Main Character Energy. The Chaos Project 2025, QL2 Dance

24 October 2025. Belconnen Arts Centre, Canberra

It is interesting to watch QL2 Dance as it evolves under new director Alice Lee Holland. Productions take place in different spaces now. There seem, too, to be fewer dancers than previously, although I could be imagining that. Costumes seem to be more complex and differ more from work to work, although there is less visual background design. But the structure of the Chaos Projects, a long-standing aspect of annual programming by Ql2 Dance, has remained pretty much the same with several short works by professional choreographers making up an hour-long program. The situation is moving along.

For Chaos 2025 the focus was on what to me is a concept, or at least a word (set of words), that is not all that well known—‘main character energy’. The artistic director’s editorial message (yes, there was a printed program) tells us that ‘main character energy’ is a phrase that emerged in 2020 from social media trends (which is probably why it isn’t well known to me!). It means ‘dramatic self-confidence, obtrusive self-importance.’ Mmm … I know one young dancer who was not impressed with using ‘main character energy’ as a topic and decided not to continue with performing in this year’s project.

The evening opened with a march across the stage area by the younger dancers. They were full of energy and that energy continued as the opening work unfolded.

Young dancers performing in *Main Character Energy*. The Chaos Project, QL2 Dance, 2025. Photo: © Olivia Wikner

The opening and closing scenes, and one other section called Like Water, were choreographed by Alice Lee Holland. Other sections were choreographed by Ruby Ballantyne, Jack Ziesing and Olivia Wikner. The full program consisted of seven separate sections.

The standout section for me was Jack Ziesing’s Goblin Market made for the older students. It set out to show the darkness that might be part of the personality of a human being. But what I especially admired was Ziesing’s choreographic approach. He knew how to establish a choreographic order that made the most of the available space. That allowed the emerging young artists to work within their capabilities, but with an exceptional understanding of the structure that he was aiming to set up. The dancers looked quite professional and I suspect that Ziesing had also been firm with his coaching of the dancers as well as structuring Goblin Market so well. The work was a pleasure to watch and appreciate

QL2 dancers in Jack Ziesing’s *Goblin Market*. The Chaos Project, QL2 Dance, 2025. Photographer not identified.

While it is always good to see the annual Chaos Project, especially watching young people in a dance environment, I am hoping that future projects will focus on topics that do not rely on audiences (and perhaps some of the dancers) being social media addicts. Dance is more than that.

Michelle Potter, 28 October 2025

Featured image: Cover for Main Character Energy program. QL2 Dance Chaos Project, 2025.

I was a guest of QL2 Dance at this performance.

Superposition. Gabriel Sinclair and Jazmyn Carter

My review of Superposition was published online by Canberra CityNews on 13 September 2025. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the CityNews post. Here is a link to the CityNews review.

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12 September 2025. Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre Centre

A new event on the calendar of the Canberra Theatre Centre, a two-week season of new creations across the field of the performing arts, began on 12 September 2025. Called The Independents—Festival of New Work, its first week included a dance duet called Superposition from independent artists Gabriel Sinclair and Jazmyn Carter.

I have to admit that the word ‘superposition’ was not previously part of my vocabulary, but I was curious to know what it might mean in relation to a new dance work with that word as its title. With a little research, I discovered that superposition was basically a scientific term, common in physics and mathematics. It referred to the combination of two distinct physical phenomena of the same type so they coexist with each other. But in a simpler description it might mean placing one object in the position of another to show that the two coincide.

The dance concept was brought to life by Sinclair and Carter. They began their performance in a circle of light projected onto the floor of the Courtyard Studio of the Canberra Theatre Centre by lighting designer Rhiley Winnett. At first the dancers remained in the centre of this small circle of light but, as the work progressed, they began moving to the edges of the circle and back again, with the circle of light expanding and contracting as necessary. Aspects of the lighting design changed slightly on occasions throughout the piece with coloured light briefly shining down on the dancers and affecting the colour of their costumes (and their skin). But the circle remained.

As the work began, the movement showed the dancers’ arms and hands twisting and turning around and across each other. It was small but complex movement done with arms and hands remaining close to the body but never touching. Slowly, very slowly, the movement of the arms became broader and more expansive and the interaction became more intense. But the dancers continued to perform without physical contact. Here was the superposition of the title—two figures coexisting but not actually connecting.

While the movement was somewhat varied in the speed at which it was performed, and while the complexity of the movement continued throughout without any physical contact, perhaps what gave the performance a particular interest in relation to the concept of superposition was that the dancers were human beings rather than inanimate objects. Occasionally, very occasionally, it seemed that the movement involved a human emotion. This was especially the case with Sinclair’s performance when there were occasions when his face and upper body seemed to be showing some kind of emotion. I got the feeling that he was actually engaging with Carter in a way that was beyond physicality. This doesn’t happen with rocks, waves and other aspects of nature that are often involved in scientific superposition.

A score, created I understand by Gabriel Sinclair, was basically background sound rather than a musical accompaniment. Media notes describe it as a ‘reactive, cybernetic soundscape’. It consisted of a wide variety of sounds, sometimes soft, sometimes loud, sometimes grinding or crashing, but with pretty much everything recalling day to day noises.

For me the work, at approximately 60 minutes, was a little too long. I think the point was made quite early on, although it was quite fascinating to speculate on the remarkable complexity of the movement, and the even more remarkable fact that the dancers never touched each other despite that complexity. But my mind wandered.

It was the costumes by Leanne Carter that kept me interested. They consisted of long skirts that moved beautifully, and close-fitting, long-sleeved tops that never got in the way of the movement of the hands and arms. Made from an assortment of materials of different patterns and colours, with a strong presence of red, they were a highlight. Thankfully!

Michelle Potter, 13 September 2025.

All images show Gabriel Sinclair and Jazmyn Carter in performance. Photos: © Andrew Sikorski

I was a guest of Canberra Theatre Centre at this performance.

Mandolina Ballerina. Canberra Mandolin Orchestra and Tessa Karle

My review of Mandolina Ballerina was published online by Canberra City News on 17 August 2025. That review can be read at this link. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the City News post.

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16 August 2025. Folk Dance Canberra, Hackett ACT

Mandolina Ballerina was a somewhat unexpected collaboration between the Canberra Mandolin Orchestra, augmented by the presence of a harp and a double bass, and Canberra-raised Tessa Karle, a former student of Canberra’s Dance Development Centre and currently a dancer with the Wellington-based Royal New Zealand Ballet. The program, which had just two performances on one afternoon, consisted of ten separate, short musical items from various well-known composers. Each item was introduced by conductor Michael Hardy. Four of the musical items included a solo choreographed and danced by Karle.

Canberra Mandolin Orchestra (without harp and double bass). Photo: © Eva Schroeder

First the music. One item, Serenade Espagnole, was written especially for mandolin in 1963 by French composer François Menichetti. The rest, which included short excerpts from well-known ballets such as Swan Lake, Coppélia and Nutcracker, had been arranged for mandolin by Hardy.

With the exception of Serenade Espagnole, which had just the right sound to my ears, the musical excerpts conveyed a quite different impression when played on mandolins rather than by an expanded orchestra. But it was an experience to watch the audience’s reaction. Almost everyone was taken in by the music and people around me, especially older folk, were fully absorbed as they swayed from side to side, or followed the music with waving hands or (silent) tapping of the feet. These reactions were especially noticeable during the playing of Johann Strauss’ Beautiful Blue Danube—that very danceable waltz.

Secondly the venue. Mandolina Ballerina was performed in a small hall in the Canberra suburb of Hackett, a hall used by Folk Dance Canberra for its classes and activities. The hall had a stage, which was not used. The audience was seated in three rows arranged in an untiered semi-circle with the orchestra also on floor level in front of the stage. An open area was set up between the orchestra and the audience with a Tarkett dance floor spread over that space, which became the performing space for Karle.

Thirdly the dancing. The small size of the dance space meant that Karle’s choreography was limited. It could not include, for example, large jumps that moved through the space, or any structure that developed a noticeable floor pattern. The arrangement of seating on a single level also hindered the audience’s view (apart from that of those sitting in the front row) of the choreography. This was especially frustrating in relation to Karle’s performance of Anna Pavlova’s famous solo The Dying Swan, which has sections of the choreography taking place on the floor with the dancing showing the dying moments of the swan. I was seated in the third row and stood up for every dance section so I could see Karle well (including her feet!).

But in the circumstances, Karle’s performance was well worth watching. She has beautifully developed upper body movement and she also managed to inject a particular personality into each of her solos. Her changing emotional responses were perhaps most noticeable in her rendition of the ‘Habanera’ from Georges Bizet’s music for Carmen, which looked very different from, say, her facial expression and carefully considered movement in her performance of ‘Prayer’ to the music of Léo Delibes from Coppélia. Her performance of The Dying Swan, however, received the strongest applause. That particular solo always has a strong resonance for everyone.

In conclusion. Canberra Mandolin Orchestra deserves congratulations for taking on this collaboration. There were various aspects of the show, especially in relation to the dance component and background, that perhaps needed to be thought through in more detail. But, I hope the organisation will continue to work on the idea of collaboration across the arts.

Michelle Potter, 18 August 2025

Featured image: Portrait of Tessa Karle. Photo: © Eva Schroeder

I was a guest of Canberra Mandolin Orchestra at this performance.

Dance diary. July 2025

Sydney Dance Company in Athens

A recent article, written by Madison McGuinness and published on 9 July 2025 in The Greek Herald, had the following two introductory paragraphs:

The Sydney Dance Company captivated a crowd of 5,000 at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus last week, performing Impermanence as part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival 2025.

Set against the historic backdrop beneath the Acropolis, the emotionally charged performance explored the fleeting nature of existence through movement and music.

The featured image on this month’s dance diary (see above) shows SDC dancers taking a ‘curtain’ call in front of that ancient building. It is the image that leads into the Herald article, an image that is credited to Australia’s ambassador to Greece, Alison Duncan, who according to the article ‘hailed the performance as a personal milestone’.

While it was excellent news to hear of the success of Sydney Dance Company, Duncan’s image from Greece reminded me of those wonderful images dating back to the 1960s showing the Australian Ballet dancing at the Baalbek International Festival in Lebanon in 1965 when, for a few nights, they performed in the precinct of the ruined Temple of Bacchus.

I remember seeing images of the dancers in Baalbek but have not been able to find any for this post. The SDC image now takes the place of those 1965 shots, for me at least.

My review of Impermanence (onstage, Sydney 2021) is at this link.

Mandolina Ballerina (Tessa Karle)

Canberra’s Mandolin Orchestra has an interesting show coming up with the evocative title of ‘Mandolina Ballerina’. It features a Canberra-trained dancer, Tessa Karle, who currently performs with Royal New Zealand Ballet. The image below shows Karle in a recent production by RNZB, The Way Alone choreographed by one of Australia’s most admired choreographers, Stephen Baynes.

Kihiro Kusukami and Tessa Karle in Stephen Baynes’ *The Way Alone*. Royal New Zealand Ballet. Photo: © Stephen A’Court, courtesy Royal New Zealand Ballet

The image below is an advertising poster for ‘Mandolina Ballerina’, for which Karle has created original choreography, and in which she will perform. The music includes sections from Swan Lake and Nutcracker.

I am hoping to see the show, which will have just two performances on 16 August at the premises of Folk Dance Canberra in the suburb of Hackett. Potentially a review will follow.

The Panov tour … a little more

After reporting in last month’s dance diary on the death of former Russian dancer Valery Panov, I went in search of a little more detail on the 1976 tour to Australia and New Zealand by Ballet Victoria in which Valery Panov and his then wife, Galina Panov, were guest artists. I was able to gain access, via the National Library of Australia, to the program for the Canberra season of the tour, which consisted of three shows at the Canberra Theatre, 21–22 June 1976.

The Canberra program began with Petrouchka, which was the major work presented across venues in Australia and New Zealand.

Valery Panov as Petrouchka. Ballet Victoria, 1976. Papers of Laurel Martyn, MS 9711, Series 1, Item 222, National Library of Australia. Photo: © Robert McFarlane

Petrouchka was followed by Concerto Grosso, a work choreographed by Charles Czarny to music by Handel. It had designs by Joop Stokvis and was originally choreographed for Nederlands Dans Theater in 1971 and given its Australian premiere by that company on tour in 1972. Re-choreographed especially for Ballet Victoria by Czarny it was in seven sections: Warm-up, Boxing, Tightrope, Obliquatory [sic], Skating, Football, and Karate. The Canberra program also included Jonathan Taylor’s Stars End, which was created especially for Ballet Victoria to music by David Bedford. Program notes discuss the work briefly, noting that ‘[It] depicts people meeting people … parting … ultimately everyone is alone.’

The audience also saw two pas de deux choreographed by Panov and danced by him and his wife. One was Adagio célèbre to music by Tomaso Albinoni for which program notes state:

This is a prayer to the dream inside Man. Unfortunately, life cannot keep dreams forever and tension takes the beauty of it away. Man prays to keep this dream forever but remains only with the prayer of his dreams.

The other pas de deux seen in Canberra was Harlequinade to music by Riccardo Drigo with choreography by Valery Panov ‘after Fokine’ and with input from Alexander Gorsky who choreographed Galina Panov’s variation. Program notes read that it concerns, ‘The classic involvement of the two prime characters of the commedia dell’arte, Harlequin and Columbine [in which] Harlequin pays court to the demure soubrette, Columbine.’

Programs for other cities included Les Sylphides and various other pas de deux.

News from James Batchelor

James Batchelor has received funding from artsACT to present his new work Resonance in Canberra. Resonance, which is a response to material Batchelor has been investigating in relation to Tanja Liedtke, will open in Sydney in September before travelling to Melbourne and then to Canberra where it will play on 10-11 October.

Michelle Potter, 31 July 2025

Featured image: Dancers of Sydney Dance Company taking a curtain call following a performance in Greece, July 2025. Photo: Alison Duncan

Garden. QL2 Dance

2 May 2025. Fitters’ Workshop, Kingston, Canberra

Garden took place in a very different venue from what we are used to for productions by QL2 Dance: the Fitters’ Workshop in the Canberra suburb of Kingston. I was somewhat taken aback when I first heard of this major change from the traditional theatre space in which the annual May production by QL2 has usually taken place. I’d never heard of the Fitters’ Workshop (despite having lived in Canberra for several decades). But, after doing some research into what and where it was, I was more than a little taken aback—it was a space with no stage, no dressing rooms, no seating, nothing of a theatrical nature really. It seemed like nothing more than an empty rectangular space.*

Well I needn’t have worried really as the space had been fitted out by QL2 with a portable stage that covered pretty much the length of the hall. The stage was raised off the floor and I assumed, therefore, that it was a sprung stage. Great! Cross lighting had been installed and three or so rows of tiered seating had been placed along one wall. There was a curtained off area at each end of the stage, one of which was used as a dressing area. Would the dance works be well accommodated in this area I wondered?

I am also assuming this set up was not permanent because the Fitters’ Workshop seems to be available for hire for other activities (at least it was, and perhaps still is?). Will QL2 continue to perform in this building?

Garden opened with Bloom choreographed by James Batchelor to a score by Batchelor’s frequent collaborator, Morgan Hickinbotham. Bloom continued Batchelor’s ongoing interest in the lineage of Ausdruckstanz, the expressive dance movement that had its beginnings with choreographers working in the early twentieth century in Germany and Austria. It began with a certain degree of simplicity in movement and groupings but slowly became more complex and developed greater connections between dancers when some duets as well as some solo work were introduced. There was an emphasis throughout on curved arm movements and ongoing fluidity. Every moment was beautifully performed by all the dancers whatever their age.

The shape of the performing space was wide rather than deep and Batchelor’s choreography seemed to take advantage of this with a constant and engrossing crossing of the wide area available. The idea behind Bloom was to indicate intergenerational connections and the growth of artists across time. It worked well.

Duet from Bloom. QL2 Dance, 2025. Photo: © Olivia Wikner, O&J Wikner Photography

The second work on the program was the beginning is the end is the beginning with choreography by Alice Lee Holland and performed to sound by STREAMS, a ‘convergence’, as program notes tell us, between Malcolm McDowell and Stevie Smiles. In many respects the work seemed somewhat similar in choreographic content to Bloom especially in the continued emphasis on arms, the way in which the wide stage space was used, and in the juxtaposition of group and solo work. I wondered whether there had perhaps been too much emphasis on input from the dancers rather than from the choreographer?

The beginning is the end is the beginning was distinguished in my eyes, however, by the way the younger dancers performed. While all performers danced strikingly, with passion and commitment, the young dancers performed with a technique that defied their age. The work continued the overall theme of the program, that of artistic growth across time.

Costumes for both works were by Andrew Treloar, whose experience is broad-ranging across art forms and companies. They were quite loose fitting and thus eminently danceable costumes. They looked great too.

As a final comment, the Fitters’ Workshop worked quite well as a venue for this show, although I still wonder whether or not the young dancers are missing out on the experience of working in a traditional theatre space. A regular theatre is a somewhat different experience and is a space that many of them will find themselves working in should they go on to a professional career. Having said that, I have to say that the standard of the dancing in both works was a credit to all.

Michelle Potter, 7 May 2025

Featured image: Scene from Alice Lee Holland’s the beginning is the end is the beginning. QL2 Dance, 2025. Photo: © Olivia Wikner, O&J Wikner Photography

*The current Fitters’ Workshop website gives the following historical information: ‘The Fitters’ Workshop is a heritage listed building and part of the Kingston Power House historic precinct. Constructed in 1916-1917 and designed by John Smith Murdoch, the Fitters’ Workshop formed a key part of a wider industrial complex that enabled maintenance of government plant and equipment, and construction work.’

Dance Week 2025. Savour the program being presented by Ausdance ACT

A somewhat intriguing sentence appears on the website of Ausdance ACT as the organisation sets out to introduce us to its program for Dance Week 2025. The suggestion is, Experience a tasting plate of performances, workshops, and activities for all ages with a range of free classes and events. Within those three sections (courses?) on the tasting plate—performances, workshops, and activities for all ages—there is a diverse menu from which we can choose.

Dance in the ACT has a community focus, which in a variety of ways reflects Canberra’s multicultural population. It also has a focus on diversity with the area’s dance activities also being inclusive of a range of ages with, for example, the presence of groups such as Canberra Dance Theatre’s GOLD company, which consists of dancers over the age of 55, and the Blueberries Classes for children from two to four years of age (and their parents). Many of these community groups have strong professional connections, but there is also a range of fully professional organisations focusing specifically on dance.

Dr Cathy Adamek, Executive Director of Ausdance ACT is convinced that dance has a particularly strong and well-defined presence in the ACT. She notes:

I have examined statistics from AusfitNation, which comes through the Department of Sport and Recreation and, according to those statistics, there are more dance studios per capita in the ACT than anywhere else in Australia. We have very strong student and pre-professional training pathways in Canberra. Not only that, perceptions of dance have changed. Dance has become a more inclusive form of activity. It has also become something that can be done at any level as a hobby.

Ausdance ACT’s 2025 Dance Week program brilliantly puts on display the complexity and diversity of dance in the ACT. Looking at the ‘Performance menu’, for example, there are presentations from Folk Dance Canberra; the Stellar Company featuring the Chamaeleon Collective and Hilal Dance Australia; Canberra Dance Theatre; QL2 Dance; a solo show from independent artist Mia Rashid; and a street performance combining contemporary dance, Butoh and improvisation.

A scene from *Stars in 3D* from the Chamaeleon Collective. *Stars in 3D* will feature in Dance Week 2025. Photo: © Andrew Sikorski

The ‘Workshop menu’ is also hugely varied and includes a Burlesque Workshop from the Menagerie of Misfits, and a Dance Film Workshop to discover, with Peng Hsiao-yin from Danceology Taiwan, how to film an original and creative self-portrait video. Then there’s the Australian Dance Party’s Immerse Lab with Omer Backley-Astrachan, a choreographer and educator who has worked with a range of dance companies across Australia, and an improvisation event with Debora Di Centa at Mirramu Creative Arts Centre. And more.

As for classes that are available, many of which are free to participants, the variety is impressive. They cross a wide range of dance styles—ballet, contemporary, hip-hop, belly dance, street dance, fitness, and other styles—and they range from classes for young children, classes for those with a disability, classes for older people, and more. One has a fascinating name: ‘Loitering & Leaping in the Library with ZEST’. It takes place in the National Library of Australia and is led by ZEST Dance for Wellbeing.

A class for older dancers. Photo: O&J Wikner Photography

Cathy Adamek stresses that there is a very strong emphasis on participation and inclusiveness in this year’s program, along with what she refers to as ‘a real rise and engagement with a younger generation as well as connections we have been able to make with some independent artists.’

Dance Week, which is always held around the date of International Dance Day on 29 April, runs in Canberra from 28 April to 5 May. The tasting plate looks delicious.

Here is the link to the full program for Dance Week in the ACT. Watch or participate, or both. Dance is for everyone.

Michelle Potter, 23 April 2025

Featured image: Ausdance ACT media image. Dancer: Alana Stenning. Photo: © Lorna Sim

Critics’ Survey, 2024. Dance Australia

Dance Australia‘s annual ‘Critics’ Survey’ was published in this year’s first issue (January/February/March 2025). The survey is always a good read with its breadth of coverage and its varied views of the year’s best productions. In addition to my report, headed as ‘Michelle Potter (Canberra and elsewhere)’ on pp. 32-33, critics represented this year are Lisa Lanzi (Adelaide), Denise Richardson (Brisbane), Rhys Ryan (Melbourne), Nina Levy (Perth), and Geraldine Higginson (Sydney).

I began my contribution with some remarks about reviews in general, which I have also addressed elsewhere on this website. Those remarks deal specifically with an issue regarding critics and reviews that I continue to find frustrating and annoying—who can and who can’t review a show according to some involved with a production. I followed up with a general comment about dance in Canberra and I noted that I frequently travel outside of Canberra to see works I otherwise would miss, hence the ‘and elsewhere’ that follows ‘Canberra’ in the heading to my Dance Australia remarks. Finally I chose the show I think outclassed all others (others that I was able to see of course).

I don’t yet have a good quality PDF file of my contribution so I have posted a text version below. An image of a moment from Queensland Ballet’s production of Coco Chanel. The life of a fashion icon was published with my survey remarks and I have used it as the featured image for this post.

Here is the text:

‘I have a major gripe. Twice in 2024 I was offered complimentary tickets to a production but was invited to come and ‘enjoy’ the show but not to write a review. Both productions were in Canberra with one by a Canberra-based organisation. In both cases I did not accept the complimentary ticket with its attached condition. My gripe focuses on the right to decide whether reviews can or cannot be written about specific performances that are open to the public? Who has that right?

I wondered whether there was media manipulation involved on the part of the companies and I turned to what is perhaps my favourite book of collected reviews—Mirrors and Scrims. The Life and Afterlife of Ballet, written by American dance writer and critic Marcia Siegel. Siegel remarks, ‘I see myself as both a demystifyer and a validator, sometimes an interpreter, but not a judge.’ Personally, I stand with Siegel’s concept of a critic being a ‘demystifier’, ‘validator’ and ‘interpreter’ and I make an effort to avoid being judgmental. But I’m not sure that is how those who suggest that I not write about their productions think about reviews. To make the matter even more frustrating, it seems that eventually the Canberra-based organisation relented and gave permission for two other Canberra-based critics to review the show. But the permission was not passed on to me.

Whatever the reasons behind the issue, I am exasperated by the situation. I don’t tell those involved with putting a show together what steps to put in their choreography so why should they tell me what I can or can’t write? An honest review may well contain some criticism. But good reviews have to be honest and there will always be cases where a reviewer will feel the need to suggest there are issues that cause a work to fall short. Such criticism is not meant to be judgmental, but to be of potential benefit both for readers and for those who produce and perform in the shows. Reviews matter. They stand strong against flowery media releases, and they also help to create a history of what is regarded by many as an art form that disappears when a performance finishes. Admittedly twice is not a huge number of times for the situation to have occurred, but it represents a significant movement for the future perhaps?

Dance in Canberra, local dance that is, is largely made for a variety of community groups with the major exception being Alison Plevey’s currently-funded Australian Dance Party. Those community groups are made up of people of a certain age, people from a variety of multicultural backgrounds, people with medical conditions that benefit from access to movement, and a variety of other specific groups. Many community performances by these groups are exceptional and are often, even usually, danced outside the environment of a regular theatre, giving audiences a new perspective on where dance can happen. But in order to see professional productions from Australia’s major companies who rarely bring their work to Canberra, I travel a lot outside the city where I live.

The show that stood out for me during 2024 was Coco Chanel. The life of a fashion icon choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and performed in Brisbane by Queensland Ballet,

The work was quite episodic, which is hardly surprising given the extent and changing nature of Chanel’s career. But Lopez Ochoa handled this episodic context with absolute skill. There was never any doubt about what was happening, despite the complexity, and the short duration of each episode. Choreographically her use of the space of the stage was carefully considered as were the groupings she made between dancers as the episodes unfolded. In addition, the collaborative elements, especially Jon Buswell’s lighting design, made Coco Chanel an absolutely brilliant production.

The aspect I especially loved was Lopez Ochoa’s approach to her choreography. It was distinctively individualistic, but emboldened by an understanding of, and belief in, classical ballet as a medium to be pursued. It has been a long time since I sat in a theatre and was completely and utterly absorbed to the extent that somehow I felt I was part of the story.’

MIchelle Potter, 25 January 2025

Featured image: Luke Dimattina (foreground) as Pierre Wertheimer in Coco Chanel. The life of a fashion icon. Queensland Ballet, 2024. Photo: © David Kelly.

Emerging Choreographers, 2024. QL2 Dance

14 December 2024. Gorman Arts Centre, Canberra

Emerging Choreographers is an annual event on the QL2 calendar. It is a mentored program in which a number of senior QL2 dancers try their hand at choreography. They create and present a short work in collaboration with their peers and each choreographer is supported by professional artists in rehearsal and presentation. Many of those who have tested their early approach to choreography over the years have gone on to make significant careers in the dance world. Some have returned to work on various QL2 projects.

I am not in a position to review this year’s event given that I have a family member closely involved in the program. So I am simply presenting below a very small selection of images from the event.

Those emerging artists who created works for the 2024 program are: AKIRA BYRNE, ALEX POTTER, ARSHIYA ABHISHREE, CALYPSO EFKARPIDIS, CHARLIE THOMSON, CHRIS WADE, JAHNA LUGNAN, MAGNUS MEAGHER and SAM TONNA.

A link to a review of the 2024 program, written by Samara Purnell for CBR CityNews, is at the end of this post.

Scene from Calypso Efkarpidis’ *DreamScape*

Coral Onn and Juliet Hall in Alex Potter’s *Dominion (Pupa*)

Scene from Sam Tonna’s *Chromed and Polished*

Dancers and choreographers acknowledge tech staff at the end of the opening show

The review on CBR CityNews is at this link.

Michelle Potter, 15 December 2024

Featured image: A moment from the film Catch and Release from Christopher Wade and Magnus Meagher

Dance diary. November 2024

Vale Roz Hervey

It was sad news to discover that Roz Hervey had died early in November. She made a huge contribution to dance in Australia, especially in South Australia. But she also made a huge impact in Canberra where she danced with the Meryl Tankard Company. The National Library has a selection of images taken by Régis Lansac of the works in which she performed in Canberra. Two are below. Nuti on the left was one of Tankard’s most visually beautiful productions and was presented in 1990 at the National Gallery of Australia in conjunction with an exhibition of works on loan from the British Museum. Pile Up on the right was a work by Graeme Watson, which shared a double bill with Tankard’s Kikimora also in 1990.

Read an acknowledgment of Roz Hervey’s contribution to dance in Australia at this link.

Coralie Hinkley: a manuscript collection

The National Library of Australia has completed the cataloguing of the Papers of Coralie Hinkley, which were sorted beautifully and donated to the NLA by Coralie’s daughter after her mother’s death. Here is a link to the catalogue details, including the finding aid. Coralie had an astonishingly varied dance career as the finding aid indicates.

Coralie Hinkley in a study for the Bodenwieser Ballet production, *Indian Boy*, ca. 1952. Photo: © Margaret Michaelis. National Library of Australia

Some reading news

Harry Hartog Bookshop at the Australian National University always has an interesting collection of secondhand dance books. ‘Oh they come from all over the place,’ a sales person once told me. The most recent addition to my book collection from that bookshop was The Helpman Family Story by Mary Helpman, which covers the period 1796 to 1964. While it probably isn’t the most analytical discussion of that story I have come across, it was full of surprises especially about the extent of the theatricality that characterised the lives of many of the family. It was not just Bob (as Robert Helpmann is referred to throughout the book) but other family members as well.

Press for November 2024

– ‘Tale of a turtle engages children—and adults (Bangarra Dance Theatre)’. CBR CityNews, 7 November 2024 . Online at this link. (And in a slightly enlarged form here.)

– ‘Community dancing with an Olympic theme’. CBR CityNews, 23 November 2024. Online at this link. (And in a slightly enlarged form here.)

Michelle Potter, 30 November 2024

Featured image: Roz Hervey (centre) and dancers from the Meryl Tankard Company in a scene from Kikimora, Canberra 1990. Photo: © Régis Lansac

A Stellar Lineup, 2024. Liz Lea Dance

My review of A Stellar Lineup from Liz Lea working with a range of community companies was published online on 23 November 2024 by CBR CityNews. Read it at this link. Below is a slightly enlarged version of the review.

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22 November 2024. Belconnen Arts Centre, Canberra

The dance scene in Canberra has long had a strong community focus, with representation from multicultural communities, groups of senior artists, people living with physical issues, groups focusing on a distinct form of dance, youth organisations, and many other specific groups. Everyone wants to feel what dance can offer and what dance can express.

Canberra’s Liz Lea, director of A Stellar Lineup, has so often been at the forefront of developing and presenting community dance in Canberra. The 2024 presentation of A Stellar Lineup is, in fact, the third iteration of a production that brings together groups of dancers representing the range and strength of this community focus.

The 2024 presentation focused on the Olympic Games, and not just on the relatively recent 2024 Paris events. We were told through dance, with a background of film, still photographs and spoken and printed words projected onto a backcloth, of events that have stood out, often focusing on Canberra-based stars across the history of the Games, and sometimes on Olympic funding issues.

Groups represented in the 2024 Lineup included the Indian community with several turbaned Sikh members of that community standing out; the now well-known GOLD Company of senior dancers; Fresh Funk representing breakdancing, which was included as a sport for the first time in the 2024 Paris Games; The Deaf Butterflies; ZEST Dance for Wellbeing; the Chamaeleon Collective, Lea’s relatively recent addition to Canberra’s community groups; a large gathering of very young dancers (including two babies carried in slings) from Project Dust, a First Nations’ contemporary dance group led by Emma Laverty; and various other organisations.

The dancing itself was, unsurprisingly, varied in terms of performance strength. For me the breakdancing from Fresh Funk stood out. Their section, Moment 4 Life, was fast-paced, and filled with energy and surprising moments of spectacular movement. Every single dancer gave his or her very vibrant best and, despite a few predictions, or perhaps suspicions, by colleagues before the show opened, as far as I could see there wasn’t a reference to Raygun and her controversial input in Paris. The Raygun performance was the last thing on my mind as I watched Fresh Funk performing.

Dancers from Fresh Funk in ‘Moment 4 Life’ from *A Stellar Lineup.* Photo: © Jen Brown

The GOLD dancers also showed their strength, especially in their ability to engage the audience with their physical and emotional engagement with the choreography. They are now an experienced and well trained group and are always worth watching.

Dancers from the GOLDs in ‘Game, Set, Match’ from *A Stellar Lineup.* Photo: © Jen Brown

I was also impressed by Rachel Hilton, who paid homage to her mother, Daphne Hilton, with a simple, but beautifully lyrical solo. Daphne Hilton was a Canberran and Australia’s first female Paralympian to medal. Then there was a homage to the legally blind cyclist Lindy Hou, and then to Louise Ellery a Paralympian in the track and field area. Towards the end of the show there was an engaging performance, The Silent Spirit of Deaf Sports!, from The Deaf Butterflies, which had the audience using deaf applause. And more…

An Acknowledgment of Country opened the evening and was also a highlight given that it was a choreographed acknowledgment from a stage filled with performers of various abilities. Indigenous input into the Games was also strongly acknowledged with an amusing section from Project Dust with appearances from some of the youngest performers of the evening, including those two babies carried in slings. It featured an Aboriginal flag, whose colours were matched by the red, black and yellow costumes of the performers.

Dancers from Project Dust including the babies in slings in ‘Eye of the Tiger’ from *A Stellar Lineup.* Photo: © Jen Brown

We can but admire Liz Lea’s determination to present community dance to Canberra audiences. Similarly, the strength and determination of members of the community groups that have developed over the years is also admirable, and a strong and definite addition to dance in Canberra. Dance is for everyone.

Michelle Potter, 23 November 2024

Featured image: Dancers from ZEST Dance for Wellbeing in ‘I used to Run a Marathon’ from A Stellar Lineup. Photo: © Jen Brown