Dance diary. October 2015
…tchelor (independent), Daniel Riley (Bangarra Dance Theatre) and Sam Young-Wright (Sydney Dance Company) are just three current professionals who had early dance experiences with Quantum Leap. New book from photographer Lois Greenfield One of the most pleasurable experiences I had while working in New York between 2006 and 2008 was visiting the studio of dance photographer Lois Greenfield. I was there to buy a collection of her images for the Jero…
The Dream. The Australian Ballet
…c Variations. Monotones II, danced by Natasha Kusen, Brett Simon and Jared Wright, has not really stood the test of time for me. It looked quite outdated and very static. As for Symphonic Variations, could it really be the same ballet I was lucky enough to see in London last year danced by the Royal Ballet? As the curtain went up I got a thrill to see Robyn Hendricks and Cristiano Martino looking stunning as the lead couple—elegant with proud bear…
Giselle. The Australian Ballet (2015)
…Michelle Potter, 16 March 2015 Update (7 April 2015): My review of another Giselle cast, featuring Juliet Burnett and Jared Wright, is at this link….
Dimity Azoury. 2014 Telstra Ballet Dancer Award
…ed on stage at the Sydney Opera House at the final rehearsal for Sir Peter Wright’s Nutcracker. ‘I was in a state of shock when my name was called,’ Azoury says. ‘I was shaking and found it really hard to hold on to the flowers I was given. Then, when the curtain came down, all the dancers hugged me and were so supportive. This is one of the lovely things about working in the Australian Ballet. Everyone is so generous.’ Azoury was trained first in…
Gailene Stock (1946—2014)
…ary Norman whom she married while in Canada. (left) Gailene Stock and Paul Wright in Ballet Imperial, the Australian Ballet, 1967. Photo: Walter Stringer; (right) Gailene Stock before leaving for London, Melbourne 1963. Photo: Keith Byron. Images courtesy of the National Library of Australia. On their return to Australia Stock danced briefly with the Australian Ballet under Anne Woolliams before having her daughter Lisa and then directing the Nati…
The Australian Ballet in 2014
…acMillan’s Manon, which we have seen so many times in Australia, and Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker. I am looking forward to an exciting season in 2014 although I’d rather something other than Manon as a third evening length work. Michelle Potter, 6 September 2013 Here is a is a link to a Houston Ballet preview of Welch’s Bayadère. Watch out for a variation from the Kingdom of the Shades scene danced by Nozomi Iijima. It comes towards the end of th…
Rachel Rawlins retires
…Ty King-Wall, and indeed from Rawlins herself. Rachel Rawlins in Sir Peter Wright’s production of Nutcracker, 2007. Photo: © Justin Smith. Courtesy the Australian Ballet Rachel Rawlins, principal artist with the Australian Ballet, has announced that she will retire at the end of this year. She will give her final performance in Sydney in December in the dual role of Odette/Odile in Stephen Baynes’ newly choreographed version of Swan Lake. ‘I’ve n…
Dance diary. June 2012
…ure from a vignette by three clowns, Jamie Bretman, Jack Coleman and Simon Wright, who were named in the show as ‘The Clown Kings’. While they had a role throughout the show, including amusing the people standing in the queue to get into the auditorium, I especially loved a sequence in which they performed to the ‘Little Swans’ music from Swan Lake. ‘The Clown Kings’ from Lucy and the lost boy, 2012. Photo: © David Wyatt. Courtesy NICA Meredith…
Infinity. A second look
…duet with Jarryd Madden. An injured Andrew Killian was replaced by Andrew Wright but it was Adam Bull again who stole the show amongst the male performers. I admired the intensity with which he approached Murphy’s choreography with its quirky and demanding partnering and its detailed and often unexpected movements. And looking back to my original post and its comments, I don’t think I interpreted the work differently despite now knowing that the…
Pina. A film by Wim Wenders
…ter. For me the most interesting review to date has been by Australian playwright and commentator Louis Nowra. Writing in the August edition of The Monthly, Nowra astutely says, amongst other things, that the scenes shot out of doors are ‘[drained] of their claustrophobic power’, and that ‘the uterine universe that Bausch created onstage is dissipated’. His concluding statement is: ‘For all its 3-D marvels, the film finally doesn’t do her work jus…