Simple Symphony. Walter Gore
…otes that the work was taught to him by Gore when Bates joined the Rambert company during its Australia tour of 1947–1949. A copy of the notated score is part of the National Library’s music collection. Bates also notes that the version he learnt was unaltered from the 1944 original. Bates restaged it for his South Australian Ballet company in 1963. Other notes on the Laban score state that the work was created by Gore during World War II during p…
Cinderella. Royal New Zealand Ballet
…appeared in the background, with similar problems that they needed to overcome. The score for this Cinderella was commissioned from Claire Cowan, who has worked before with Prior and with whom he shares a strong collaborative aesthetic. It too was diverse in musical styles and influences. It had a strong percussion component and a lot of brass, but at times looked back to medieval sounds, Baroque court dances and a host of other new and old music…
Romeo and Juliet (2011). A second look
…the ‘bridge’, groups of bedraggled-looking townsfolk engaged in their own comments on the feuding being carried out centre stage. Murphy has always been a dab hand at this kind of background action—no standing round twiddling thumbs and admiring dresses. His works are choreographed down to the last detail. The ball scene contains one of the best-known sections of the Prokofiev score, a section I will never be able to call anything other than ‘the…
George Balanchine’s Nutcracker. New York City Ballet on film
…er’s skirt in Act II. She grabbed my attention immediately with her innate understanding of how to use the space around her to achieve maximum effect from her movements. Of the adult performers Megan Fairchild danced the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy and was partnered by Joaquin De Luz: lovely techniques both of them but on this occasion not much of the radiance that should accompany these roles. They are after all the roles of a prima ballerina an…
Between Two. Kelly Nash and Douglas Wright
…peat herself. What will Tipu (meaning ‘seed’) offer? In a word, magic. To Eden Mulholland’s inventive soundscape, two women, Nancy Wijohn and Atayla Loveridge, are encased in strong, transparent light-reflecting tights that seem like an otherworldy membrane of gladwrap. They move in sinewy duet, of sustained thread and thrust, suggesting female fecundity. It makes sense then that the two other members of the cast are Milly Kimberly Grant, a beauti…
Horizon. Bangarra Dance Theatre
…ncis and Boney, had the subtitle Fresh Water reflecting Patterson’s background growing up in the area around Lake Taupo on the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. His choreography had overtones of the Māori haka and I couldn’t stop my mind moving out of the theatre to football matches between Australia and New Zealand, which inevitably contain a haka at the start of the match. But the work ended in a quieter fashion with the full ensemble dancin…
Dance diary. December 2013
…which Sainthill and his partner Harry Tatlock Miller operated. That background of course includes Sainthill’s commissions for Nina Verchinina during the Ballets Russes Australian tours, as well as his work as a designer for Hélène Kirsova, and his activities during the Ballet Rambert Australasian tour of 1947–1949. In addition it was Harry Tatlock Miller who was responsible (in conjunction with the British Council) for bringing the exhibition Art…
Horizon. Bangarra Dance Theatre. A second look
…er’, created by choreographer and director of Auckland’s New Zealand Dance Company, Moss Patterson, who grew up in the area around Lake Taupo on the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. The Light Inside is preceded by Kulka, a short work by Sani Townson, former Bangarra dancer and now Youth Programs Coordinator with the company. The focus of Kulka is nighttime with emphasis on the fact that much of Torres Strait Islander society abounds in tradit…
Talking to Philip Piggin
…owadays affirms the value of dance to healthy ageing, and I am certainly seeing this being increasingly recognised by health organisations who often fund such programs across our nation. Our ZEST Dance for Wellbeing program, that now delivers over 12 weekly classes across Canberra, is funded by a variety of health organisations and private donors, and this is proving essential to the sustainability of the program as arts funding is increasingly c…
Dance diary. March 2021
…allberg’. As to the review of the first issue mentioned above, some of the comments received following that post are more than interesting! Coming soon in Canberra. The Point Liz Lea is about to premiere her new work, The Point, at Belco Arts Centre, Canberra. It will open on 29 April, International Dance Day. Nicholas Jachno and Resika Sivakumaran in a study for The Point, 2021. Photo: © Lorna Sim The Point. performed by a company of twelve dance…