Dance diary. September 2025

Nutcracker … again

I was a little taken aback on receiving information about the 2026 Australian Ballet season to see that Peter Wright’s Nutcracker will again feature in that season. As usual it will be part of the end of year activities and will be performed in Sydney from 28 November until 16 December.

I fully understand that Nutcracker, in its traditional format, is a much-loved Christmas show—as a young person I used to look forward to it at Christmas time—and it is a great money-maker for ballet companies across the world. But subscribers to the Sydney season saw it last in December 2024. In December 2026 it will be just a two year break between showings and in my opinion it shouldn’t become (as seems to be happening) a regular feature of the subscription season.

As an added complaint, why does it always have to be the Peter Wright version—as strong and entertaining as that production is?* The Australian Ballet has in its repertoire a great version of Nutcracker, a very different, very Australian production from Graeme Murphy. While the Murphy production is not as uniquely Christmas-oriented as the traditional versions, it does have links to Christmas. Why can’t we have it occasionally? And there are other productions of Nutcracker that could also take the place of the Peter Wright version, as much as anything else for some variety.

Perhaps the Australian Ballet might reconsider the timing of its performances of Nutcracker—not put them just two years apart for example, or even alternate the Peter Wright version with another, or others? Perhaps they might even consider removing Nutcracker from subscription packages and making it a stand-alone Christmas event?

And just as an aside, my ticket for the 2026 Nutcracker cost me $245 as part of my subscription package. That seems like a lot to see something that was shown just two years ago.

Isabelle Stoughton

I heard from a reliable source just recently that Isabelle Stoughton had died in August 2025. She was the author of a truly charming book, At the Sign of the Harlequin’s Bat, in which she wrote about her career as an assistant to London-based dance historian and book seller Cyril Beaumont. The news sent me back to the book, which I reviewed in 2012, shortly after it was first published in 2011. The reread was a worthwhile activity and gave me much pleasure.

My review is at this link.

Contact form

I am very pleased to be able to inform users of this website that the contact form, which has been out of action for months and months, is now back in operation. I can vouch for its positive renewal as a number of contact comments have arrived since its reinstatement and have been successfully addressed.

Press for September 2025

– ‘Untouching dancers bring Superposition to life.’ Review of Superposition. Gabriel Sinclair and Jazmyn Carter. CBR City News, 14 September 2025. Online at this link.

MIchelle Potter, 30 September 2025

*A review of the 2019 Wright production is at this link. It indicates quite clearly that I am not intrinsically opposed to the Wright version.

Featured image: Yuumi Yamada as Clara in The Nutcracker. The Australian Ballet, 2019. Photo: © Daniel Boud

Garth Welch, AM (1936–2025)

Garth Welch, extraordinary dancer with a range of companies in Australia and elsewhere, has died at the age of 89. I clearly recall a brilliant performance he gave decades ago as Albrecht in Giselle with the Borovansky Ballet. What a thrill it gave me as a young student, and there were many more exceptional performances to come.

In 1990, after watching his career unfold over the years, and while pursuing my own varied dance activities, I had the huge pleasure of interviewing him for the National Library of Australia’s Esso Performing Arts and Oral History Archive Project. The interview is open for research purposes but is not yet available online: Welch asked that written permission be sought before it was made available for public purposes. The restriction was to last until his death so I am hoping that it might be made available online in the near future. In the meantime, the catalogue summary of the content of the interview gives an idea of the depth of the discussion. Here is a link to the information from the NLA catalogue—Garth Welch interviewed by Michelle Potter in the Esso Performing Arts collection [sound recording]—and, as a taster, below is the summary of the content as extracted from the catalogue entry.

Welch talks about his family background and childhood in Brisbane; his early experience of dance and dance education with Phyllis Danaher; early acting experience; joining the Borovansky Ballet Company in 1954; other ballet artists he worked with and performances with Borovansky. He discusses performing in London and the value of living overseas. He also speaks about working as principal dancer in the Australian Ballet Company and under Robert Helpmann’s choreography; his Harkness Fellowship; beginning as a choreographer; contact with Rudolf Nureyev; moving to Ballet Victoria and on to West Australia Ballet Company as artistic director; his role as Zac in “A Chorus Line”; and his sons who have both become dancers. He speaks about dancing again in “After Venice” with Sydney Dance Company; directing “Othello” in Manila; his current work “In Praise of Folly” and his views on the future of Australian dance.

The National Library’s dance material also contains images of Welch in various roles including some rare shots of a rehearsal in Canberra where, as seen in the two images below taken by the Australian News and Information Bureau, he partnered Margot Fonteyn in Swan Lake in October 1970.*

Garth Welch, AM, 14 April 1936–02 September 2025

Vale!

Michelle Potter, 5 September 2025

Featured image: Garth Welch and Kathleen Gorham in Yugen (detail). The Australian Ballet, 1965. Photo: © Australian News and Information Bureau/National Archives of Australia

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*The photos are dated 1971 on the websites of the National Archives of Australia and the National Library of Australia (and elsewhere on various internet sites). But it is clear from programs held in Libraries ACT that Fonteyn and Welch appeared as ‘guest stars’ in Canberra in a program that began in late October 1970. The year 1970 is also given by Edward Pask in his Ballet in Australia. The second act 1940-1980, p. 154.

Below is the information extracted from the website of Libraries ACT:

Serenade, Gayaneh, Les Patineurs & Swan Lake:Australian Ballet ’70:Program 3
Australian Ballet (Margot Fonteyn & Garth Welch guest stars)
22-Oct-1970 – 27-Oct-1970 Canberra Theatre
1.program 2.flyer 3. local cast insert

Leanne Stojmenov and Daniel Gaudiello in 'Cinderella'. The Australian Ballet, 2013. Photo: Jeff Busby

Dance diary. August 2025

Leanne Stojmenov

News released early in August is that Leanne Stojmenov has been appointed artistic director of the Perth-based West Australian Ballet (WAB). She will begin her appointment in January 2026, taking over the reins from David McAllister, who was appointed in 2024 as interim director following the departure of previous director, Aurelien Scannella.

Stojmenov grew up in Perth, and began her professional employment with WAB. She then had an exceptional career with the Australian Ballet for 18 years (beginning in 2001) before retiring at the end of 2018. Moving back to Perth, Stojmenov took up various dance-related roles before being appointed artistic director. See her biography on the WAB website at this link (still under the heading Rehearsal Director at time of posting).

I have great memories of watching Stojmenov on stage, even as far back as her very early performances with WAB. I will never forget an absolutely stunning performance in the pas de deux from the last act of Don Quixote. She must have been about 18 but her technique was almost unbelievable. For references on this website relating to Stojmenov’s performances follow this link.

As a taster, here is part of what I wrote about her performance in Coppélia in a 2016 Australian Ballet production:

………… I had the good fortune to see Leanne Stojmenov as Swanilda. Her characterisation was engaging and beautifully maintained from beginning to end, including at those times when she was not the centre of attention but mingling with others on the side of the stage. She smiled, she frowned, she pouted, she stamped her foot, she was playful—her every thought was so clear. Her dancing was calm and assured but still technically exciting. It was a truly charming performance.

With every good wish to Leanne Stojmenov for success in her new role!

Meryl Tankard’s Wild Swans

Last year I received a purchase request for 30 copies of my book Meryl Tankard. An original voice, first published in 2012.. When I received the request I had to have a reprint made as I had no copies left from the original run. It was a very small reprint with one or two minor typographical errors corrected—nothing major. But the reprint activities did send me back to a little further research.

I didn’t review the show when it was first performed in 2003 in Sydney as I had various other opportunities to write about the work, including one or two preview articles and an article for the official Australian Ballet program. Just one of those articles, the Australian Ballet program note, appears on this website.

The various reviews were quite diverse. In an article that was commissioned from me by the editor of Australian Art Review,* and published in the issue dated November 2003-February 2004, I wrote that the public reaction ‘ranged from spluttering outrage to to wild enthusiasm’. I was closer to the ‘wild enthusiasm’ end of the range and wrote in that same Australian Art Review article that it was ‘a controversial work from a controversial artist’. I wrote in particular that I especially enjoyed the exceptional collaborative nature of the work.

But just recently, as part of continuing research into the topic, I came across a YouTube item that was loaded from Stella Motion Pictures in January 2025, some twenty years after the creation of Wild Swans. It was a reminder of the work that went into the production and it was quite a thrill to see some of the major dancers who performed in it, including Felicia Palanca, Annabel Reid and Tim Harbour. There are also hints within it as to why the work has never been restaged.

Follow this link to see the video.

Felicia Palanca as Eliza in Meryl Tankard's 'Wild Swans'. The Australian Ballet, 2003. Photo © Regis Lansac — Felicia Palanca as Eliza in *Wild Swans*. The Australian Ballet, 2003. Photo: © Régis Lansac. National Library of Australia

New contact form

It appears that the contact form on this website is no longer working and in fact has probably not been working for some time. An attempt to fix the issue is currently underway and news that the form is again up and running will be provided as soon as available.

Press for August 2025

– ‘Not an easy production to understand or enjoy.’ Review of Marrow. Australian Dance Theatre. CBR City News, 1 August 2025. Online at this link.

– ‘Unexpected collaboration in the right steps.’ Review of Mandolina Ballerina. Canberra Mandolin Orchestra and Tessa Karle, 17 August 2025. Online at this link.

Michelle Potter, 31 August 2025

* Australian Art Review was a Sydney-based journal published between 2003 and 2013.

Featured image: Leanne Stojmenov and Daniel Gaudiello in Cinderella. The Australian Ballet, 2013. Photo: © Jeff Busby

Leanne Stojmenov and Daniel Gaudiello in 'Cinderella'. Photo Jeff Busby

Carmen. The Australian Ballet (2025)

20 June 2025. Canberra Theatre

My 2025 review of Carmen was published by Canberra CityNews online on 21 June 2025. Below is a slightly expanded version of the review. The CityNews review is at this link.

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It was something of a surprise to see, on approaching the Canberra Theatre Centre for the opening night of an Australian Ballet performance of Johan Inger’s Carmen, that the exterior walls of the building were lit red. Red, the colour we perhaps associate with Carmen, the very dramatic leading character in the story who is invariably dressed in red. But it also set up a particular feeling that perhaps this was not going to be the Carmen we might be expecting. And the production, created by Swedish choreographer Johan Inger, was indeed a very different production from other versions of Carmen I have seen.

Inger’s Carmen updates the story in the novella, Carmen, written in 1845 by the French writer Prosper Mérimée. Inger’s ballet, created originally for Compañia Nacional de Danza in Madrid in 2015, looks inside the personalities of the characters, especially the sexual feelings of the three major male characters—Don José (Callum Linnane), Torero (Jake Mangakahia) and Zúñiga (Brett Chynoweth) and their activities with women, especially Carmen (Jill Ogai).

Inger has added some characters. They include a young boy (Lilla Harvey) who begins as an innocent youth dressed in white. We see him playing with a football as the ballet begins. The boy follows the action throughout, but by the end has been shocked by the actions that have taken place and loses that innocence. His white outfit is now a black costume. In addition, there are characters dressed in black and wearing masks. They appear throughout both acts and seem to characterise Fate as they remove dead bodies and interact with other members of the cast.

Lilla Harvey as the boy in *Carmen*. The Australian Ballet, 2025. Photo: © Kate Longley

Choreographically Inger surprises with his fast, complex movements and his expressive choreography for the feet, legs, arms and hands. All recall balletic movements but they push that recall beyond expectations. His choreography also has powerful sexual references, especially from Carmen, who often presents herself in sexually explicit ways to the men with whom she is engaging.

Jill Ogai (centre) and Australian Ballet artists in a scene from *Carmen*. The Australian Ballet, 2024. Photo: © Daniel Boud

Musically the work is exciting to hear. While the composer is credited as Rodin Shchedrin, the score includes music from Georges Bizet’s composition for the opera Carmen with additional music from Marc Alvarez. It was played live by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra conducted by guest artist Jessica Gethin.

Carmen looked fabulous on the Canberra Theatre stage. It is a stage that has, over the years, been much maligned by certain influential staff of the Australian Ballet. They have consistently refused to bring the company to Canberra with a major, but not sole reason being that the stage was unsuitable. But for Carmen the stage space had been stripped back and set up as a kind of ‘black box’ site, which suited the quite minimal but beautifully expressive set (Curt Allen Wilmer and Leticia Ganán).

Callum Linnane as Don José in front of one view of the set arrangement. The Australian Ballet, 2024. Photo: © Daniel Boud

The set consisted of several large pillars with different surfaces depending on which side was facing the audience. The pillars could be, and were moved into a variety of positions and combinations to suggest the various settings in which the action took place. Those settings included an arrangement that seemed like a maze through which Don José rushed while calling out for Carmen. The oblong shape of the performing space also suited the spatial aspects of Inger’s choreography, especially for his groupings of dancers, which were often in horizontally arranged lines.

The Australian Ballet really needs to reconsider its attitude to Canberra. ‘We are CBR’ says the city’s slogan with the letters C, B and R not just being an abbreviation for the name of the city but also standing for Confident, Bold and Ready. Carmen is a brilliant production, exceptionally choreographed, beautifully produced and so well danced by artists of the Australian Ballet. It so suits those who are confident, bold and ready. Don’t miss it!

Michelle Potter, 22 June 2025

Featured image: Jill Ogai as Carmen and Callum Linnane as Don José. The Australian Ballet, 2025. Photo: © Kate Longley

Manon. The Australian Ballet (2025)

14 May 2025. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House

Having just reread Different Drummer, Jann Parry’s 2009 biography of Kenneth MacMillan, choreographer of the ballet Manon, I was curious to see the Australian Ballet’s production of that work. Would the background that Parry provides in her biography open up the work for me. Well I wasn’t disappointed.

As a choreographer MacMillan is definitely a ‘different drummer’ and it was a particular treat to watch his pas de deux, the format with which, according to Parry, he loved to start work on each new initiative. Although I thought some of the pas de deux in Manon might be considered a little long (the final one in which Manon died in the arms of Lescaut for example), all were spectacular in terms of the connections, physical and emotional, that the choreography set up between whichever two characters were involved. Not only that I was fascinated to watch the tiny details MacMillan put into his choreography. The feet and the hands often took on surprising details, and the pirouettes and tours en l’air from the male dancers often ended in unusual ways that clearly required exceptional technical input. Then there was MacMillan’s handling of groups of dancers, including some quite beautiful moments of canon-style choreography. As a whole, the choreography of Manon is truly masterful.

But who staged the production I wondered? For the choreography to look as remarkable as it did, the work also needed to be staged well and with more than a passing understanding of what constitutes excellence in staging a narrative ballet. It turned out that this production was staged by Laura Morera and Gregory Mislin. Mislin is the Royal Ballet’s choreologist. Morera is a former Royal Ballet dancer whose work I have admired on many an occasion but who is now artistic supervisor for both the MacMillan and the Scarlett Estates. Morera was recently principal coach for Queensland Ballet’s production of MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet, which was staged by Gary Harris. Both Harris and Morera did a magnificent job on that occasion. So I was not a bit surprised when I discovered Morera had staged the Australian Ballet’s Manon. The Australian Ballet’s Manon, like the Queensland Ballet Romeo and Juliet, was completely engaging as a story from beginning to end, as well of course as being fabulously danced by the impressive artists of the Australian Ballet.

At the mid-season matinee I attended I saw Jill Ogai as Manon and Marcus Morelli as Des Grieux, Manon’s (eventual and final) lover. Both danced well, perhaps especially Morelli who attacked the choreography with strength and commitment. But for me the standout dancers were Cameron Holmes as Lescaut (Manon’s brother) and Katherine Sonnekus as Lescaut’s mistress. They both have secure techniques, which allows plenty of freedom to develop characterisation. The acting from both of them was outstanding making it easy for the audience to engage with them. The absolute highlight was their pas de deux in Act II at the party given by Madame X (Gillian Revie) at which Lescaut had had one too many glasses (or bottles) of alcohol. His drunken stumbles, at which the audience fell about laughing, simply made his attack on MacMillan’s demands look even more brilliant. Sonnekus managed to handle beautifully the many incredible lifts that, cleverly, looked like the work of a drunken man but which were definitely MacMillan-esquely balletic.

The music by Jules Massenet was nicely played by Opera Australia Orchestra while Peter Farmer’s sets and costumes evoked well the period and the locations. With all aspects of the production working together so well, the story (which I have not gone into in detail here*) was clear and the two to three hours of dancing was an absolute delight.

I guess my one quibble is that this production really needs a bigger stage than that of the Joan Sutherland Theatre (a common issue of course). There were times, especially in Act I, when there was just too much happening on stage. The activities were being brilliantly handled but there were times when those activities were too close to the main action and were thus distracting from that action to too great an extent.

Despite the quibble, this production of Manon showed MacMillan’s brilliance. Huge compliments must go to Laura Morera and Gregory Mislin for their input in making that brilliance shine through, not forgetting that the dancing was splendid across the board from the dancers of the Australian Ballet.

Michelle Potter, 15 May 2025

Featured image: Artists of the Australian Ballet in the card scene from Act II of Manon, 2025. Photo: © Daniel Boud

*For a synopsis of Manon see this link.

Nijinsky. The Australian Ballet (2025)

16 April 2025 (matinee), Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House

John Neumeier’s Nijinsky is a spectacular and highly complex work. I have had the good fortune of seeing it several times (twice by Hamburg Ballet, the company for which the work was made in 2000). In terms of the nature of the work and its relationship to the dramatic life of Vaslav Nijinsky, I can’t do any better than provide a link to the time Hamburg Ballet presented it in Brisbane in 2012 (now unbelievably over 10 years ago). Here is the link to that review.

Nevertheless, each time I see Neumeier’s Nijinsky I notice something a little more clearly than I did on previous viewings. It’s that kind of work. It opens up further with each viewing. I was staggered this time by Neumeier’s choreography as it was so clear that his choice of movement was just brilliant in the sense that it captured the intrinsic nature of the characters represented. Perhaps my awareness of the power of Neumeier’s choreography was heightened as a result of seeing (and disliking) Schachmatt (Checkmate in English translation) from Spanish/international choreographer Cayetano Soto with its dismantling of the balletic vocabulary. Neumeier also dismantled the vocabulary to a certain extent but those splayed fingers, flat palms of the hand, bent elbows, twisted bodies and the like were so much part of the erratic and obsessive behaviour that marked the last years of Nijinsky’s life. They had a meaning that was absolutely within the narrative. (Not so with Schachmatt.)

Of the cast I saw on this occasion, a mid-season matinee, I was impressed in particular with Mia Heathcote as Romola Nijinska, especially in her short scenes with the Doctor, danced by Jarryd Madden, who was treating Nijinsky for a range of issues. Nijinska’s infidelity was very clear. I also was impressed by Luke Marchant who danced the role of Nijinsky as Petrushka, especially in Act II when his dramatic solo was strongly presented.

In general the Australian Ballet dancers performed reasonably well with Elijah Trevitt in the lead role of Nijinsky. But I guess I longed for something that approached the absolute power of other occasions that I have been lucky enough to have seen.

Michelle Potter, 18 April 2025

Featured image: the opening scene (with Kylie Foster at the piano) of Nijinsky showing the ballroom of Suvretta House, St Moritz, where Nijinsky gave his last performance. Photo: © Michelle Potter

Dance diary. December 2024

Karen van Ulzen and Dance Australia

After 35 years as editor of Dance Australia, Karen van Ulzen is moving on. She has been a strong and successful editor and her retirement is a particular loss to the dance community. In a Facebook post, Karen wrote:

Dance is my lifelong love but it is time to hang up the keyboard. I am looking forward,k to indulging my other loves: visual art (specifically painting) and writing. However, dance is still my love and I hope to continue to contribute to the artform in some other way.

Portrait of Karen van Ulzen. From Yaffa/*Dance Australia* online. Photographer not identified

Taking over from Karen is Olivia Weeks whose dance background includes teaching and an extensive background with the Royal Academy of Dance. Of her plans she told Dance Australia:

As Editor, I’m excited to contribute to our ever-evolving dance landscape. My goal is to continue to champion the incredible talent Australia has to offer, celebrate the stories that make our industry so unique, and ensure Dance Australia remains a vital platform for our community in 2025 and beyond.

Read more about Olivia Weeks at this link.

I wish Olivia every success and give my sincere thanks to Karen for all she has achieved for dance in Australia, and for her support of my writing over many years.

More on books and reading

After the death of Eileen Kramer I thought it was time to read her autobiography, Walkabout Dancer, a copy of which she kindly gave to me but which I had never taken the time to read. It was published in 2008 in North America and I honestly can’t believe that there was a professional editor at work on the text prior to publication. The text is rife with spelling errors and inconsistencies and inaccuracies in names and places throughout. Perhaps the inaccuracies extend even to aspects of the story itself? To tell the truth, I wish I had never taken on the reading of it. It does nothing to advance the image of Eileen Kramer.

I did, however, enjoy Derek Parker’s 1988 publication, Nijinsky. God of the dance, a copy of which I found in the Harry Hartog Bookshop at the ANU. (That HH bookshop again!). Apart from the fact that it revealed some interesting personal information about ‘the God of the Dance’, it contained some photographs of Nijinsky and his colleagues that I had never seen before. It’s a shame though that some of the photographs on certain pages were positioned very close to the binding and were not always easy to see in full. Well worth a read however.

Vale Arlene Croce (1934-2024)

Renowned American dance critic, Arlene Croce, died in New York in December. She was 90 years old. I never met her, despite having spent some time in New York on various occasions over the past thirty years or so. But I had always enjoyed her writing for various outlets including The New Yorker, Ballet Review, which in fact she co-founded, and other publications. Her background knowledge was wide and very apparent in her dance writing, and I especially admired her exceptional and always appropriate use of descriptive words and her highly analytical approach to her writing.

As part of an obituary, the following words appeared in The New Yorker, issue of 19 December 2024:

Croce took dancing seriously, pulled dances apart and analyzed them rigorously, and her clarity and imagination, her stunning insights, and even her glaring flaws—all this was there on the page. This passion and discipline made her a kind of alter ego of—or perhaps a ministry to—the art. She had an unrelenting determination to say what she had seen.

It is interesting to reread what is one of her best known articles, ‘Discussing the Undiscussable’, which appears in her collection of reviews and articles, Writing in the Dark, Dancing in The New Yorker. In this article she talks about her reasons for refusing to go to, let alone review, a performance of Still/Here by choreographer Bill T. Jones, a work he created involving terminally ill people who speak about the issue of dying. The article caused something of a stir when it was published in The New Yorker in 1994. It still raises many issues about dance and how it is, or has been, perceived.

The original article appears to be available online without a New Yorker subscription. Try this link

Some statistics for 2024

Over the course of 2024 this website received slightly more than 75,000 views. The top five countries making use of the website were (in order) Australia, United States of America, New Zealand, Canada and United Kingdom. Top five cities from which people logged in were Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Brisbane and New York. During 2024, the top post on a northern hemisphere production was Joy Womack: The White Swan; the top Australian-related post was Etudes/Circle Electric. The Australian Balle t; and the top New Zealand post was Swan Lake. Royal New Zealand Ballet.

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A very happy 2025 to all. May the year be filled with dancing.

Michelle Potter, 31 December 2024

Featured image: A young Canberra dance student performing as Triton in a ballet school production of The Little Mermaid, 2023. Photographer not identified

The Lady of the Camellias. Shanghai Ballet

5 December 2024. Lyric Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane

I have had the good fortune over the years of seeing two spectacular productions with choreography by Derek Deane—Strictly Gershwin in two presentations from Queensland Ballet, one in 2016 and the second in 2023; and an English National Ballet production of Deane’s Swan Lake in 2011. Both left me staggered and wanting more. I wish I could say the same about The Lady of the Camellias danced by Shanghai Ballet and presented in a Brisbane exclusive by Queensland Ballet.

On a positive note, the design of both costumes and sets from Adam Nee was exceptional—a real visual treat. There was one scene in Act I that took place in a theatre and the curtained backcloth was just stunning and made this particular aspect of the narrative not only obvious but breathtaking. Then there were the several backcloths showing slightly abstract floral designs (camellias?), which also attracted one’s attention. In addition, the dancing was outstanding from all the Shanghai dancers. It was a thrill to watch their lyricism, especially in the beautiful use of the arms and upper body, the elevation of both men and women, and the perfection in the execution of the choreography. Unfortunately, however, even though the physicality was there, I didn’t always feel a strong emotional involvement between the dancers in what is a very emotional story.

With one or two exceptions, in particular a lovely pas de deux between the two main characters, Marguerite and Armand, while on holidays beachside, I found Deane’s choreography on this occasion somewhat unimaginative—it reminded me of the 1950s or 60s. Such a shame given that we have been used to seeing some quite outstanding contemporary ballet here recently from choreographers such as Christopher Wheeldon with Oscar for the Australian Ballet and, for Queensland Ballet, Coco Chanel, from Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. And this is not to mention recent work from Alice Topp, Loughlan Prior and others.

Wu Husheng as Armand Duval and Qi Bingxue as Marguerite Gautier in *The Lady of the Camellias*, Shanghai Ballet, 2024.

Then there is the storytelling aspect of The Lady of the Camellias. The Deane production looked at the society in which the story unfolded as well as the connections between the main characters. But there were times when it was not easy to tell who was who and what exactly the relationships between the various characters were as more and more people filled the stage. Perhaps, in order to be swept away by the Deane production, we are (or I am) too used to Frederick Ashton’s Marguerite and Armand, with the story stripped back to its basic elements, which thus more easily exposes a deep emotional content.

For me The Lady of the Camellias was something of a disappointment.

Michelle Potter, 7 December 2024

Featured image: Dancers of Shanghai Ballet in a scene from The Lady of the Camellias, 2024

Oscar. The Australian Ballet

13 November 2024 (matinee). Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House

I have to admit that I have not always been a fan of works from Christopher Wheeldon who is choreographer of Oscar, the latest production from the Australian Ballet. But Oscar, which focuses on the life of Oscar Wilde, is an exceptional work from many points of view.

In a narrative sense, Oscar has two main acts preceded by a Prologue and closing with an Epilogue. It blends Wilde’s daily life and his art, with a particular focus on two of his written works, The Nightingale and the Rose and The Picture of Dorian Gray. It begins with Wilde’s trial and imprisonment for his sexual activities with men and then goes back to his early life including his meetings with male lovers. It moves on to scenes of his thoughts and recollections during his imprisonment, and finishes with the end of his time in prison and his eventual death. Wilde lived a very full and drama-filled life and a huge range of emotions colour the story.

I was impressed with Wheeldon’s choreography, which was diverse, demanding and danced strongly throughout. Curved, smooth and lyrical movements contrasted with sharp, geometrical and quite two-dimensional moments, and the relationships between characters was made clear choreographically, no matter what was the nature of those relationships. The Act II duet between Wilde and his long-standing sexual partner Bosie was a real highlight, although there were so many moments of exceptional and quite descriptive choreography.

I did not see the opening night cast (who feature in most of the images available) and so have no images of the dancers I saw performing at the matinee of 13 November. But of the cast I saw, in addition to a strong performance by Brodie James as Oscar, Jill Ogai stood out as the Nightingale and Bryce Latham and Thomas Gannon were thoroughly engaging as the sons (Cyril and Vyvyan) of Oscar and his wife Constance. The family picnic scene early on in the work, in which Cyril and Vyvyan sat with their father as he read to them, was especially entertaining.

Some very engaging moments occurred towards the end of Act I when Oscar’s close friend, Robbie, introduced Oscar to a gay bar. In addition to showing moments of sexual attraction between those in the bar, two characters named Harri (Yichuan Wang) and Zella (Jake Mangakahia) gave a brilliant show of acting and dancing as drag queens. The second act had, however, a very different feel to it. A degraded Oscar struggled to manage his life in confinement, and the remembered pleasures of his early life took on a kind of desperation. This difference in the emotional impact of the work was clear not just choreographically, but also in the score by Joby Talbot, which was more brash in its sound during Act I.

Set and costume design was by Jean-Marc Puissant and his set in particular was quite spectacular in the way the setting, while retaining the major structure of a building, was able to change to reflect different moments and aspects of the narrative, often assisted by exceptional input from lighting designer Mark Henderson.

My one less-than-positive comment is that perhaps too many of the characters that were part of Wilde’s flamboyant life were also part of this production. There were times when it was not at all easy to understand exactly what the situation was and who the characters were. Perhaps fewer events and characters would have made the work easier to follow while still being indicative of the varied range of people and events that characterised the life of Wilde. But having said that, Oscar was engaging pretty much from beginning to end. And just amazingly danced.

Michelle Potter, 15 November 2024

Featured image: Christopher Wheeldon rehearsing dancers of the Australian Ballet for Oscar. Photo: © Christopher Rodgers-Wilson

Dance diary. September 2024

The Australian Ballet and Canberra

In September the Australian Ballet announced its 2025 season and, amazingly, the season includes a visit to Canberra. The company has largely avoided the national capital for years now with various reasons given, none of which ever mentions a major, contentious situation that developed relating to orchestral involvement. That aside, it is also amazing that the company is bringing to Canberra Johan Inger’s magnificent Carmen rather than an ‘old favourite’ like The Merry Widow. See this link for my review of Inger’s production of Carmen from the Australian Ballet’s 2024 Sydney season.

The Canberra Symphony Orchestra will accompany the performances, which pushes the contentious issue alluded to above into the background, thankfully. Here’s hoping we are back on track and that the national company will continue to include, frequently, the national capital in its annual seasons. See the company’s website for details of the complete 2025 season.

Akira Isogawa

It was a thrill to see designer Akira Isogawa collaborating again with Melanie Lane on Love Lock, Lane’s recent work for Sydney Dance Company. Isogawa’s previous collaborations with Lane have included Slow Haunt for West Australian Ballet in 2021, and MOUNTAIN, an independent work from 2023.

Isogawa has also worked often with Graeme Murphy, both for works Murphy made for Sydney Dance Company while that company’s artistic director, and for Murphy’s production of Romeo and Juliet for the Australian Ballet. Some of Isogawa’s distinctive and intricate costumes, including items for Romeo and Juliet, were seen close-up in an exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria back in 2013. See this link.