Romeo and Juliet. The Australian Ballet (2026)

6 May 2026 (matinee). Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House

The Australian Ballet’s 2026 presentation of John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet is quite simply extraordinary! To put it bluntly I can’t remember, in decades of watching dance, ever being so involved in the unfolding of a narrative production.

The actual dancing, led at the performance I saw by Brett Chynoweth as Romeo and Yuumi Yamada as Juliet, was just brilliant. And it was not just the dancing but the acting as well, and that from across the entire cast, which held the show together. Every character, even those in the corps de ballet, appeared to have an individual personality. Not only did they demonstrate individuality in their every moment onstage, but their reactions with each other were also so exceptional and entertaining that the story just sped along and held one’s attention from beginning to end.

This production was staged by choreologist Mark Kay and Yseult Lendval, a former principal dancer with Stuttgart Ballet and currently ballet mistress in Stuttgart. I can only surmise that the extraordinary nature of the production was a result of this staging and in fact Lendval is well-known for her connections with Cranko’s works.

But in addition to the dancing and acting, I suspect that the beautiful look of the ballet had much to do with the lighting design by Jon Buswell. The lighting design moved from the outdoor brightness of the market-place scenes to the indoor evening event in which Juliet and Romeo meet and dance together for the first time, and in which the Capulet family and their guest give us those famous group dance moments. Then there is the romantic outdoor evening light in which the balcony scene between Romeo and Juliet unfolds. Every moment is thrillingly lit and so well captured by Daniel Boud’s photography.

Romeo and Juliet connect with each other outside the Capulet residence. The Australian Ballet 2026. Photo: © Daniel Boud

I suspect too that the costumes, designed way back in 1962 by Jürgen Rose, looked so spectacular in 2026 because of Buswell’s lighting (even though they may have been recently remade).

A scene from the Capulet Ball from *Romeo and Juliet*. The Australian Ballet 2026. Photo: © Daniel Boud

I was also thrilled to note that the Sergei Prokofiev score for the ballet (played by the Opera Australia Orchestra) was being conducted by Nigel Gaynor, whose work I have long admired during his time (now over apparently) with Queensland Ballet.

The one slightly jarring moment for me was in Act 3 when Juliet’s friends (and bridesmaids in waiting?) came into her bedroom to wake her up. The dance they did (and always do) before specifically approaching her as she lies in bed has always seemed too long to me. It did again on this occasion. Let’s get on with the story!

But all in all what a tremendous afternoon of ballet it was. I have purposely not singled out any of the dancers (other than mentioning Yamada and Chynoweth as the leads) as quite honestly everyone gave an exceptional performance.

Michelle Potter, 10 May 2026

Featured image, A moment from the carnival scene from John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet. The Australian Ballet, 2026. Photo: © Daniel Boud

I attended this performance as a member of the general public. My ticket cost $245

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

Flora. The Australian Ballet & Bangarra Dance Theatre

8 April 2026 (matinee). Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House.

Almost 20 years ago, in October 1997, Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Australian Ballet collaborated on a production, Rites, choreographed by Stephen Page, then artistic director of Bangarra. It was a landmark event and the work has since been restaged and has toured and been the subject of a major exhibition in Melbourne. Flora, choreographed by current director of Bangarra, Frances Rings, follows that collaborative tradition.

Flora, in typical Bangarra style, consists of several sections (in this case 12) making up a storyline. The storyline focuses in this case on the evolution of Australian flora beginning with ‘Mother Seed’ and moving eventually to ‘Bush Flowers’. Early moments show bodies representing seeds or young plants entering the earth (stage) from above. As the work continues various moments in the progress of growth are presented.

Artists of Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Australian Ballet in an early scene from *Flora*, 2026. Photo: © Kate Longley

For me the highlight of the work was the section that opened Act II. Called ‘10 Days’, it represented the actions of Sir Joseph Banks who, while in Australia in the early years of British colonisation, removed hundreds of species of Indigenous plants from their natural environment and took them back to England. The program notes state, ‘The collection of species and objects to display in museums reduces First Nations People and cultures to artifact status.’

The removal of native species by Sir Joseph Banks. *Flora*, Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Australian Ballet, 2026. Photo: © Daniel Boud.

Both the set (Elizabeth Gadsby) and costumes (Grace Lillian Lee) for this section were exceptional and, in addition, it was at this stage that political elements surfaced strongly. I am not sure, however, that the reference to the removal of the notion of ‘Aboriginal people’ from the official (political) understanding of the Australian community (as unbelievable as that policy was) needed to be so stark and loudly presented. But then Rings usually makes no bones about her determination to make a political statement through her works.

The final section ‘Bush Flowers’ was another highlight, largely (once more) as a result of Grace Lillian Lee’s totally spectacular costumes. But I did wonder, given their emphasis on extensive detail, if they were difficult to move around in, but the dancers performed effortlessly.

Bush flowers from the final section of *Flora*. Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Australian Ballet, 2026. Photo: © Daniel Boud.

Although there was much to admire in Flora, especially from a visual point of view and from the accompanying score composed by William Barton, the choreography did not move me. While the movement was always fluid and made excellent use of the space of the stage (on, around and above it), the movement itself often seemed without any reference to the actions it was accompanying. If the online descriptive analysis had not been written (and read) would we have had much of an idea, especially in the early sections, about what was taking place?

Very recently I read a book called Diaghilev. Creator of the Ballets Russes, which I had not seen before. Edited by Ann Kodicek, it contained articles by several authors, including one by Irina Vershinina on the music Diaghilev chose for the works he commissioned. In that article I read a comment from designer Léon Bakst in which he said, ‘Our dances, our settings, our costumes—they are all so exciting because they reflect that most elusive and secret thing—the rhythm of life.’ I really wish I had read the comment (and the book) before I saw Flora. The concept of ‘the rhythm of life’ would perhaps have allowed me to see Rings’ choreography in a different light rather than with the frustration that kept rising in my mind.

Michelle Potter, 12 April 2026

Featured image: A scene from Flora. The Australian Ballet and Bangarra Dance Theatre, 2026. Photo: © Kate Longley

I watched this performance as a member of the general public. I paid $207 for my ticket.

The Sleeping Beauty. The Australian Ballet (2025)

26 November 2025 (matinee). Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House

The matinee of 26 November 2025 was not an outstanding presentation of David McAllister’s Sleeping Beauty. Not all of the main characters were danced with the outstanding technique we have come to expect from the Australian Ballet, nor was there the strong acting input a narrative ballet like Beauty needs. Benedicte Bemet as Aurora was, for example, not at her best as she attacked the demands of the choreography. A unfortunate aspect of the afternoon’s presentation.

On the other hand, Joseph Romancewic stood out as the English Prince. It is always such a pleasure to watch him perform. He never seems to be promoting himself but rather to be involved in aiding the unfolding of the narrative. I also enjoyed the performance of Hugo Dumapit as the Bluebird in his partnership with Lilla Harvey as Florine.

It is ten years since David McAllister’s production of The Sleeping Beauty was first seen in Australia. Since then I have seen live productions from Queensland Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet and Royal Czech Ballet as well Matthew Bourne’s reimagined version on film, and various as digital screenings especially from the Royal Ballet. Before that there were productions from the Australian Ballet from various choreographers/directors. I even had the privilege of writing a program note for the Australian Ballet’s 2005 production by Stanton Welch, which is available at this link. It just never gets easier to enjoy the McAllister production, mostly because of the design, or rather over design. Each time I see it I am taken aback.

Final scene of David McAllister’s production of *The Sleeping Beauty*. The Australian Ballet, 2015. Photo: Jeff Busby.

But this time I couldn’t help wondering, in particular, why the Garland Dance, a beautiful part of most productions, had to be so over-dressed. As delightful as is the image below, those costumes just take away from the choreography.

Dancer wearing the Garland Dance costume. Photographer not known.

Even though the work is discussed as opulent and even that, with its design, it looks back to the creation of the work in Russia in the 19th century, I’m not a 19th century Russian balletomane. For me this Sleeping Beauty is not, as stated on Instagram, ‘an unforgettable masterpiece of romance and magic’.

Michelle Potter, 28 November 2025

Featured image: Detail of a publicity image for the 2025 Australian Ballet presentation of The Sleeping Beauty. Photographer not known.

I attended this performance as a member of the general public. My ticket cost $234.

Prism. The Australian Ballet

12 November 2025 (matinee). Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House

The Australian Ballet is looking spectacular, if the dancing in Prism is anything to go by—Prism is a triple bill, with works from Jerome Robbins (Glass Pieces), Stephanie Lake (Seven Days), and William Forsythe (Blake Works V. The Barre Project). At the performance I saw the standard of dancing was technically close to perfection. As well, for the most part, connections from stage to audience were engrossing and quite thrilling.

The program opened with Glass Pieces, a work made by Robbins in 1983 to Philip Glass’ music from Glassworks and the opera Akhnaten. Robbins, in addition to his work with George Balanchine and New York City Ballet, is well known for his choreography for musical theatre, especially West Side Story. The choreography for Glass Pieces appeared to me to reference both dance genres, musical theatre and ballet. It was bright and full of vitality.

The corps de ballet were constant reminders of Robbins’ musical theatre background as they moved across the stage, often in lines and often as shadows in a black light (lighting by Jennifer Tipton). But there were several stunning pas de deux scattered through the work, all of which showed up Robbins’ deep understanding of ballet technique and its overall appearance. I especially enjoyed the performance by two dancers that the handout referred to as ‘Soloist Couple 1’. They were on the occasion of my visit Larissa Kiyoto-Ward and Mason Lovegrove. But all couples danced beautifully and made exceptional use of their arms and upper body and the space around them.

Dancers of the Australian Ballet in Jerome Robbins’ *Glass Pieces*, 2025. Photo: © Kate Longley

As for Seven Days, it made me wonder, once again, why David Hallberg removed Alice Topp from the position of the company’s resident choreographer and gave the role to Stephanie Lake. Lake is a contemporary dance choreographer and has, rightly, made a name for herself as one of Australia’s best in the field of contemporary dance. But for me contemporary ballet is not the same as contemporary dance.

Lake’s choreography dismisses the basic features of the balletic language—and I am not necessarily referring to ‘steps’ but to the intrinsic way the body is held, that is the body shape and line that grows from the way the spine is held, the way the head balances on top of the spine, the role the pelvis plays, and so on. In a comment on the Australian Ballet’s website one dancer said of Seven Days that it ‘Breaks the classical form.’ It does but it also breaks the wider balletic form. And this on a company that has the word ‘ballet’ in its name.

At least Seven Days, despite its moments of shouting and tossing of chairs around the stage, was a step ahead of Lake’s 2024 production for the Australian Ballet, Circle Electric. It was, thankfully, shorter and used fewer dancers although there was repetition of the ‘Lake variety’, which I think needs a rethink.

Callum Linnane and Benjamin Garrett in Stephanie Lake’s *Seven Days*. The Australian Ballet 2025. Photo: © Kate Longley

In contrast to Seven Days, William Forsythe’s Blake Works V, danced to music by James Blake, looked just fabulous as a work of contemporary ballet. The project to which Blake Works V belongs was created during the pandemic of the early 2020s when dancers needed to keep training when regular methods were unavailable. They used domestic furniture of various kinds as a barre on which to keep up classroom activities.

The work included a number of inclusions that are often part of a Forsythe production. The front curtain might descend unexpectedly then rise again, visual effects, such as film clips, may appear, and the collaborative element is strong. In this production a film clip of hands moving on and off a traditional barre took centre stage at one point. Choreographically Blake Works V also showed off Forsythe’s exceptional choreography—clearly balletically based but innovatively so in terms of how different parts of the body bent, twisted, turned and related.

Listening again at what dancers said on the company website, there were words about Blake Works V such as ‘Makes the dancers push themselves.’ And, looking at the short video interview with William Forsythe (see below), it is great to watch the dancers in rehearsal and to listen to Forsythe’s intelligent discussion of his process.

It is such a pleasure too to take in the image, with its beautiful balletic line, used as the featured image on this post. That’s Forsythe! (And Lilla Harvey and Kate Longley of course).

Michelle Potter, 15 November 2025.

Featured image: Lilla Harvey in a moment from William Forsythe’s Blake Works V (The Barre Project). Photo: © Kate Longley

I watched this performance as a member of the general public. My ticket cost $178.00

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.

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

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

*For a synopsis of Manon see this link.