Kunstkamer. The Australian Ballet
…included. The music itself was as as varied as the choreography and ranged from Beethoven to Janis Joplin and included at one stage a pianist playing onstage. What an unbelievably incredible show this was from beginning to end! I understand it is being streamed on 10 June. If you can’t get to see it live, check out the streaming details. Michelle Potter, 10 May 2022 Featured image: Benedicte Bemet in Kunstkamer. The Australian Ballet, 2022. Photo…
The Sleeping Beauty. Queensland Ballet (2021)
…to the way the story unfolded. It made me long for someone to do something completely new, or to revive an old fashioned production! Seeing it in 2015 was just a relief after the McAllister production. In 2021 perhaps my reservations were a result of having watched the Royal Ballet’s recent streaming of its hugely engaging presentation of the Ninette de Valois Beauty of 1946? Michelle Potter, 7 June 2021 Featured image: Serena Green, Laura Tosar,…
Kristian Fredrikson. Designer. Book review
…sion on his face, wondering why anyone would want to leave childhood and become an adult. The study for the Angel of Death in Murphy’s Orpheus is chillingly beautiful. The priceless comic play of Harry Haythorne as Dr Lombardi and Jon Trimmer as Pantalone in Veredon’s A Servant of Two Masters is evidence of one of the best productions RNZB ever staged. Jon Trimmer as the wealthy Pantalone and Harry Haythorne as Dr Lombardi in A Servant of Two Mast…
Dimity Azoury. 2014 Telstra Ballet Dancer Award
…Act I. ‘I guess he’ll have to audition,’ she muses. In addition to regular company repertoire, since joining the company Azoury has also performed in every one of the annual Bodytorque programs, in which her fellow dancers try their hand at choreography. ‘Bodytorque feels like a collaboration. There is no pressure on the dancers and I love being able to help my friends bring their vision to the stage.’ Dimity Azoury in Vivienne Wong’s Touch Transf…
New Breed. Sydney Dance Company, 2023
…lish, (oft. derog.) a white man’. That was enough to reflect an opinion, especially given the derogative nuance of the word, and perhaps it was somewhat unnecessary to go ‘off the planet’ as it were. New Breed, produced with a principal partnership from the Balnaves Foundation, is a terrific initiative and, despite my various misgivings, I look forward to seeing another iteration in 2024. You never know what and who might emerge. Michelle Potter,…
Hall of Fame. Australian Dance Awards 2015
…rector from 1979 until 1982 and during that period established the Dancers Company, which offered touring experience to senior students of the Australian Ballet School and opportunities to younger members of the Australian Ballet. Marilyn Jones in the Australian Ballet production of The Merry Widow, 1975. Photo: Walter Stringer. National Library of Australia One of Jones’ most significant achievements has been the establishment of the Australian I…
Liz Lea Dance at the Edinburgh Fringe
…nce filed out post-show, one word kept coming up time and again—”fabulous”—undeniably the perfect adjective.’ (Kelly Apter, Edinburgh Festivals) ‘120 Birds … choreographed by and starring the pouting, flirting, strutting ‘Madam’ Liz Lea, is a gem. Based on an international tour that Anna Pavlova made in the 1920s to Sydney (travelling with, yes, 120 birds), this story of a young Australian company following in her footsteps is told through dance,…
Dance diary. November 2021
…rough choreography by Jack Ziesing, original music by Adam Ventoura, and a committed performance by the large ensemble. Scene from Jack Ziesing’s Sympathetic Monsters. QL2 Dance, 2020. Photo: © Lorna Sim MICHELLE HEINE For her imaginative, exuberant and brilliantly crafted choreography for Free Rain Theatre’s production of Mamma Mia. The Dancer. A biography for Philippa Cullen A new book from Giramondo Publishing was recently brought to my attenti…
Shadows of War. Birmingham Royal Ballet
…acMillan’s skill at using stillness as a choreographic tool was clearly evident as we watched the dancing of two women, each partnered by five men in different combinations with none leaving the stage throughout the scene. The triple bill closed with David Bintley’s Flowers of the forest. It was a joyous series of dances in the Scottish mode. Bouquets to the gentleman who executed double tours en l’air ending in a full plié in 5th position. Wonder…
Concerto DSCH. New York City Ballet
…opening in which the five soloists engage with each other before the corps comes back in various combinations. The whole becomes like a choreographic coda. Concerto DSCH is an astonishing work. It has virtuosity in spades, a sprinkle of humour, and those interpersonal connections—this latter a little surprising, and certainly cause for speculation. On the one hand the work is largely an abstract one, yet there is that definite emotional connection…