The Sleeping Beauty. Royal New Zealand Ballet (2026)

With New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

29 October 2026. St James Theatre, Wellington
reviewed by Jennifer Shennan

This season of The Sleeping Beauty is a restaging of RNZB’s spirited production from 2011, and artistic director Ty King-Wall has ingeniously invited back a number of the original players for the project. That’s not just a matter of nostalgia but brings mana to the stage, and echoes the Royal Danish Ballet’s practice of incorporating mature dancers as character artists in their productions. This company was founded by Danish dancer Poul Gnatt over 70 years ago, and the fact that Gnatt was one of the most renowned Bluebird dancers in Europe in his day is not lost on us either.

This production scores on many levels, and does RNZB and NZSO proud. There is an extensive national tour to seven cities across as many weeks, the logistics of which, for a production on this scale, including different orchestras in various centres, are staggering. This Company has never been cowed by challenges however (remember RNZB is the ‘most touring’ ballet company in the world) and while that is not the focus of the opening night, I thought I’d mention it anyway.

Choreographic treatment ‘after Petipa’, is by Greg Horsman, (former ballet-master at RNZB, later associate-artistic-director at Queensland Ballet), with set and costume design by Gary Harris (former artistic director of RNZB). Between them they create an assured elegance and classicism, with an impressively mobile set (dancers cleverly doubling as stage hands), of mediaeval grandeur (originally inspired by First Church, Dunedin), leavened with colour, much mischief, and a ditzy cat.

Scene from *The Sleeping Beauty*. Royal New Zealand Ballet, 2026. Photo © Stephen A’Court

Tightened dramaturgy gives sustained roles to several characters traditionally only encountered as entertainers in the final wedding scene. Catalabutte the cat is Private Secretary to the King and responsible for all the mayhem that follows from getting the christening guest list wrong. A pair of caged Bluebirds are the parents’ wedding gift, the bluebirds of happiness encountered in many literary and visual art representations… even if the crazy cat has a different quest in mind all evening.

Such innovations are all of course bound by Tchaikovsky, and the over-long original score, arranged by Nigel Gaynor (former music director at RNZB, then with Queensland Ballet), is as keen and skilful as was all his work in his time here with Company.

The classic fairy-tale is known in early European iterations, some of them horrifyingly macabre, from wildly Gothic Charles Perrault, to the somewhat milder version by the Brothers Grimm. My young grand-daughter helpfully brings me up to date with Walt Disney’s additions of The Shield of Protection, The Sword of Truth, and The Fiery Dragon, though we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. Does it all make for good theatre? Yes, it does.

This allegory of parents’ concern for the wellbeing of their children starts with joy at the birth of a first baby, turning to terror when a curse is visited on the child’s health and future. The death sentence is commuted to a life sentence, the child will come of age at 16, there will be blood, no longer a child, followed by a 100 year wait for true love, which as we know can take at least that long in the world off-stage.

The opening scene has the King played by guest artist Vivencio Samblaceno (formerly a valued dancer with RNZB). His superb timing of gestures is the ‘Once upon a time’ of the evening. Alone in a room of the palace, nervously pacing the floor, as does every father of a first-born, while his wife is in labour (off-stage!). To help calm his nerves the King engages Catalabutte, to prepare the invitation list for the forthcoming christening. Here’s trouble for a nervous king and a ditzy cat.

Guest Character Artist Kohei Iwamoto as Catalabutte and Guest Character Artist Vivencio ‘Jun’ Samblaceno as the King. Photo © Stephen A’Court

The full cast rich with colour and character make poignant contrast to the central role of the Princess Aurora, Mayu Tanigaito. She keeps her fabulous technique discreet while her musicality and sense of alignment bring the poetry and delicacy of her interpretation to the fore. Her Rose Adagio is exquisitely danced. Later the pairing with the Prince, Laurynas Vejalis, brings pas de deux of real rapport and deep joy, greater than the sum of its steps. His dancing is equally pedigree, always avoiding the distractions of bravura. Theirs is a partnership of consummate quality in the ballet canon. Tell your grandchildren you saw them dance.

The line-up of fairies, colour coded to the gifts they bring, deliver attractive solos each of distinctive quality. Lilac Fairy, by Ana Gallardo Lobaina, another artist of formidable technical ability, is beautifully danced with calm authority and grace throughout.

So now to Carabosse, pure evil disguised as great beauty, beware of that, the thorn on the stem of the black crystal rose. Kirby Selchow always delivers the drama of a character centre stage and in this role, tailor-made for her, she excels. But good eventually prevails, sealed with a kiss (and what a kiss!), and Carabosse is banished to the realm of war-mongering dogs this world knows too well.

Kirby Selchow as Carabosse. *The Sleeping Beauty,* Royal New Zealand Ballet, 2026. Photo © Stephen A’Court

There are multiple changes of cast throughout the extended season. We do not get cast lists except online, but we’re required to turn our cell phones off before curtain up ̶̶̶ so how do we know who is playing Catalabutte tonight with such hilarious timing and ubiquitous presence? Aha, we find out later, and are not surprised that it is Kohei Iwamotu, the adored dancer (formerly with RNZB, later with Queensland Ballet) who was Puck and Mercutio and more besides when he was here. Never forgotten.

Hamish McKeich is conducting the NZSO, impeccably of course, using the one arm that works. Let that be an example to us all.

Jennifer Shennan, 5 November 2026

Featured image: A moment from The Sleeping Beauty. Royal New Zealand Ballet, 2026. Photo © Stephen A’Court

Dance diary. July 2026

Patricio Revé

As the Royal Ballet moves into its 2026-2027 season, I can’t help reflecting on how lucky we were to be able to watch Patricio Revé, now a principal dancer with the Royal, grow as an artist during his time with Queensland Ballet. But nor can I help feeling how much we will now miss him (unless of course we can pop over to London every so often!). Revé was dancing as a guest artist with the Royal Ballet for several months after leaving Queensland Ballet in mid 2025. It is hard not to wonder why this move happened. It was of course a critical time for Queensland Ballet and the question of why Revé and others moved on remains something of a closely guarded secret at the moment. But Revé was offered an appointment as a principal with the Royal Ballet in January 2026 with the appointment to begin officially with the 2026-2027 season.

Revé was a stalwart member of Queensland Ballet from 2018. How smart was Li Cunxin to bring him from Cuba to dance in Australia? His performances were always memorable, and the Royal Ballet’s appointment is Australia’s loss. For more about Patricio Revé on this website, follow this link.

Watch below, too, to see Revé dancing in Cuba in March 2026 with Marianela Nuñez in the Act III pas de deux from Don Quixote. If you can take your eyes off Revé and Nuñez, the corps de ballet dancers working upstage are worth watching. Their actions and poses are often somewhat rustic, especially those of the men seated upstage centre. Cuba has a different take on Don Quixote from what we have frequently seen in Australia.

Beth Dean

Following on from my recent, brief item on Beth Dean in last month’s Dance diary, I received a comment from my colleague, Jennifer Shennan, about the role Dean had played in her life and as part of our dance history in general. The comment can be seen at the end of the Dance diary for June 2026.

Jennifer’s comment made me continue to think about what I had uncovered from the collection of items I discovered in the National Library of Australia’s manuscript collection. It was particularly interesting to read more of the background to Dean’s 1954 creation of Corroboree. She wrote of the role she, as a woman, needed to play during her participation in various Aboriginal ceremonies that led into her creation of her work:

Women do stay for certain periods of time, and when the bullroarers roar forth with the sound of thunder, we all ran out to a far distant stream bed which was dry, and we waited there while certain ceremonies were done, which showed blood or sacred red-ochre colourings or patterns that the women are not supposed to see because it would make then ill. It’s too strong a magic.

Dean’s husband, Victor Carell, was able to stay throughout the entire ceremony that Dean writes about and he was able to assist in the final outcome of the work. Dean herself danced the role of the boy initiate.

Study of Beth Dean as the boy initiate in *Corroboree*, 1954. Image: © Enid T Dickson. Collection of the National Library of Australia

As I noted in my earlier discussion, it is totally fascinating material, provided we look at it as coming from the 1950s.

Simone Forti (1935-2026)

Simone Forti, American dance innovator who worked with particular strength during the period that is now called postmodern, has died in Los Angeles at the age of 91 years. Forti briefly entered my academic life when I began research for my PhD, which focused on the visual artists, in particular Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, who collaborated with Merce Cunningham. Forti, an Italian by birth, took classes at the Cunningham studio and there was introduced to the work of John Cage. Her background is documented in some detail on Wikipedia.
Vale!
.

Simone Forti speaking ay Beyond Baroque Library Arts Centre, Los Angeles 2007. Wikimedia Commons

Press for July 2026

– ‘Determined dancing on a knife’s edge.’ Review of Mettle, Quantum Leap Australia. CBR CityNews, 25 July 2026. Online at this link

Michelle Potter, 31 July 2026

Featured image: Patricio Revé in Rhapsody in Blue. Queensland Ballet, 2023. Photo: © David Kelly

Dance diary. April 2026

Dance week opening event—Ausdance ACT

The opening of 2026 Dance Week from Ausdance ACT took place on top of Canberra’s Mount Ainslie on 29 April, international Dance Day. Founded in 1982 by the International Theatre Institute, International Dance Day takes place annually on the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810). Noverre is generally regarded as the founder of modern ballet.

The Canberra event began with a Welcome to Country delivered by Ngunnawal elder Aunty Serena Williams, who also prepared and administered the smoking ceremony. The International Dance Day message for 2026 was written by Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite. It was read to the assembled audience on Mount Ainslie by Elizabeth Dalman. Follow this link to read the message.

(left) Aunty Serena begins the smoking ceremony; (right) Elizabeth Dalman reads the International Dance Day message. Photos: © Michelle Potter

The official introductory messages, which also included a welcome from ACT MLA Caitlin Tough, were followed by a solo dance by Liz Lea from her forthcoming production Diamond, and then a group dance by a range of Canberra-based performers, also a sneak peek at what the Diamond presentation might look like. All dancers were spectacularly dressed and Diamond, due to take the stage in August, promises much!

A few changes …

April was filled with news of changes to the careers of several leading figures in the Australian dance world. A move by Callum Linnane, exceptional principal artist with the Australian Ballet, was the first to be brought to my attention. Linnane will leave the Australian Ballet in June to take up a role as principal artist with Hamburg Ballet.

Callum Linnane in rehearsal for Alice Topp’s *Aurum*. Photo: © Jeff Busby

I have admired Linnane’s dancing for some time. For more about him, and my thoughts on his dancing on this website, see this link.

Raewyn Hill is moving on from her position as artistic director of Perth’s Co3 Contemporary Dance, a company she has led since its inception in 2014. She will remain with the company, which is presently searching for a new director, until the end of 2026. It is not yet clear how Hill’s future will unfold.

Then Kyle Page and Amber Haines, co-directors of Townsville-based Dancenorth, will also leave the company at the end of 2026. Their futures are also not clear at this stage.

Vale

It was sad to hear that Ben Stevenson had died in Fort Worth late in March.

In Australia Stevenson’s choreography has been brought to our attention by Li Cunxin, who worked with Stevenson after arriving in America from China when Stevenson was directing Houston Ballet (1976-2003). Li brought Stevenson to Australia on occasions to stage several of his works for Queensland Ballet. Stevenson’s productions of Nutcracker and Cinderella were especially popular.

Ben Stevenson in the Queensland Ballet studio with Li Cunxin. Photo: © David Kelly

From a personal point of view I continue to recall walking down a street in Dallas, Texas, one Sunday afternoon in 2011 and seeing two tutu-clad dancers walking along the same street. They were on a mission to advertise Stevenson’s then forthcoming presentation of Nutcracker for Texas Ballet Theater, which he directed after leaving Houston Ballet.

Texas Ballet Theater dancers, 2011. Photo: © Michelle Potter

Another book from Brisbane

After my visit to Archives Fine Books in Charlotte Street, Brisbane, in October last year (2025), when I discovered their range of second hand dance books, I had another opportunity to visit the shop after seeing Queensland Ballet’s presentation of Messa da Requiem in March this year (2026). I headed, of course, straight to the dance section and was pleased to find another book that was not part of my collection: Diaghilev. Creator of the Ballets Russes, edited by Ann Rodicek with an extensive prologue by Rodicek and contributions from six authors. It was a book published to accompany an exhibition held at the Barbican Art Gallery in London in 1996.

Page of costume designs by Nikolai Roerich for *The Rite of Spring*. 1913

Without wanting to diminish in any way the strength of the prologue and written articles, what especially attracted me were the many images of the items that had been on display in the exhibition. In particular there were a number of costume designs that I had not seen before (see above). It was also fascinating to see portraits of those associated with the company (not necessarily dancers although they were there of course). A fascinating new look at Diaghilev and the work of his collaborators! And such a great second hand bookshop.

Press for April 2026

– ‘Aladdin retold through a ‘minimalistic’. Review of Aladdin. Victorian State Ballet. CBR City News, 24 April 2026. Online at this link.

– ‘Elegant dancing that was hard to see’. Salut! Baroque. CBR City News, 25 April 2026. Online at this link.

Michelle Potter, 30 April 2026

Featured image: Liz Lea in a solo moment from her forthcoming production Diamond. Photo: © Michelle Potter

Dance diary. March 2026

Rafael Bonachela to leave Sydney Dance Company

Sydney Dance Company announced in March that Rafael Bonachela, artistic director of Sydney Dance Company since 2009, will leave the company in mid 2028. It was perhaps not surprising news but it certainly aroused many thoughts about Bonachela’s input into the company.

What perhaps stands out, at least from my viewpoint, was the physicality that characterised Bonachela’s choreography. Bonachela did not usually look for a narrative focus to his works. He left us as the audience to add our own thoughts about what his works meant—if indeed there was a meaning for us to absorb beyond the movement.

But there was much more to his directorship of the company than making his own dance works. His introduction of New Breed, a program that gave opportunities to emerging choreographers, was certainly a highlight as was his extensive touring. The Sydney Dance Company media release, in which much more of his input is mentioned, is at this link. A search for a new director will begin shortly.

As an aside, I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Bonachela in 2011, which was quite early in his tenure of the job, for the National Library’s oral history program. The interview details are at this link and the Library’s summary gives an indication of the content of the interview.

Glasshouse Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre

The first show to be presented at Brisbane’s newly completed Glasshouse Theatre was Queensland Ballet’s Messa de Requiem (my review of this show can be found elsewhere on this website). But I have to mention what a stunning piece of architecture the new theatre is, both outside and inside. Inside the beautifully curved areas are a delight to walk past while the stage area looks spacious and easy to dance on. The sightlines are excellent from an audience point of view, which is a real thrill. The Glasshouse is an absolute delight from every point of view.

Glasshouse Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane. Photo: © Brian Hurst

Swan Lake Act III. Dance Theatre of Harlem (via Jacob’s Pillow playlist)

I must say I was somewhat staggered watching an excerpt from the Act III pas de deux in Swan Lake, as danced by Michaela DePrince partnered by Samuel Wilson, via a playlist on the Jacob’s Pillow website. DePrince’s arms in the 32 fouetté section are just incredible.

Watch at this link.

Press for March 2026

– ‘Dancing on impulse was a ‘pleasure to watch’.’ Review of Impulse. Australian Dance Party. CBR City News, 15 March 2026. Online at this link.

– ‘But everyone else seemed to be enjoying it.’ Review of Swan? Lauren Brady. CBR City News, 26 March 2026. Online at this link.

Michelle Potter, 31 March 2026

Featured image: portrait of Rafael Bonachela, 2026. Photo: Toby Burrows

Messa da Requiem. Queensland Ballet

27 March 2026. Glasshouse Theatre, Brisbane

’I don’t say we’re doing a ballet. I say we’re doing a production.’ Ivan Gil-Ortega giving his thoughts on Messa da Requiem

*****************************

Messa da Requiem was created by Giuseppe Verdi in 1874. It was, as program notes tell us, a work that ‘transforms the traditional Catholic funeral mass into a gripping human drama’. The current production, with choreography by German-born and trained artist, Christian Spuck, was Queensland Ballet’s first production for 2026 as part of its annual season of (usually) four strongly balletic productions.

Having Messa da Requiem as part of the annual season repertoire was something of an error of judgement, I thought, since for me Messa da Requiem was an operatic production with a bit of dancing added. Even the choreographer, Christian Spuck, says in his program notes, ‘The structure and the emotions are led and set by the music and singers.’ I would much prefer that such a production had been included as a special extra on the Queensland Ballet repertoire list rather than as part of the regular annual season format. This was even more of an issue since, for me, the highlight of the production was certainly not the choreography itself.

I was especially impressed with the way the artists (over 100 dancers and singers—mostly singers) were arranged onstage throughout the work. I’m not sure exactly who was responsible for the structural arrangement of bodies. Perhaps it was Spuck? Perhaps it was the stagers, of which there were three? Perhaps it was the set designer Christian Schmidt (although probably not)? At times when all or most of the performers were onstage together, they were grouped in two sections with one group on each side of the stage, or sometimes in a semi-circle around the whole stage area. Apart from those arrangements and depending on the music and the ideas being presented, there were moments when one singer might be seated on a chair or standing centre stage.

Singer Cassandra Seidemann in *Messa da Requiem*. Queensland Ballet, 2026. Photo: © David Kelly

There was always something of interest to see in these structures. In one early moment the performers, who were grouped on either side of the stage at this point, suddenly changed sides by running from one side to the other. It was always a pleasure, and sometimes a surprise, to see a new arrangement appear.

As for the choreography, there were one or two moments that were instantly eye catching, especially when the dancers appeared on stage without the singers, sometimes in quite small groups.

Dancers of Queensland Ballet in a moment from *Messa da Requiem*, 2026. Photo: © David Kelly

There were also two dancers whose roles were something of a mystery to me but whose performance was exceptional and in which the choreography was dramatic. Perhaps they had some connection to Judgment Day, which is one of the messages in Verdi’s music?

Clayton Forsyth and Frederick Montgomery in *Messa da Requiem*, Queensland Ballet, 2026. Photo: © DavidKelly

But mostly the choreography was expressing the notion of death and dying with the women being lifted or lowered in a prone position. Some were already dead it seemed. While this was clearly an area that related to the fact that Mess da Requiem is/was a Catholic funeral mass, it became a little tiresome, even though the dancers performed beautifully. The dancers on opening night were led by Lucy Green, Libby-Rose Niederer, Ines Hargreaves, Vito Bernasconi, and Joshua Ostermman.

Lucy Green and Vito Bernasconi in *Messa da Requiem*, Queensland Ballet, 2026. © David Kelly

Messa da Requiem generated strong and excited audience involvement. The singers were members of the Brisbane Chorale and Canticum Chamber Choir and the music was played by Queensland Symphony Orchestra. But going back to Ivan Gil-Ortega’s remark about the work not being a ballet but a production, all I can say is that there is such a thing as a ballet production with strong collaborative elements. I am thinking especially of Derek Deane’s Strictly Gershwin, and of course there have been others over recent years.

Looking at the printed program (and thankfully there was one) it was a surprise to see that the composition of Queensland Ballet, in terms of its dancers, has changed somewhat. I got the feeling that many dancers from an earlier period are no longer part of the company. I wondered why!

Michelle Potter, 29 March 2026

Featured image: A moment from Messa da Requiem, Queensland Ballet, 2026. Photo: © David Kelly

I was a guest of Queensland Ballet at this performance.

Dance diary. February 2026

Greg Horsman

West Australian Ballet (WAB) announced earlier this month that Greg Horsman, having left Queensland Ballet (QB) late last year, had joined WAB as rehearsal director. Horsman brings to WAB decades of world-wide experience in performing, teaching, leadership roles, and choreographing.

Horsman’s time with QB, which began when Li Cunxin was appointed director, saw the staging of several of his ballets, the most exciting to my mind being a reimagined version of La Bayadère. Bayadère is a ballet that has suffered somewhat in recent years, being thought of as unsuitable for presentation in this day and age because of its perceived treatment of various ethnic groups. But Horsman’s ballet scarcely fell into that category in my opinion. Read my review at this link.

But there were also others of his works that shone in the QB repertoire including a version, again reimagined, of Coppélia, which in fact was a co-production with WAB. He also held QB together until a new artistic director was found after Leanne Benjamin unexpectedly left her role as artistic director in August 2024.

Horsman gave a lot and his departure is significant loss for QB. But it is a definite gain for WAB! Here is a link to the WAB information.

Australian Dance Party

Canberra’s Australian Dance Party (ADP), led by Alison Plevey and Sara Black, is celebrating its 10th year of existence. The celebrations include IMPULSE, a free improvised dance, music and visual art performance set in two of the city’s major town centres, Woden and Gungahlin. Audiences are invited to become part of the activities., which will take place on 14 March in Woden and 21 March in Gungahlin.

For more information see the ADP website at this link.

Borobudur Dance Troupe

Canberra’s multicultural festival is an annual event taking place in the city and surrounds each February. It always has a strong dance component in its very varied activities and this year I noticed performances by a group called the Borobudur Dance Troupe. I had never seen performances by this group before, despite the fact that it was founded in 2017. But with fond memories of visiting the Borobudur temple in Java (some years ago now), I thought I should take a look. I saw only one of the items the troupe was presenting but didn’t catch the name of the dance.

Borobudur Dance Troupe at the Canberra Multicultural Festival 2026. Photo: Michelle Potter

My initial reaction was that it didn’t look to me like the traditional style of Javanese dance that I have seen before. There was a lot of quite broad smiling (not obvious in the image above but very obvious when watching) and I had always felt that Javanese dance was quite differently focused. Perhaps age is catching up with me and what I have experienced before is outdated? My companion suggested I should look at it as folk-oriented rather than as a classical item. Anyway, it was interesting to see the performance. The costumes were very intricate, and the dancers used the red cloth that was part of the costume quite beautifully.

I look forward to seeing the company again somewhere. We are lucky in Canberra that we have opportunities to experience such presentations.

Force majeure

The Sydney-based company Force majeure (a major force in contemporary dance development in Australia) has just appointed Nick Power as its new artistic director and CEO. Force majeure was founded in 2002 by Kate Champion. Following Champion, Danielle Micich led the company from 2015 to 2025. More about Power, and about Force majeure, is available on the company’s website at this link.

Creative Antarctica

An exhibition, Creative Antarctica: Australian Artists and Writers in the Far South has recently opened at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). It runs until 2 May 2026 and includes a film made by James Batchelor with sound by Morgan Hickinbotham. The film was created by Batchelor during his participation in an expedition to the Heard and McDonald Islands in January 2016 on board the RV Investigator. Read about the exhibition and its location here.

Michelle Potter, 28 February 2026

Featured image: Portrait of Greg Horsman, 2026. Photo: © Photo: Frances Andrijich. West Australian Ballet website.

Dance diary. January 2026

Sydney Dance Company: new artists for 2026

As Australia ponders, across a number of areas and from a number of points of view, the multicultural nature of the country, it was quite fascinating to read of the dancers who have joined Sydney Dance Company (SDC) for the 2026 season. The new appointments, which media information says will contribute to the dynamic physicality of the company, are Caití Ellen Carpenter, Jai Fauchon, Mahalia Adamson, Finn Armstrong, and Ali Dib. Adamson, Armstrong and Dib made their debuts with SDC in late 2025 and will continue with the company into 2026.

These five dancers have quite different backgrounds, which include not just differences in cultural background, but also differences in training and work experiences to date. Caití Ellen Carpenter is a UK-born dancer and actor who trained at Rambert School, joining Rambert’s main company in 2021. She has worked as a freelancer across the UK and Europe since 2023.

Sydney-born Jai Fauchon joined the Australian Ballet School in 2020 and has performed in two national tours with the company. In 2025, he was selected as a Jette Parker Young Artist with Queensland Ballet.

Finn Armstrong is a dancer from the Gold Coast. In 2022, he graduated from the Netherlands’ Codarts Rotterdam and, in 2024, joined Danish Dance Theatre as an apprentice. He debuted with SDC in 2025, in its Continuum and New Breed programs with fellow incoming SDC dancer Ali Dib.

Born in Sydney and of Lebanese heritage, Ali Dib trained at the Dorothy Cowie School of Dance, Brent Street Studios and Alegria Studios. He was the recipient of the Brisbane International Dance Prix and won the Contemporary Dance Open in 2025.

Mahalia Adamson joined SDC’s Pre-Professional Year in 2024 and performed in the Sydney season of Resonance, alongside works by Rafael Bonachela, Zee Zunnur, Emma Harrison and more

The varied backgrounds of these new appointees suggest we can look forward to a dynamic input into SDC’s 2026 performances.

Georgia O’Keeffe

Some years ago now I spent a beautiful, snowy Christmas in New Mexico. We were staying not far from the area where American visual artist Georgia O’Keeffe, whose art I have admired for many years, had two homes, one on Ghost Ranch territory, the other in Abiquiu. It was a pleasure to visit ‘Georgia O’Keeffe territory’ over the time we were in the area.

Ghost Ranch landscape. Photo: © Michelle Potter

So, it was more than interesting to read a statement O’Keeffe had made about her approach to art, which appeared in a recent Reader’s Catalog email from The New York Review of Books. O’Keeffe said at some stage, ‘I found that I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn’t say in any other way—things that I had no words for.’ If we replace ‘colour and shapes’ with movement or some similar word, the statement seems perfect as a way of speaking about dance. Surely?

Queensland Ballet

Queensland Ballet has appointed Lisa-Maree Cullum as rehearsal director of the company. Hear what Cullum has to say about her position in the YouTube link below.

But what has happened to Greg Horsman and Matthew Lawrence? They contributed so much to the growth and development of Queensland Ballet over the past several years but seem to have disappeared from the scene. Both Horsman and Lawrence have been interviewed for the National Library of Australia’s oral history program. The Horsman interview (recorded in 2016) is available online at this link. The Lawrence interview (recorded in 2024) is also available online but requires written permission for public use so at this stage, and until I find out how to contact Lawrence, I cannot provide a link on this site.

Coming up … Canberra’s Multicultural Festival

The National Multicultural Festival is held annually in Canberra in February. It always has a strong dance focus, including this year a Bharatanatyam performance, a Dragon Dance, a Bellydance Showcase, a performance by the Borobodur Dance Troupe, a performance by the Lao Oz Dance Group, dancing from the Serendipity Dance Crew, the Benjo Academy, Contemporary Bihu, the Australian Tamil Cultural Society of the ACT, Mexbourne Dance, and folk dances from Chile. And more …

The Festival is largely an outdoor event so here’s hoping the weather doesn’t reach 40 or so degrees Celsius. Read more on the website, especially the Festival Program pages.

Dancers from the Borobudur Dance Troupe with National Multicultural Festival director Petra Rutledge, 2025. Photo: © James Coleman.

Michelle Potter, 31 January 2026

Five favourites from 2025

It is never an easy job to choose a few favourites from among the productions one was fortunate to have seen in any one year, but what follows is my attempt to do just that. I have arranged my five favourites chronologically according to the month in which I saw each production.

As a result of a generous birthday gift that lasted over the whole (almost) of 2025, I also saw throughout the year a number of Royal Ballet productions via that company’s streaming platform. A presentation of Enigma Variations, filmed in 2019, was exceptionally engrossing. But I have restricted my five favourites to productions from Australian companies.

All In from Dance Makers Collective

All In was the first production I had had the opportunity to see from Dance Makers Collective, an organisation based in Western Sydney working with and between dance theatre, contemporary dance and social dance, and with the aim of building dance communities. The All In production featured Indigenous-focused dance, Western-style contemporary dance, Spanish-Flamenco and an Indian-focused section. It culminated in a finale in which the audience rose from their seats and joined the dancers on the floor. Young and old, experienced and not so experienced, all were present moving together.

So, apart from the thrill of watching a beautifully performed, diverse selection of dance styles, All In showed us is that dance is for everyone and that it exists beyond what might be called a mainstage show.

Here is a link to my review from January 2025.

Essor from Yolanda Lowatta

Canberra’s National Portrait Gallery has often shown dance as an adjunct to exhibitions on show in the gallery. Essor (the translation from an Indigenous language is ‘Thank you’) was created in response to Some Lads, a series of portraits by renowned Australian photographer, Tracey Moffatt. It was a solo work created and danced by Indigenous performer Yolanda Lowatta who was then working with Australian Dance Party. Lowatta’s dancing was exceptionally fluid and also highly intricate. It also was stylistically diverse and represented, to my mind, the different movement styles of the artists in the photographs, who were Indigenous artists whose work Lowatta admired.

Essor was danced to a soundscape by Indigenous multi-artist Bindimu. It contained sounds of water; the playing of Indigenous instruments; sounds from nature, including bird calls; human voices; and a range of other audio items. Just as Lowatta’s choreography referenced different dance styles, Bindimu’s soundscape took us, potentially, from venue to venue where dance might have been seen.

Yolanda Lowatta in *Essor*. Gordon Darling Hall, National Portrait Gallery, 2025. Photo: © Creswick Collective

I was greatly moved by this work: by the choreography, by the technical aspects of Lowatta’s performance, and by the magical soundscape.

Here is a link to my review from March 2025.

Cranko. The film

The film Cranko was shown in Canberra as part of the 2025 German Film Festival. Directed and written by Joachim Lang, it followed the career of South African-born dancer and choreographer John Cranko who directed Stuttgart Ballet from 1961 until 1973. It was a completely engrossing ‘biopic’ showing the personality and activities of man whose life was devoted to dance. There was also some spectacular dancing from current members of Stuttgart Ballet, especially from Elisa Badenes.

I really enjoyed the way this film held one’s attention from beginning to end. The strength of its impact encouraged me to look further into the circumstances of Cranko’s death, which occurred on board a plane returning to Stuttgart after company engagements in the United States.

Here is a link to my review from May 2025.

4seasons. Queensland Ballet

Natalie Weir’s 4seasons was shown as part of a Queensland Ballet triple bill called Lister/Weir/Horsman. In typical Weir fashion the pas de deux in the work were just magnificent. But the whole was brilliantly conceived and filled with surprises, especially in Weir’s use of the space of the stage.

A moment from *4 seasons*. Photo: © David Kelly

Scroll down this link to find my review of 4seasons from June 2025.

Unungkati Yantatja: one with the other. Sydney Dance Company

It was a real thrill to see a new work from Stephen Page in which he demonstrated again his interest in working collaboratively. Unungkati Yantatja: one with the other formed part of a triple bill, Continuum, from Sydney Dance Company. Page’s work focused on ‘the universality of breath’ and featured live music, performed onstage with input from William Barton, great stage design from Jacob Nash, and magnificent costumes from Jennifer Irwin. A notable input from former Bangarra dancer Ryan Pearson was an added highlight.

Scroll down this link to find my review of Unungkati Yantatja: one with the other from October 2025.

Michelle Potter, 28 December 2025

Featured Image: A moment from the finale to All In with instructions to the dancers from the audience to ‘Go Anywhere’. Dance Makers Collective, 2025. Photo: © Anya McKee

I was a guest of Dance Makers Collective, Queensland Ballet, and Sydney Dance Company at the performances mentioned above.

Queensland Ballet in 2026

It is always interesting to see the impact a change in artistic directorship has on the repertoire of a dance company. Newly appointed director of Queensland Ballet, Spanish-born Ivan Gil-Ortega, has announced a program for 2026 in which Queensland Ballet will perform works from a range of overseas-based choreographers, reflecting Gil-Ortega’s strong European background and dance heritage.

Christian Spuck from Germany, for example, will open the season with a staging of his Messa da Requiem, a collaboration on this occasion with Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Brisbane Chorale and Canticum Chamber Choir. Messa da Requiem will take place in the newly completed Glasshouse Theatre at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, which I saw just recently as it was nearing completion. It looks spectacular (from the outside anyway).

Scene from *Messa da Requiem*, Dutch National Opera and Ballet

Further on in the year, Serbian-born choreographer Leo Mujić, who is currently working with the Croation National Theatre and who has created works for companies across Europe, including Dutch National Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet, will stage the Australian premiere of his production of Hamlet. Then Derek Deane from England, whose production of Strictly Gershwin was a huge hit on the two occasions (in 2016 and 2023) when it was performed by Queensland Ballet, will present a new version of Nutcracker. The works of other choreographers from overseas are also being shown during the 2026 season.

A moment from Leo Mujić’s *Hamlet*. Artists of Croatian National Ballet, Zagreb. Photo: © Darja Stravs Tisu

But there will be work from Australian choreographers as well, notably from Garry Stewart who directed Australian Dance Theatre in Adelaide for more than 20 years. Stewart’s latest work, Elastic Hearts, will be part of the 2026 season. Set to music by Sia, Stewart describes Elastic Hearts as ‘a creative response to the music of Sia Furler, the celebrated Australian artist, originally from Adelaide and now based in LA.’ It will be a thrill to see Stewart’s highly physical choreography onstage once more.*

For more on the 2026 program, including work for the Academy of Queensland Ballet, follow this link.

Michelle Potter, 16 October 2025

*Elastic Hearts will have a very brief showing on the Gold Coast in November, its world premiere showing, before being part of the 2026 season.

Featured image: Study for Garry Stewart’s Elastic Hearts.

Ballet and books in Brisbane

Dangerous Liaisons. Queensland Ballet
4 October 2025 (evening). Talbot Theatre, Thomas Dixon Centre, Brisbane

I was not invited to review Liam Scarlett’s Dangerous Liaisons in its 2025 revival by Queensland Ballet so I felt no reason to stay when I disliked what I was watching. I left at interval. It was just the third time in about 35 years of reviewing dance performances across Australia and around the world that I have left a dance performance before it was over. Why on this occasion?

The work Dangerous Liaisons is based on the 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. But on the whole this 2025 presentation reminded me of a musical comedy item with an emphasis on sexual activities. The movements and gestures indicating sexual desire were obvious and a highly dominant feature throughout (the first act at least).

Fine re the sexual emphasis. That’s part of the story! But who were all those characters? With one or two exceptions it was not at all clear, as the complex narrative unfolded, who individual dancers were representing. Understanding the action and the multitude of characters taking the stand, as it were, was made more difficult by the lack of any form of easily available written material. We all know that explanations and descriptions of works these days are available online via a QR code, but in the olden days of Queensland Ballet a sheet of paper with brief but vital information of cast and storyline was always available. Even a full printed program was also there for those who wanted one. And how frustrating it is when the person sitting next to you turns on a mobile phone to check something out in the middle of the performance.

I have to mention that there was some excellent dancing being presented, including some group scenes even if it wasn’t clear what was being celebrated or criticised. In particular Georgia Swan was outstanding as the leading female character, the wealthy widow, the Marquise de Merteuil. There was also a male dancer who did not have a major role but whose performance attracted my attention. His technique was excellent but it was his onstage presence, including the manner in which he connected with the audience, that was thrilling to watch. But who was he? I can’t recall having seen him before but I had no way of knowing immediately who he is as there were no photographs of the dancers that were easily available. I should add here that, as I was waiting for a taxi to take me back to my hotel, several people came to the desk in the foyer—it was interval—asking for a printed item of information. They were advised to go and open the QR code!

Georgia Swan in Liam Scarlett’s *Dangerous Liaisons*. Queensland Ballet, 2025. Photo: © David Kelly

It was also, I believe, a really bad move by Queensland Ballet to use recorded music. Someone surely must realise that resident conductor Nigel Gaynor has always had a major input into performances he conducts. He works with what is happening onstage, including how the dancers are performing, in a way that no recording can do (even though the recording used in the 2025 presentation was a recording conducted by Gaynor, it’s just not the same). To make matters worse Gaynor is leaving his post as conductor at the end of 2025. Although I am not entirely clear about the reasons for the move, it apparently has something to do with the financial situation in which Queensland Ballet finds itself. (Happy to be corrected here if I am totally wrong re the reason).

I attended Dangerous Liaisons as a member of the general public. My ticket cost $127. Read my review of the 2019 production of Dangerous Liaisons, to which I was invited and which I thought was exceptional. Here is the link.

See below for a list of publications in which my dance writing and reviews have been published (in addition to the material I have posted on this website since I set it up in 2009).*

The books

But all was not lost. While in Brisbane I visited that amazing second hand book shop, Archives Fine Books in Charlotte Street in the city’s CBD. I have never really been in a second hand bookshop that has such a wealth of items on every imaginable subject. I ended up buying four dance books, three of which were previously unknown to me, and one of which was a book about an exhibition that had a major impact on our understanding of the activities of Serge Diaghilev. The books are:

Buckle, Richard. In Search of Diaghilev (London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1955)
Collins, Richard. Behind the Bolshoi Curtain (London: William Kimber, 1974)
Dodd, Craig. The Performing World of the Dancer (London: Breslich & Foss, 1981)
La Fosse, Robert (with Andrew Mark Wentink). Nothing to Hide (New York: Donald I. Fine Inc., 1987)

I started my reading with Behind the Bolshoi Curtain and was instantly taken by the personal manner in which Englishman Richard Collins, who spent four years working in Moscow with various sections of the Bolshoi school and company, interacted with his Russian colleagues and vice-versa. There were some issues that were a little concerning (if interesting in a particular way) but it was a ‘can’t put down’ book in the way it showed a side of ballet and dancers that we don’t usually read about in other Bolshoi-focused publications. I am looking forward to moving on to Richard Buckle’s work on his 1950s exhibition on Diaghilev’s contribution to our understanding of the Ballets Russes.

Michelle Potter, 6 October 2025

Featured image: Cover of Richard Collins’ Behind the Bolshoi Curtain.

*Here is a list of the magazines, newspapers and journals in which my reviews have appeared:

The Australian, Australian Art Review, Australian Book Review, Ballet News, Brolga, The Bulletin, Canberra CityNews, The Canberra Times, Choreography and Dance, Current News from the Library for the Performing Arts, Dance Australia, Dance Chronicle, Dance Forum, Dance Research, DanceTabs (formerly ballet.co.uk), The Dancing Times, Jahresmitteilungen von Tanzplan Deutschland, Journal of the Australian Society of Archivists, Limelight, Muse, Museum National, The National Library of Australia Magazine, National Library of Australia News, The Sydney Morning Herald and Voices.

There are other lists of books I have written as well as lists of chapters in books and theatre programs in which my writing has appeared. In addition, there are hundreds of posts on this website, which this year has, according to Google Analytics, already received 105,000 visits from Australia and across the world. I’m just not sure why Queensland Ballet no longer regards me as a critic worthy of an invitation to review.