Joan Acocella (1945–2024)
…aken to Dunedin where RNZBallet were performing a season including halo by Douglas Wright, and Mark Morris’ Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes, and her resulting review was full of interest. Then in Wellington Joan conducted a weekend dance-writing workshop—some dozen of us attended NDT’s Mozart program, wrote a review overnight, delivered those to Joan at her hotel before breakfast then met mid-morning to hear her comments on our various reviews. I…
Dance diary. February 2023 (Russell Kerr Lecture)
…ries: 2018 Dr Michelle Potter on the career of designer Kristian Fredrikson. 2019 Dr Ian Lochhead on the visits to New Zealand of Russian ballet companies, 1930s and 1940s. 2020 Jennifer Shennan on the life and work of Douglas Wright 2021 Anne Rowse on the life and career of Russell Kerr 2023 Patricia Rianne (as above) Michelle Potter, 28 February 2023 Featured image: Patricia Rianne and Jon Trimmer, 1978. Photo: © John Ashton…
Glimpses of Graeme. Reflections on the work of Graeme Murphy. Book review
…me. It’s also a good memory that Murphy invited New Zealand choreographer Douglas Wright to stage his legendary Gloria, to Vivaldi, on Sydney Dance Company. Once when I was visiting Harry in Melbourne, he took a phone call from Graeme and I recall a very long conversation, more than an hour, with loads of laughter while Harry winked and indicated I should continue browsing his bookshelf. They were clearly best of mates with a great deal of respec…
Black Swan, White Swan. Royal New Zealand Ballet
…and it comes at a price, a bit like an ad break. Diaghilev and Stravinsky, Douglas Wright and Lin Hwai Min knew how to choreograph for the theatre without inviting, or even allowing, applause in fits and starts. I was waiting and wondering how the themes might coalesce by the end, enjoying anticipation of that, but will confess I found the sudden dumping from a great height of a large bucket of water onto both Siegfried and von Rothbart, was a sur…
Orbiculus. New Zealand School of Dance Choreographic Season
…ch a lost art? There are models to study, some to emulate, some to eschew. Douglas Wright probably produced the best program copy I’ve encountered—pithy, poetic, themed; locally, Lucy Marinkovich and Sasha Copland know how to write about what they’ve choreographed; then there’s Cloud Gate, and Hamburg Ballet, and the weekly listings of events in The New Yorker that capture mercurial dance in wondrously lucid precis. Words about dance matter becaus…
Reading during Wellington Lockdown
…atre in Taiwan, my all-time favourite contemporary dance company (now that Douglas Wright has gone) was also founded by Lin Hwai-Min in the same year as Neumeier’s company, in 1973. The repertoire of both companies has been exclusively of their choreographer/director’s works. These are phenomenal periods of longevity in performance arts and demonstrate that dance companies can survive on artistic genius with administration serving that vision, rat…
New Directions at New Zealand Dance Company
…, Graeme Murphy; the major directorship of the Company by Harry Haythorne; Douglas Wright works in Sydney Dance Company—and numerous other visits and exchanges in both directions—most recently by New Zealand Dance Company. The appointment of the new directors to NZDC, including Australian James O’Hara, thus has an inbuilt thread which could see further weaving between performers and audiences in the trans-Tasman Bubble. Chances to view the globa…
Giselle. The Royal Ballet
…in Australia in 2002 during the Royal Ballet’s tour that year. I like that Wright’s research into the historical background of the ballet has informed the work, especially in relation to character development. The current season by the Royal Ballet confirms my conviction that Wright’s production is an exceptional one. Sarah Lamb as Giselle and Ryoichi Hirano as Albrecht perhaps don’t reach the emotional heights of others I have seen in these roles…
The Nutcracker on film. The Australian Ballet
…all the dances, Arabian, Chinese, Russian and so forth, according to Peter Wright’s vision for the role. Benedicte Bemet as Clara with artists of the Australian Ballet in The Nutcracker, 2014. Photo: © Jeff Busby Ingrid Gow was also impressive as Clara’s mother where I could not help but notice how expressively she used her arms, especially in her dance with Clara’s father (Brett Simon). Andrew Killian made his presence felt as the occasionally fr…
Dance diary. January 2015
…5 (Update May 2019: Online links to articles published prior to mid 2015 in The Canberra Times are no longer available) ‘Vibrant, expressive show.’ Review Dancing for the gods, Chitrasena Dance Company, The Canberra Times, 19 January 2015, ARTS p. 6. ‘In the WRIGHT frame of mind.’ Profile of Sam Young-Wright of Sydney Dance Company, The Canberra Times, ‘Panorama’, 24 January 2015, pp. 10–11. ‘A classic in its own right.’ Preview of Graeme Murphy’s…