The Age of Unbeauty. Australian Dance Theatre. ADAPT Season 2020
…ian Dance Theatre. Photo: © Chris Herzfeld Camlight Productions As we have come to expect from Australian Dance Theatre under Stewart’s direction, the performers were astonishing. Their gymnastic skills seem to know no bounds. They threw themselves through the air. They tumbled and turned. They balanced in positions that defy belief. But despite their incredible physical skills, somehow they are beginning to remind me of circus performers rather t…
Lest we forget. Queensland Ballet
… Ms. Crilly & Mr. Thompson. Artists of Queensland ballet in Paul Taylor’s Company B, 2016. Photo: © David Kelly I recall being asked by a former principal of the Australian Ballet if I could refer to her in this way in reviews. I had to decline as it is not the Australian way. But I loved that the format was used in Paul Taylor’s very American work. Or should I say Mr. Taylor’s very American work?. Michelle Potter, 31 July 2016 Featured image: Ja…
A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Queensland Ballet (2023). A second look
…a physical way and we were in no doubt about his confusion as he tried to understand what had happened to him when, under the spell cast on him by Puck, he engaged with Titania. Neneka Yoshida and Rian Thompson as Hermia and Lysander Neneka Yoshida and Rian Thompson made a charming couple as Hermia and Lysander. I was especially taken by Yoshida’s beautiful performing presence and her very easy style of moving and execution of Scarlett’s choreogr…
Hillscape. The Film
…ements across the grass. The film also gave stronger sound to Dan Walker’s commissioned score with its assortment of instruments and voices. It was absolutely absorbing. One side issue: Although I have no formal evidence for when Hillscape was filmed, it seems not to have been at the original performance. The grass was not nearly so green in the film as I remember from the live performance, and as appears in the still images I have used here, and…
Possum Magic. The Ballet. The Australian Ballet School
…o sections from Ruito Takabatake; Nexus from Stephen Baynes for Level 7 students; and Techno Requiem from Lucas Jervies showing a contemporary dance style and strongly performed by Level 8 students. I was particularly thrilled to see Nexus as Baynes’ choreography is not often on show these days. Nexus, danced to Capriccio for Piano and String Orchestra by Graeme Koehne, shows Baynes’ innate musicality, his beautiful and sometimes surprising use of…
Two by Balanchine. New York City Ballet
…head lifted. Here before our eyes was the broadness of scale, the open and communicative nature of classical ballet. I continue to think, however, that this ballet, which in an earlier manifestation was called Ballet Imperial, would have more impact with the female dancers in tutus, as was earlier the case. Despite any changes that may have been made to the original 1941 version, the ballet is still structurally and in its vocabulary a Petipa-styl…
Guide to Strange Places, Beaux, The Rite of Spring. San Francisco Ballet
…once the Chosen One had been selected, waving a hand in the air as if agreeing. They danced with the drive that characterises the music and occasionally played along with it by drumming sticks on the ground. It was absolutely absorbing from beginning to end and brilliantly performed. The middle work was Beaux by Mark Morris, a subtitle for which might be ‘Boys Playing’ or even ‘Beautiful Boys Playing’. Choreographically there were moments that br…
Fred and Ginger in Prague
…between 1992 and 1996 Architects: Frank Gehry with Vlado Miluni Familiarly called Fred and Ginger after that acclaimed dancing couple Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, or the Dancing House and sometimes the Drunken House, officially the Rasin building (Nationale-Nederlanden building, Rašínovo nábreží 80, 120 00 Praha 2). Images: (l-r, top row) Fred and Ginger by day; Mainly Ginger; Mainly Fred; (l–r, bottom row) Fred’s dome—close-up; Ginger’s legs;…
News from Meryl Tankard
…the way she deals with her inner voices and the way she articulates her feelings about her illness.’ MAD will be screened on 9 March 2011 at the Dendy Opera House Quay cinema. Michelle Potter, 22 February 2011…
Faster. The Australian Ballet … again
…’s Squander and Glory for a second time. This time I had the pleasure of seeing Vivienne Wong and Kevin Jackson dancing major parts, along with Jill Ogai and Jake Mangakahia, all of whom used their technical expertise to enhance Harbour’s choreography. I was once again transfixed by the seamless quality of the collaboration and I enjoyed in particular watching the changing coloured light that played over Kelvin Ho’s design—it gently moved from rus…