela commented on the impetus he derived from the music and noted that he was aiming to build ‘elements of compression and release within the choreography to build a series of dances that are spells.’

Although I’m not sure that the notion of spells came across strongly enough, the work clearly showed the movement style we have come to expect from Bonachela—powerful movement that was filled with surprising lifts and twisting bodies. But there were quite a number of sections that took place in strong darkness and I have never really understood why this is such a common occurrence these days. Having said that, a spectacular sequence occurred towards the end when the colour red dominated, not just in costumes (Kelsey Lee) but in lighting (Damien Cooper) and in a haze of red that continued to descend from the upper part of the space.

A moment from Rafaela Bonachela’s *Spell* in *Continuum*. Sydney Dance Company, 2025. Photo: © Daniel Boud

But for me the highlight of Spell was a section early in in the piece when two groups of four dancers engaged in unison work, sometimes together, at other times as two separate groups, and in much brighter lighting. I have always admired Bonachela’s ability to create unison movement, and the dancers responded beautifully to the changing structural groupings, as they always do.

After a brief pause the second work, Tra Mi Dinh’s Somewhere between ten and fourteen, took the stage. The opening few minutes consisted of a flurry of artists dancing together. The audience loved the opening and cheered as the curtain went up and the dancing was on show. The opening sequence also opened up Dinh’s choreographic style to those of us who were seeing her work for the first time. Pretty much every part of the body came into play, but there was strong emphasis on arms—lifting, bending, dropping, linking. And as a whole the choreography was fast, complex and fascinating to watch.

Somewhere between ten and fourteen is, we are told, ‘a study on dusk’ and the ‘transient yet expansive moments between day and night’. The variety of blue colour in the costumes (Aleisa Jelbart) recognised this as did, I believe, the fast-changing nature of the choreography. I felt exhausted, but thrilled, at the end of the work and I look forward to seeing more of Dinh’s work.

The third work, Unungkati Yantatja: one with the other, which centred on the notion of ‘the universality of breath’, came from Stephen Page working with an onstage group of musicians including William Barton on yidaki (Barton also sang) and the Omega Ensemble. In an unusual creative move (unusual for Page) the work began with examining the ‘story’ behind the music, which was already written (Page noted in the program that he had only rarely worked with existing music). But for me the major fascination of the work was that it was a major collaborative venture with, in addition to the live music, exceptional designs (Jennifer Irwin) reflecting Indigenous patterns and a boomerang-inspired section of the setting from Jacob Nash.

William Barton with dancers in a scene from *Unungkati Yantatja: one with the other* in *Continuum*. Sydney Dance Company, 2025. Photo: © Daniel Boud

It was great to see Page’s work once more with its very grounded movement, and his ongoing interest in collaboration as an intrinsic element in a dance work. I was also especially thrilled to see Ryan Pearson now dancing with Sydney Dance Company after an earlier association with Bangarra. Pearson’s contribution to Page’s work was exceptional and was made especially clear in a solo he performed towards the end of the work. He danced with such a strong immersive quality as he engaged with the choreography and the others on stage.

Continuum was an engrossing production. Each work was quite different, and it was absorbing to watch three quite different choreographic styles and methods of engaging with music and design.

Michelle Potter, 25 October 2025

Featured image: Opening scene from Tra Mi Dinh’s Somewhere between ten and fourteen, Sydney Dance Company, 2025. Photo: © Daniel Boud

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

Critical Path turns 20. ‘Such a creative force’

Critical Path, the Sydney-based centre for research into and development of dance, which Canberra-based dance artist Liz Lea has referred to as ‘such a creative force’, was set up in 2005. It will celebrate its 20th anniversary in mid-November with a three-day, free event, Every Wild Idea. The event will take place in the Drill Hall, headquarters of Critical Path in the inner-Sydney suburb of Rushcutters Bay.

The Drill Hall. Critical Path headquarters, Rushcutters Bay. Photo: © Liz Ham

Choreographer and performer, James Batchelor, whose recent work Resonance delved into the legacy of the late Tanja Liedtke, and who has had a long-standing connection with Critical Path, lauds the influence of the organisation:

Critical Path occupies a valuable place in the dance ecology in Sydney—a dedicated space for independent contemporary dance is a precious resource that we should not take for granted. From an early memory of doing a secondment with Sue Healey when I was younger, to leading a workshop there this year, it’s been a space I have kept coming back to throughout my career. It also featured prominently in the archive of Tanja Liedtke (which I have been researching over the past few years), a space that supported the development of her independent work in the mid 2000s.

Liz Lea also has praise to pass on regarding the influence of Critical Path:

Critical Path is legendary. It is hard to believe it is only 20 years as the impact this organisation has had on dance in and across Australia is profound.

Margie Medlin [an early director] is a visionary who brought an incisive and committed vision to supporting the generation of original and deeply varied work. She supported me in securing a Fellowship at the National Film and Sound Archive leading to my return to Australia after 20 years based in Europe. Claire [Hicks, another director] then brought a new infusion of energy and care – I was supported in the initial development of my one woman show RED which toured internationally for 5 years. The care, time, support and capacity of the works developed in the Drill Hall seep into the very fibres of Australian dance and will do for many years.

Current artistic director of Critical Path, Agnès Michelet, notes that Critical Path was established to fill a recognised gap in the independent dance sector in New South Wales. She remarks that it provided [and continues to provide] a pathway ‘through which professional dance-makers could innovate their choreographic practice’.

In part the media release for Every Wild Idea reads:

Every Wild Idea will kick off on Friday November 14, 7pm-9pm with live performance, artists in real-time ideation playfully curated by Azzam Mohamed who blends street, club and African dance forms. In the spirit of experimentation, research and risk-taking, seven artists will improvise and create in real-time while audiences are free to roam and witness the energy of process-in-action.

Breakthroughs, filmed and directed by award winning arts documentary and film maker Deborah May, will premiere across the weekend. May will unveil the essence of artistic breakthroughs through the eyes of five extraordinary Australian dance artists. What happens when we follow a flash of inspiration over time? The moment when memories, cultures and fragments of practice connect with renewed vitality.

‘Dance is often ephemeral and although documentation is vital in consolidating and propagating our shared history, the video and stills gathered often remain largely unseen or unused and the artists are seldom given a voice,’ says May.

‘Drawing from the rich archive collected by the artists and Critical Path with new video sequences and recordings, Breakthroughs proposes to present an aspect of this pivotal yet largely unseen work in a way that will engage and inspire audiences and lead to a greater understanding of the real work necessary to making exceptional art.’

On Sunday November 16, 11am-1pm, join dance and multimedia artist and writer Ira Ferris for the launch of the special edition of Critical Dialogues #16, celebrating 20 years of Critical Path alongside Vignettes flickers fades: a text, a sound montage and a map. A conversation between artist-archivists Ira Ferris and Tammi Gissell unveils new experimental approaches to archiving in a dance context. Plus a music performance by Alexandra Spence and a dance performance by Ryuichi Fujimura.

‘The aim of Vignettes flickers fades is to reflect not only the significant moments in Critical Path programs and activities, but to invoke sounds, smells, colours of Drill Hall,’ says Ira Ferris. ‘Its water-based location and porous features that imbue creative processes.’

Azzam Mohamed, *Why is this Mine* Choreographic Lab 2021. Photo: © Anna Kucer

See more at this link
Dates and times:
FRIDAY 14 NOVEMBER 2025—7pm to 9pm
SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2025—11am to 3pm
SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER 2025—11am to 3pm

All events are free at The Drill, 1C New Beach Road, Darling Point. Book tickets here https://events.humanitix.com/every-wild-idea-open-weekend

Michelle Potter, 18 October 2025

Every Wild Idea is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW, the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, and Woollahra Municipal Council’s Cultural Grants Program.

Featured image: Gok-Lim Finch and Sophie Dumaresque in a nightime moment from FORBIDDEN. Creative Development 2025. Photo: © Estelle Yoon

Queensland Ballet in 2026

It is always interesting to see the impact a change in artistic directorship has on the repertoire of a dance company. Newly appointed director of Queensland Ballet, Spanish-born Ivan Gil-Ortega, has announced a program for 2026 in which Queensland Ballet will perform works from a range of overseas-based choreographers, reflecting Gil-Ortega’s strong European background and dance heritage.

Christian Spuck from Germany, for example, will open the season with a staging of his Messa da Requiem, a collaboration on this occasion with Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Brisbane Chorale and Canticum Chamber Choir. Messa da Requiem will take place in the newly completed Glasshouse Theatre at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, which I saw just recently as it was nearing completion. It looks spectacular (from the outside anyway).

Scene from *Messa da Requiem*, Dutch National Opera and Ballet

Further on in the year, Serbian-born choreographer Leo Mujić, who is currently working with the Croation National Theatre and who has created works for companies across Europe, including Dutch National Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet, will stage the Australian premiere of his production of Hamlet. Then Derek Deane from England, whose production of Strictly Gershwin was a huge hit on the two occasions (in 2016 and 2023) when it was performed by Queensland Ballet, will present a new version of Nutcracker. The works of other choreographers from overseas are also being shown during the 2026 season.

A moment from Leo Mujić’s *Hamlet*. Artists of Croatian National Ballet, Zagreb. Photo: © Darja Stravs Tisu

But there will be work from Australian choreographers as well, notably from Garry Stewart who directed Australian Dance Theatre in Adelaide for more than 20 years. Stewart’s latest work, Elastic Hearts, will be part of the 2026 season. Set to music by Sia, Stewart describes Elastic Hearts as ‘a creative response to the music of Sia Furler, the celebrated Australian artist, originally from Adelaide and now based in LA.’ It will be a thrill to see Stewart’s highly physical choreography onstage once more.*

For more on the 2026 program, including work for the Academy of Queensland Ballet, follow this link.

Michelle Potter, 16 October 2025

*Elastic Hearts will have a very brief showing on the Gold Coast in November, its world premiere showing, before being part of the 2026 season.

Featured image: Study for Garry Stewart’s Elastic Hearts.

Resonance. James Batchelor + Collaborators

My review of Resonance was published online by Canberra CityNews on 11 October 2025. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the CityNews post. Here is a link to the CityNews review.

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10 October 2025. Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre Centre

Choreographer James Batchelor has a particular interest in how approaches to dance are passed down from generation to generation. Audiences caught a glimpse of that interest relatively recently in 2022-2023 with Batchelor’s production, Short Cuts to Familiar Places. It focused on the work of Gertrud Bodenwieser, and those who worked with and were influenced by her in Australia. Its Canberra showing is reviewed at this link.

Resonance continues Batchelor’s interest in how movement is passed on across generations. It focuses on the legacy of the late dancer and choreographer, Tanja Liedtke, who was tragically killed in a road accident in 2007 just as she was about to take on the directorship of Sydney Dance Company.

Batchelor’s work is never straightforward and in fact it creates a multitude of potential meanings, both as his works progress and after the show is over. This characteristic is very much on show in Resonance

Resonance was an immersive work with the audience seated in a single row around the edges of the performing space. As we entered the space we noticed the performers, who represented three dance generations, sitting on the floor ready to start the show. The work proper began with members of the cast, in particular those who had worked with or known Liedtke in some way, taking a microphone and delivering short comments (sometimes difficult to hear clearly unfortunately) on their impressions of her and her work. Some accompanied their spoken comments with movement or poses they recalled from Liedtke’s work.

Kristina Chan with microphone in *Resonance*, Canberra 2025. Photo: © Olivia Wikner

Slowly the rest of the cast rose from where they were seated and began to dance. The movement was gentle, curved and liquid in its flow. But, as the work progressed, individual comments became in a kind of second section—a conversation between various dancers—and the movement became faster and more dramatic (and perhaps a little too long).

In a third and final section in the development of Resonance, the verbal comments ceased and the choreography became stronger, and even more dramatic and powerful. At times the choreography was quite static and danced by just a small group until the final moments when the full cast filled the performing space with determined, fast, furious, and individualistic movement.

Final moments from *Resonance*, Canberra 2025. Photo: © Olivia Wikner

Various media comments about Resonance have suggested that Batchelor’s choreography for the work is meditative. But for me it wasn’t the choreography that was meditative, it was the development of Batchelor’s thoughts about Liedtke that had that particular quality. Those thoughts moved from Batchelor’s initial speculations about her approach, to his final feeling that her legacy was a powerful addition to dance in Australia.

As far as the choreography was concerned, I wondered whether some of it was improvisation, and also how much of it came from Batchelor and how much from the dancers themselves. It was highly individualistic, sometimes even uncanny in its structure. It always seemed to reflect the particular skills of each dancer rather than those of a single choreographer.

I was especially impressed by the dancer Anton who was totally and utterly involved throughout, whether he was performing dancerly movement or an occasional series of gymnastic-style steps (such as push-ups). Kristina Chan also attracted my attention with her beautiful fluid approach to movement.

A driving score from Morgan Hickinbotham gave the work added strength. Costumes designed by one of the dancers, Theo Clinkard, left me wondering a little. I’m not sure why they were a combination of daytime leisure gear with translucent chiffon-style drapes added occasionally. The additions were quite beautiful but I’m not sure about the meaning they were meant to arouse.

Emma Batchelor wearing Theo Clinkard’s full costume in *Resonance*, Canberra 2025. Photo: © Olivia Wikner

I didn’t know Liedtke or her work, other than through a streamed version from 2017 of Construct. But Resonance suggests to me that she was highly unconventional, perhaps even enigmatic in her approaches to dance. Resonance was like a wake-up call encouraging us to look further into her background and approach.

James Batchelor in a moment from *Resonance*,
Canberra 2025. Photo: © Olivia Wikner

Michelle Potter, 12 October 2025

I was a guest of James Batchelor + Collaborators/Canberra Theatre Centre at this performance.

Resonance was supported by the Tanja Liedtke Foundation and other organisations. It featured dancers from across generations including, in the case of the Canberra production, dancers from the Quantum Leap Youth Ensemble

Featured image: James Batchelor with Chloe Chignell in a moment from
Resonance, Sydney 2025. Photo: © @wendellt

Ballet and books in Brisbane

Dangerous Liaisons. Queensland Ballet
4 October 2025 (evening). Talbot Theatre, Thomas Dixon Centre, Brisbane

I was not invited to review Liam Scarlett’s Dangerous Liaisons in its 2025 revival by Queensland Ballet so I felt no reason to stay when I disliked what I was watching. I left at interval. It was just the third time in about 35 years of reviewing dance performances across Australia and around the world that I have left a dance performance before it was over. Why on this occasion?

The work Dangerous Liaisons is based on the 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. But on the whole this 2025 presentation reminded me of a musical comedy item with an emphasis on sexual activities. The movements and gestures indicating sexual desire were obvious and a highly dominant feature throughout (the first act at least).

Fine re the sexual emphasis. That’s part of the story! But who were all those characters? With one or two exceptions it was not at all clear, as the complex narrative unfolded, who individual dancers were representing. Understanding the action and the multitude of characters taking the stand, as it were, was made more difficult by the lack of any form of easily available written material. We all know that explanations and descriptions of works these days are available online via a QR code, but in the olden days of Queensland Ballet a sheet of paper with brief but vital information of cast and storyline was always available. Even a full printed program was also there for those who wanted one. And how frustrating it is when the person sitting next to you turns on a mobile phone to check something out in the middle of the performance.

I have to mention that there was some excellent dancing being presented, including some group scenes even if it wasn’t clear what was being celebrated or criticised. In particular Georgia Swan was outstanding as the leading female character, the wealthy widow, the Marquise de Merteuil. There was also a male dancer who did not have a major role but whose performance attracted my attention. His technique was excellent but it was his onstage presence, including the manner in which he connected with the audience, that was thrilling to watch. But who was he? I can’t recall having seen him before but I had no way of knowing immediately who he is as there were no photographs of the dancers that were easily available. I should add here that, as I was waiting for a taxi to take me back to my hotel, several people came to the desk in the foyer—it was interval—asking for a printed item of information. They were advised to go and open the QR code!

Georgia Swan in Liam Scarlett’s *Dangerous Liaisons*. Queensland Ballet, 2025. Photo: © David Kelly

It was also, I believe, a really bad move by Queensland Ballet to use recorded music. Someone surely must realise that resident conductor Nigel Gaynor has always had a major input into performances he conducts. He works with what is happening onstage, including how the dancers are performing, in a way that no recording can do (even though the recording used in the 2025 presentation was a recording conducted by Gaynor, it’s just not the same). To make matters worse Gaynor is leaving his post as conductor at the end of 2025. Although I am not entirely clear about the reasons for the move, it apparently has something to do with the financial situation in which Queensland Ballet finds itself. (Happy to be corrected here if I am totally wrong re the reason).

I attended Dangerous Liaisons as a member of the general public. My ticket cost $127. Read my review of the 2019 production of Dangerous Liaisons, to which I was invited and which I thought was exceptional. Here is the link.

See below for a list of publications in which my dance writing and reviews have been published (in addition to the material I have posted on this website since I set it up in 2009).*

The books

But all was not lost. While in Brisbane I visited that amazing second hand book shop, Archives Fine Books in Charlotte Street in the city’s CBD. I have never really been in a second hand bookshop that has such a wealth of items on every imaginable subject. I ended up buying four dance books, three of which were previously unknown to me, and one of which was a book about an exhibition that had a major impact on our understanding of the activities of Serge Diaghilev. The books are:

Buckle, Richard. In Search of Diaghilev (London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1955)
Collins, Richard. Behind the Bolshoi Curtain (London: William Kimber, 1974)
Dodd, Craig. The Performing World of the Dancer (London: Breslich & Foss, 1981)
La Fosse, Robert (with Andrew Mark Wentink). Nothing to Hide (New York: Donald I. Fine Inc., 1987)

I started my reading with Behind the Bolshoi Curtain and was instantly taken by the personal manner in which Englishman Richard Collins, who spent four years working in Moscow with various sections of the Bolshoi school and company, interacted with his Russian colleagues and vice-versa. There were some issues that were a little concerning (if interesting in a particular way) but it was a ‘can’t put down’ book in the way it showed a side of ballet and dancers that we don’t usually read about in other Bolshoi-focused publications. I am looking forward to moving on to Richard Buckle’s work on his 1950s exhibition on Diaghilev’s contribution to our understanding of the Ballets Russes.

Michelle Potter, 6 October 2025

Featured image: Cover of Richard Collins’ Behind the Bolshoi Curtain.

*Here is a list of the magazines, newspapers and journals in which my reviews have appeared:

The Australian, Australian Art Review, Australian Book Review, Ballet News, Brolga, The Bulletin, Canberra CityNews, The Canberra Times, Choreography and Dance, Current News from the Library for the Performing Arts, Dance Australia, Dance Chronicle, Dance Forum, Dance Research, DanceTabs (formerly ballet.co.uk), The Dancing Times, Jahresmitteilungen von Tanzplan Deutschland, Journal of the Australian Society of Archivists, Limelight, Muse, Museum National, The National Library of Australia Magazine, National Library of Australia News, The Sydney Morning Herald and Voices.

There are other lists of books I have written as well as lists of chapters in books and theatre programs in which my writing has appeared. In addition, there are hundreds of posts on this website, which this year has, according to Google Analytics, already received 105,000 visits from Australia and across the world. I’m just not sure why Queensland Ballet no longer regards me as a critic worthy of an invitation to review.

Dance diary. September 2025

Nutcracker … again

I was a little taken aback on receiving information about the 2026 Australian Ballet season to see that Peter Wright’s Nutcracker will again feature in that season. As usual it will be part of the end of year activities and will be performed in Sydney from 28 November until 16 December.

I fully understand that Nutcracker, in its traditional format, is a much-loved Christmas show—as a young person I used to look forward to it at Christmas time—and it is a great money-maker for ballet companies across the world. But subscribers to the Sydney season saw it last in December 2024. In December 2026 it will be just a two year break between showings and in my opinion it shouldn’t become (as seems to be happening) a regular feature of the subscription season.

As an added complaint, why does it always have to be the Peter Wright version—as strong and entertaining as that production is?* The Australian Ballet has in its repertoire a great version of Nutcracker, a very different, very Australian production from Graeme Murphy. While the Murphy production is not as uniquely Christmas-oriented as the traditional versions, it does have links to Christmas. Why can’t we have it occasionally? And there are other productions of Nutcracker that could also take the place of the Peter Wright version, as much as anything else for some variety.

Perhaps the Australian Ballet might reconsider the timing of its performances of Nutcracker—not put them just two years apart for example, or even alternate the Peter Wright version with another, or others? Perhaps they might even consider removing Nutcracker from subscription packages and making it a stand-alone Christmas event?

And just as an aside, my ticket for the 2026 Nutcracker cost me $245 as part of my subscription package. That seems like a lot to see something that was shown just two years ago.

Isabelle Stoughton

I heard from a reliable source just recently that Isabelle Stoughton had died in August 2025. She was the author of a truly charming book, At the Sign of the Harlequin’s Bat, in which she wrote about her career as an assistant to London-based dance historian and book seller Cyril Beaumont. The news sent me back to the book, which I reviewed in 2012, shortly after it was first published in 2011. The reread was a worthwhile activity and gave me much pleasure.

My review is at this link.

Contact form

I am very pleased to be able to inform users of this website that the contact form, which has been out of action for months and months, is now back in operation. I can vouch for its positive renewal as a number of contact comments have arrived since its reinstatement and have been successfully addressed.

Press for September 2025

– ‘Untouching dancers bring Superposition to life.’ Review of Superposition. Gabriel Sinclair and Jazmyn Carter. CBR City News, 14 September 2025. Online at this link.

MIchelle Potter, 30 September 2025

*A review of the 2019 Wright production is at this link. It indicates quite clearly that I am not intrinsically opposed to the Wright version.

Les Patineurs. The Royal Ballet

via the ROH streaming platform

Frederick Ashton’s 1937 creation, Les Patineurs (The Skaters), was first seen in Australia (as far as I am aware) in 1958 during the Royal Ballet’s tour to Australia and New Zealand. It entered the repertoire of the Australian Ballet in 1970 when it was first seen in Adelaide and then in various Australian venues. Below are two images from the 1958 Royal Ballet production in Australia, taken by Walter Stringer and now part of the collection in the National Library of Australia (NLA), and two from the 1970 Australian Ballet production, again by Walter Stringer in the NLA collection.* LInks to the NLA catalogue are also below.

Above left: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-146861023/view; above right: https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/2213080, Below left: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-146891471/view; below right: https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/2472972

I first saw Les Patineurs in Australia in 1970, a long time ago now, but can’t really remember if I saw it again somewhere. So I was pleased to be able to go to the ROH site to remind myself, not so much of the ‘story’ (which is quite slight and not really the main focus of the work), but of the choreography.

The production on the streaming platform is a filmed version of a Royal Ballet production from 2010 and I was thrilled, to tell the truth, to see who was dancing in that production. The Blue Boy, who takes on some of the most challenging of Ashton’s choreographic input, was Steven McRae, seen in the featured image to this post. I have admired McRae’s dancing for a number of years now. I really didn’t see much of him until around 2016 and onwards so it was interesting to see him in an earlier stage of his career. After a bit of research I discovered he was promoted to principal with the Royal in 2009 and his exceptional technique was well and truly visible in 2010.

His solo as the Blue Boy had some unusual moments. In particular there was a section or two where he performed a series of entrechats when his legs, rather than opening to the side to execute the crossing of the limbs, opened to the front/back. It was surprising to see this variation on the much-performed entrechat.

His technical strength was again exceptionally obvious in the closing moments of the production when he executed a long series of fouettés and grands pirouettes à la seconde, which he was required to continue until the curtain had fallen at the end of the performance.

But not only was McRae technically strong, his characterisation was thoroughly engaging as well.

While perhaps it was McRae who stole the show for me, it was a treat to see other Royal Ballet dancers in relatively early stages of their career development. Sarah Lamb for example was beautiful to watch in the pas de deux with Rupert Pennefather as was Akane Takada, whose work I have also enjoyed over several years. Takada performed as one of the Blue Girls. Then of course there was Liam Scarlett, whose career in Australia and New Zealand gave so many of us so much pleasure. Scarlett danced as one of the ensemble of skaters.

Samantha Raine and Akane Takada as the Blue Girls in Frederick Ashton’s *Les Patineurs*. The Royal Ballet 2010. Photo: The Royal Ballet streaming platform.

While Les Patineurs may not be one of Ashton’s most deeply affecting narrative works, choreographically it shows Ashton’s uncompromising approach to movement and his sense of attack, choreographic attack that is. This 2010 production was a huge pleasure to watch and opened up for me various avenues of research. The streaming also offers three extra short examinations of aspects of the work, including an interview with McRae and one with Lamb and Pennefather on various aspects of Ashton’s approach. Well worth watching.

Les Patineurs, 2010.

Michelle Potter, 28 September 2025

Featured image: Steven McRae as the Blue Boy in Frederick Ashton’s Les Patineurs. The Royal Ballet 2010. Photo: The Royal Ballet streaming platform.

*Only head and shoulder shots from 1970 by Walter Stringer are currently available (or suitable) for reproduction.

Postscript: Putting it mildly, I was surprised to read the following ‘AI overview’ after I entered ‘Liam Scarlett Les Patineurs’ into a search engine:

‘Liam Scarlett choreographed the ballet Les Patineurs for The Royal Ballet, which premiered in 2010. He was a British choreographer who had a successful career, but died by suicide in April 2021 following allegations of sexual misconduct.’

Everything in the first sentence is incorrect and, just to comment further on the wording above, it is a direct copy and paste from what emerged from my online query. AI is a worry that’s for sure!

Duck Pond. Circa

18 September 2025. The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre

Circa’s latest production, Duck Pond, is advertised as a reimagining of the ballet Swan Lake, a reimagining of that longstanding, much-loved ballet as a circus spectacular. Other moments in the narrative, we are told, make reference to the work of Hans Christian Andersen, in particular The Ugly Duckling.

The narrative follows the activities of a Prince who meets the Ugly Duckling and briefly falls in love, but then out of love, with this character. There is a pillow fight in which feathers fall from the pillows and cover the floor. They are swept up by a ‘duck army’. The Black Swan appears and the Prince falls for her. But when the duckling turns into a swan and begins to fly, the Black Swan and the new White Swan fall in love with each other.

The production ended in real time as the performers began clearing the stage. They rolled up the tarkett flooring, removed their costumes down to flesh-coloured underwear and performed some circus tricks with a Cyr wheel and with hoops. They then began taking various poses while inside movable box-like structures.

From the closing moments of *Duck Pond*. Photo: © Pia Johnson

The connections with Swan Lake, and even the stories of Andersen, were far from the strongest aspect of the show. The real highlight of Duck Pond was the acrobatic feats of the artists of Circa. It was a treat to watch the flexibility of the artists and their ability to put themselves and their bodies in positions at which we non-acrobats can only gasp. I was impressed too with the acting ability of every performer, whether it was the expressions of love between some of the characters or the humorous activities of the ‘duck army’ sweeping up the feathers that got scattered over the stage floor after the pillow fight. Even the so-called burlesque activities of the performers at the end of the show, as they pushed themselves forward in a sexual manner, were impressive, if somewhat surprising.

A circus moment from *Duck Pond*. Photo: © Pia Johnson

But I wonder why Swan Lake was taken up by the director Yaron Lifschitz as the apparent focus of the show? The narrative wandered all over the place and was very inconsistent in its references. It made Swan Lake seem like some crazy old story. In my opinion it would have been preferable had Circa made up its own story rather than trying to mess with Swan Lake and other bits and pieces. I have always enjoyed Circa’s productions in the past, but Duck Pond was just a mash-up and turned me in another direction.

Michelle Potter, 20 September 2025

Featured image: Before the performance began the front curtain was lit with the image of a white feather. Photo: Michelle Potter

The handout (program?) that the audience received was far from satisfactory. It was nothing more than a brief synopsis of the action. The information below dealing with costumes, lighting, sound score, cast and so forth was uplifted from elsewhere.

Cast & Creatives
Created by Yaron Lifschitz and the Circa ensemble.

Director, Stage Design Yaron Lifschitz
Composer and Sound Designer Jethro Woodward
Costume Designer Libby McDonnell
Lighting Designer Alexander Berlage
Associate Director Marty Evans
Dramaturg/Associate Choreographer Rani Luther
Voice Over Artist Elise Greig
Footage of brutal swan fight used with the kind permission of Carl Bovis.
CAST:
Oliver Layher, Tristan St John, Jordan Twartz, Harley Timmermans, Adam Strom, Darby Sullivan, Asha Colless, Anais Stewart, Clara Scudder-Davis, Maya Davies, Sophie Seccombe, Rose Symons

I was a guest of Canberra Theatre Centre at this performance.

Superposition. Gabriel Sinclair and Jazmyn Carter

My review of Superposition was published online by Canberra CityNews on 13 September 2025. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the CityNews post. Here is a link to the CityNews review.

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12 September 2025. Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre Centre

A new event on the calendar of the Canberra Theatre Centre, a two-week season of new creations across the field of the performing arts, began on 12 September 2025. Called The Independents—Festival of New Work, its first week included a dance duet called Superposition from independent artists Gabriel Sinclair and Jazmyn Carter.

I have to admit that the word ‘superposition’ was not previously part of my vocabulary, but I was curious to know what it might mean in relation to a new dance work with that word as its title. With a little research, I discovered that superposition was basically a scientific term, common in physics and mathematics. It referred to the combination of two distinct physical phenomena of the same type so they coexist with each other. But in a simpler description it might mean placing one object in the position of another to show that the two coincide.

The dance concept was brought to life by Sinclair and Carter. They began their performance in a circle of light projected onto the floor of the Courtyard Studio of the Canberra Theatre Centre by lighting designer Rhiley Winnett. At first the dancers remained in the centre of this small circle of light but, as the work progressed, they began moving to the edges of the circle and back again, with the circle of light expanding and contracting as necessary. Aspects of the lighting design changed slightly on occasions throughout the piece with coloured light briefly shining down on the dancers and affecting the colour of their costumes (and their skin). But the circle remained.

As the work began, the movement showed the dancers’ arms and hands twisting and turning around and across each other. It was small but complex movement done with arms and hands remaining close to the body but never touching. Slowly, very slowly, the movement of the arms became broader and more expansive and the interaction became more intense. But the dancers continued to perform without physical contact. Here was the superposition of the title—two figures coexisting but not actually connecting.

While the movement was somewhat varied in the speed at which it was performed, and while the complexity of the movement continued throughout without any physical contact, perhaps what gave the performance a particular interest in relation to the concept of superposition was that the dancers were human beings rather than inanimate objects. Occasionally, very occasionally, it seemed that the movement involved a human emotion. This was especially the case with Sinclair’s performance when there were occasions when his face and upper body seemed to be showing some kind of emotion. I got the feeling that he was actually engaging with Carter in a way that was beyond physicality. This doesn’t happen with rocks, waves and other aspects of nature that are often involved in scientific superposition.

A score, created I understand by Gabriel Sinclair, was basically background sound rather than a musical accompaniment. Media notes describe it as a ‘reactive, cybernetic soundscape’. It consisted of a wide variety of sounds, sometimes soft, sometimes loud, sometimes grinding or crashing, but with pretty much everything recalling day to day noises.

For me the work, at approximately 60 minutes, was a little too long. I think the point was made quite early on, although it was quite fascinating to speculate on the remarkable complexity of the movement, and the even more remarkable fact that the dancers never touched each other despite that complexity. But my mind wandered.

It was the costumes by Leanne Carter that kept me interested. They consisted of long skirts that moved beautifully, and close-fitting, long-sleeved tops that never got in the way of the movement of the hands and arms. Made from an assortment of materials of different patterns and colours, with a strong presence of red, they were a highlight. Thankfully!

Michelle Potter, 13 September 2025.

I was a guest of Canberra Theatre Centre at this performance.