30 October 2009
“The dancers are at peak energy, seemingly hungry to embrace rarely performed choreography.” Sunday Herald Sun
This November in Sydney The Australian Ballet presents Concord, three works by three of the most daring choreographers in the world. Take a peek at Nacho Duato’s Por vos muero, Alexei Ratmansky’s Scuola di ballo and Wayne McGregor’s Dyad 1929 in our latest gallery.
More images of the Concord season can be viewed on our Facebook fan page
Concord runs in Sydney 11 – 30 November
28 October 2009
In her latest film, award-winning documentary maker Mandy Chang has captured the magic and extraordinary past of one of the greatest performing arts companies of the 20th century. A Thousand Encores: The Ballets Russes in Australia follows the Ballets Russes, the company that changed ballet, and the face of performing arts in Australia, forever. The Ballets Russes awoke a nation, transformed the cultural landscape of conservative ‘30s-Australia, leaving a rich legacy that lasts to this day. The film includes footage of Graeme Murphy and Janet Vernon working with The Australian Ballet to create their Ballets Russes tribute Firebird.
A Thousand Encores: The Ballets Russes in Australia premieres Tuesday 3 November at 8.30pm on ABC1.
What is it about the Ballets Russes era that sends your heart racing?
For me it’s the incredible combination of design, dance, choreography and music, all fused into one sublime art form. The sheer cutting-edge nature of it and that it was created by the greatest artists, composers, dancers and choreographers of the time. The idea of fusing these disciplines equally was first dreamed up by Wagner, who called it Gesumstkunstwerk. It inspired and drove Sergei Diaghilev to achieve the incredible.
You spoke to some ex-Ballets Russes dancers. Could you name just one who was particularly inspiring to you?
I found them all inspiring, but I loved the vitality, enthusiasm and outspokenness of Anna Volkova. She had a treasure trove of incredible stories about the Ballets Russes. Only a tiny fraction of them made it into the film. When she talked about ballet and the music, her whole being would come alive. Her hands, and then her whole body (totally unconsciously), began to move as a way of communicating. Even at the age of ninety-something, dance is still in her. Read the rest of this entry »
26 October 2009
Ballet and fashion are timeless partners and this spring the pairing was no more apparent than at New York Fashion Week, Spring/Summer 2010. Pastel and nude shades, romantic shapes and delicate fabrics mingled with theatrical elements to create wearable fashions, inspired by ballerinas in their various guises.
Rachel Antonoff transformed the Henry Street playhouse on the unofficial opening night of NYFW using a playful vintage aesthetic. Models, who included ballerinas and performers, acted out ‘parts’ in what resembled a 1940s small-town variety show meets A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ethereal creatures in demure ensembles comprising tutus, ballet slippers, Albertus Swanepoel crowns, floral frocks and ice-cream-coloured dresses flitted through the golden cardboard trees and swing sets of the ‘Enchanted Forest’ and the ‘Disenchanted Forest’.
Designer Malan Breton, himself a former dancer, sent dapper, high-sheened ballerinas (Audrey Hatch, Brittany Franklin, and Kevin Wiltz) dancing down the runway to the sounds of a 30-piece orchestra at the Metropolitan Pavilion for his collection. The show was inspired by the Karin Pritzel photograph Flight of Freedom featuring Breton’s muse Leigh Alderson and evoked the silk-and-satin regality of a ballet opening. Read the rest of this entry »
23 October 2009
Alice Topp, corps de ballet member with The Australian Ballet, has been performing as one of Graeme Murphy’s swans for three years to sell-out crowds across Australia and the globe. She has danced in cities as far flung as Paris and London, and this week she graces the stage in the riverside city of Perth.
Swan Lake is incredibly special to me as a corps dancer: the movements lend themselves to artistic interpretation and expression for every individual on the stage. While we appear as a collective in corps swans, we are still dancing as if we are experiencing the love and pain of the lead swan.
There are these incredible, choreographed moments where we are very protective of Odette – we swoop in to support her and, as the music is so dramatic, it’s hard not to get completely involved in the story and swept up in the emotion of the tragedy.
No matter how many times I perform swans, I never grow sick of it. It’s always a challenge to move as a synchronised flock and I always feel that even though I am but one of many swans, we are all equal contributors to the production – when you realise the beauty of the shapes and patterns we are creating, there’s a real sense of team spirit and unity between us onstage.
Every time I do Swan Lake, and this is my third year performing as a swan, it’s so exciting to see the production grow as dancers take on new challenges in principal roles and new company members share their first Swan Lake experience. It’s definitely one of my favourite productions!
22 October 2009
After landing in Perth to prepare for the opening night of Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake, David McAllister took time to breathe, see family and blog.
At times, going back to Perth has felt like mission-impossible. We have been trying to return for the last three years, and impediments surface at the most crucial time. But as I boarded the plane on Friday night it sunk in that this time all the stars were aligned. We were travelling west with our most successful production of the new millennium.
It has been a particularly great lead-up to this tour. The ballet centre was alive with Tchaikovsky as we revisited Graeme Murphy’s production of Swan Lake. We prepared the new casts that will be performing at Burswood Theatre alongside Phillip Adams’ creative development for Aviary, which saw three of our men working with BalletLab.
It was great to have BalletLab with us and the showing last Friday was fabulous. Their rehearsals were a closed affair, but the sounds were emanating from the studio – the dancers were singing a variety of Abba and Messiaen! Steve Reich echoed down the hall as we rehearsed Dyad 1929 and Rachmaninov sounded from the studio while Stephen Baynes revisited his wonderful ballet At the edge of night.
Apart from adjusting to the three-hour time change, a weekend at home in Perth with my family was bliss! I had a chance to spend time with my two budding ballerina nieces who scored the very latest ballet T-shirt. Family time is always at a premium so it was wonderful to just hang out and catch up.
21 October 2009
In 2009, dancers from The Australian Ballet made two guest appearances on reality TV show So You Think You Can Dance to many a rave review. One corps de ballet member of the company has just returned from making a splash on China’s version of the same show, known as Top Dancer. The Australian Ballet’s Chengwu Guo was a contestant in the competition, and finished up on top. Out of 20,000 hopefuls Chengwu danced his heart out before thousands of adoring fans, many of them screaming and waving home-made signs, and won the competition. Chengwu’s parents were secretly flown from Beijing to Guizhou to show their pride – a big highlight for Chengwu during his time on the show.
Chengwu also appears as the teenage Li Cunxin in the feature film, Mao’s Last Dancer. The Australian Ballet congratulates Chengwu on his recent successes!
19 October 2009
Dear Colin,
I am 20 years old and I’ve never had much support from my parents to do ballet dancing. I am a complete beginner. But now that I work and can support myself, I was wondering where I should start.
Princess.Y
Dear Princess.Y,
Not only will learning ballet be a lot of fun, but it is also an artistic way to fitness, coordination, flexibility and general well-being. There are many dance schools spread throughout Australia that offer adult ballet classes. Google ‘adult ballet’ and choose a school that’s close to where you live. You will join a group of people like yourself who are discovering the many joys of dancing.
Best wishes,
Colin
You can email your ballet questions to Colin at hello@behindballet.com
16 October 2009
The broken-hearted Odette finds peace at last as she descends into the depths of the still, cool water. This is the single image choreographer Graeme Murphy wanted to capture for the 2002 photo shoot of his brand-new production of Swan Lake – and the only way it could be achieved was, literally, underwater. Graeme Murphy, David McAllister, former Principal Artist Simone Goldsmith, then Director of Marketing Yvonne Gates and a team of people including, the photographer, make-up artist and lifeguards met at Coogee Beach, south-east of Sydney.
Simone plunged into the water, wearing a specially designed dress by Kristian Fredrikson. She would be treading water for hours. “I can remember how gorgeous David and Graeme were to never let her be alone in the water,” Yvonne remembers. Graeme choreographed underwater movements for Simone – the first of his Odettes – and she sustained flawless technique while absorbed in her on-stage character.
When the images were developed, one of the most painstaking editing challenges for the photographer and designer was to remove the countless fish seen darting around Simone. “I couldn’t believe it – it looked like she was in a fish bowl,” Yvonne says. The 2002 underwater photo shoot of Swan Lake proves how careful planning, hard work and boundless imagination can coalesce to create one, perfect moment.
Swan Lake runs in Perth 21 – 25 October
14 October 2009
Simon Milne is a film director, painter and long-time lover of dance. In the early ‘80s he directed a video clip for New Wave legends Duran Duran – beloved choreographer Graeme Murphy lent a hand. Simon took time to blog about his experience:
Russell Mulcahy (who went on to direct the Highlander films) had a long association with Duran Duran and was scheduled to direct the Union of the Snake video. In August 1983 he was in Sydney having discussions about his first feature film, Razorback. Duran Duran was there at the same time, putting the finishing touches to their third album. Union of the Snake was to be the first single released from that eagerly awaited album.
Russell conceived the video along with the band and their two managers. It was to be the first of a trilogy involving a lost document and subterranean worlds (the influence of Indiana Jones and Mad Max was still strong at the time). Russell met with Graeme Murphy, talked about the concept and the subterranean world, and engaged with him on the project.
At the last minute Russell had to pull out due to pre-production commitments on Razorback. I had a call from EMI, Duran Duran’s record company. Would I fly to Australia and direct a video that was scheduled to start shooting later that week?
I knew the band well – I had filmed them in concert and assisted Russell on their Rio video the previous year. I jumped on a plane and four days later I was filming the clip.
I met Graeme Murphy on the set and he had been well-briefed. “Lots of jumps, leaps, quick moves,” he had been told, and he delivered beautifully. The lizard-like creature was one of Russell’s ideas, and echoes of it can be seen in the later video for Wild Boys.
I was struck by those same echoes as I watched the character of Kostchei in Graeme Murphy’s recent production of Firebird for The Australian Ballet. Good ideas get worked and re-worked, I guess.
I have always enjoyed dance, but it was a Balanchine/Robbins double bill many years ago at Covent Garden that opened my eyes up to its unique possibilities. I also love Degas’ work – especially the paintings involving movement (the horse and ballet pictures). My hobby is oil painting which allows me to explore my own love of dance.
You can see Simon Milne’s paintings online at his website, and more at RedBubble.
12 October 2009
Miranda Coney, Steven Heathcote and Rachel Rawlins in the 2001 photo shoot for Nacho Duato’s Por vos muero.
Por vos muero returns to the stage alongside Wayne McGregor’s Dyad 1929 and Alexei Ratmansky’s Scuola di ballo as part of the triple bill Concord. Concord runs in Sydney 11 – 30 November.
