Dance diary. August 2019
…arriageworks in Sydney from 28 November to 7 December. Book via sydneydancecompany.com Davide Di Giovanni in Rafael Bonachela’s Cinco. Sydney Dance Company, 2019. Photo: © Wendell Teodoro Demise of Ausdance National The most distressing dance news for August was the announcement that Ausdance National, the national advocacy body for dance in Australia over the past 42 years, has been forced to close. Ausdance National was responsible for organisin…
2018—New Zealand Dance Year in Retrospect
…r sakes. In the books department, Marianne Schultz’ history of Limbs Dance Company—Dance for the People— was welcome (see my review in New Zealand Books, December 2018), as also was the memoir of Sir Jon Trimmer—Why Dance ? by Jon with Roger Booth (my review of that is on DANZ website). As I write this retrospective I am still happily high from last night’s astonishing Indian dance event—the arangetram, or graduation recital, of Leeshma Srirankana…
Dance diary. May 2014
…ralia by Douglas Whittaker, principal flute player in the orchestra that accompanied the Rambert company. They married in England. Ballet Rambert in Australia. Horseriding excursion, 1948. Collection of Pamela Vincent British Library and Serge Diaghilev I was interested to find this link to a comment on Serge Diaghilev’s interest, which grew in intensity towards the end of his life, in rare books. Press for May 2014 [Online links to press articles…
Complexions Contemporary Ballet
…y Dwight Rhoden, the other co-artistic director and main choreographer for Complexions. Rhoden also wrote the music, a song whose words were difficult to discern because the music was so loud (all through the evening) and sounded distorted from where I was sitting. I gathered though that Moonlight is about the demise of a relationship. But watching Richardson move was enough without wondering what the chair and bunch of roses, which were used as p…
Diaghilev. A life. Sjeng Scheijen
…ion such as the dance world had not previously known, and in so doing surrounded himself with the most innovative thinkers and artists across all fields of endeavour. The year 2009 saw the centenary of the first Paris season of his famed Ballet Russe company and the world has been flooded with exhibitions and publications celebrating that event and its ongoing influence. More are planned for 2010. But in addition, Diaghilev had personality plus! A…
Romeo and Juliet. The Australian Ballet (2011)
…o often seen as a little dowdy. Of course such issues include the notion that postmodernism is dead so we have to wonder whether this Romeo and Juliet is already outdated? But whatever one might think, it is a production worth seeing. Michelle Potter, 19 September 2011 Featured image: Madeleine Eastoe and Kevin Jackson in Romeo and Juliet, 2011. Photo: © Jeff Busby. Courtesy of the Australian Ballet UPDATE, 11 December 2011: Romeo and Juliet. A se…
La Fille mal gardée. The Royal Ballet. Digital Season 2020 (and some memories)
…er was quite absorbing. Below is a link to the Act I Pas de ruban. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H50e7FgcsQE But the production also brought back memories of some other productions I had seen, and some wider contextual issues that have arisen over the years. Memories of Fille Paris Opera Ballet Perhaps the most memorable production I have seen was a performance by the Paris Opera Ballet in 2009. It happened on 14 July, the French national day, s…
Dance diary. July 2018
…including Sam Young Wright now dancing in Germany with Jacopo Godani’s Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company. Other alumni include Daniel Riley now dancing with and choreographing for Bangarra Dance Theatre, Jack Ziesing formerly with Expressions Dance Company, now with Dancenorth, and James Batchelor, independent artist. Bonachela has recognised the qualities of alumni of QL2 saying: It is an honour and a privilege to be the QL2 Dance Patron for 2018….
30 years of sixty five thousand. Bangarra Dance Theatre
…ances Rings, who supports the dynamic director Stephen Page; and its dancers are polished performers whose movement vocabulary has gone from strength to strength over those 30 years. And if you are lucky enough to be at an opening night in Sydney, the company’s home base, it becomes very clear that the company has an appreciative audience unafraid to express its pride in and appreciation for Bangarra. Michelle Potter, 15 June 2019 Featured image:…
Russell Kerr Lecture, 2024
…e occurred in 1996 but the image I have of Jonty, as Wolfgang the tutor to Siegfried, comes from a performance in 2005. In the centre of the slide is Kristian Fredrikson’s design for Wolfgang’s costume. And below is the full image from which the figure of Jonty in the slide above has been extracted. You can’t help but be taken aback somewhat by the magnificence of the costume for the Princess Mother of course but I love this photo of Jonty because…