Ashton mixed bill. The Royal Ballet
…t was Muntagirov, with his elegant bearing and his exceptional technical accomplishments, who attracted my attention most. But the ballet as a whole was beautifully danced to an elegant rendition by pianist Paul Stobart of Cesar Franck’s Symphonic Variations. And I had forgotten how fresh and entrancing Sophie Fedorovitch’s decor is—a spring green, box-like space with fine black lines weaving a flowing pattern across the backdrop and flats. It was…
Season’s greetings, 2022
…ian Ballet, 2019. Photo: © Daniel Boud Carols by Candlelight, Canberra’s Woden Valley Youth Choir, 2022 Christmas bells, Bali 2018 The church at Chimayo, New Mexico, 2007 Family photos from 2009 (left), 2017 (centre) and 2018 (right) Have a safe and happy holiday season, whichever holiday you may be celebrating. Michelle Potter, 24 December 2022 Featured image: The Santa Claus on the right was a Christmas present from a little boy in one of my bal…
Dame Maggie Scott. A life in dance
…ssue, suggests the book would make an ideal Christmas present. REVIEWS and COMMENTS ‘Impeccably researched … a fascinating biography of a major luminary.’ Sydney Arts Guide, 29 November 2014. ‘A fascinating, multi-faceted read, not the least for [a] great insight into Australia during the 1940s.’ The Examiner (Launceston), 13 December 2014. ‘…a fitting tribute to an outstanding woman of influence.’ The culture concept, 19 December 2014. ‘…[among]…
Hannah O’Neill: Coryphée
Exciting news for Hannah O’Neill and her many fans around the world. O’Neill has just performed brilliantly in the annual Paris Opera Ballet concours and has been promoted to coryphée. This is an astonishing achievement given that she was accepted into the company as a life member only three months ago. For an interesting article on the concours by Roslyn Sulcas writing in The New York Times in 2009 follow this link. Hannah O’Neill, Paris, May 20…
Ty King-Wall promoted to principal
…. Ty King-Wall and Amy Harris, 2012. Photo: © Georges Antoni. Courtesy the Australian Ballet Congratulations to King-Wall whose leadership qualities (in addition to his dancing) have impressed me. Posts and comments are on Ty-King Wall on this website are here. News report. Australian Ballet media release. (UPDATE August 2020: Media release no longer available). Michelle Potter, 7 April 2013…
20:21. Another look
…a different theatre, and with a different cast. Clearly the dancers have become more familiar with the works over the series of performances that have been staged since I saw it in Melbourne. I suspect it also looks better on the smaller stage of the Sydney Opera House (for once). In addition, I have inched myself forward over many years of subscribing to a Sydney matinee series so that I have an almost perfect seat in the Joan Sutherland Theatre….
La Bayadère. The Australian Ballet
…uscious curves gave it an art nouveau feel and its back reminded me of the underside of a mushroom, magic mushrooms no doubt. This production of La Bayadère is full of melodrama, a ‘cat fight’ between Nikiya, Gamzatti and Ajah; people being killed left right and centre; appearances by men in gold paint; and temples tumbling into ruins. But Petipa’s choreography has been maintained in certain places and, with a good cast, the story speeds along and…
Devolution. Australian Dance Theatre. ADAPT Season 2020
…mans that is). Some smaller structures take over the humans somewhat and become prosthetic appendages, although that they need to be attached to a cable hooked up to something backstage limits the dancing possibilities and detracts from the overall image they generate when attached to a dancer. Tim Ohl in Devolution. Australian Dance Theatre, 2006. Photo: © Chris Herzfeld/Camlight Productions As for performances by the human dancers, it is in the…
Coppélia. The Australian Ballet (2010)
…seemed like breakneck speed. Was the music too fast? Or was there just no understanding whatsoever of dramatic emphasis or the value of an occasional moment of stillness? Or both? When the curtain went down on Dr Coppélius embracing a rag doll, there was no feeling that here was an old man whose dreams had been shattered—it needs a little pathos at this point. Swanilda looked back but briefly at the havoc she and her friends had caused. She may h…
Balanchine and Robbins. The Royal Ballet Live, 2021
…is standing centre stage wrapped tightly in swaddling clothes. Two hand maidens begin to unwind the swaddling cloth until Apollo takes over and swirls out of the cloth. He is given a lute and the handmaidens help him pluck the strings, which at this stage of his life are unfamiliar to him. It has been a while since I saw this ‘birth and growth’ section and it is fascinating to see these stages in the life of Apollo condensed into a minute or so. F…