We had an overwhelming number of entries for the Coco and Igor competition, but alas there can only be one winner. Linda Kinnersly, your prize from Madman is in the mail! Thanks to all who entered.
Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky is in cinemas now.
16 April 2010
We have a winner!
9 April 2010
Win a Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky prize pack!
To celebrate the release of the film Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, Madmen Entertainment is giving away a Coco & Igor prize pack to one lucky Behind Ballet reader, featuring a double pass to the film and a fabulous pack of Madman DVDs. To be in the running, email hello@behindballet.com by close of business on Thursday 15 April with the words ‘Coco & Igor’ in the subject header. We’ll announce the winner here!
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky is in cinemas April 15
15 March 2010
Directing dance
Dame Peggy van Praagh enlisted film and theatre director George Ogilvie to freshen up her production of Coppélia after realising what her weary dolls needed: the deft theatrical touch of a dramaturge. The Australian Ballet’s Coppélia is now in the company of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Russell Crowe’s first major film The Crossing and countless theatre classics on George Ogilvie’s CV. Helen Elliott chatted to George about how he brought Coppélia to life.
One day in 1979 Peggy van Praagh came to George Ogilvie and asked for his help. She was thinking of remaking the sunniest of 19th century narrative ballets, Coppélia. George was a theatre director and he had never directed a ballet. “I remember,” George says, “being surprised and a little confused. I wondered what she wanted from me.”
She wanted that elusive thing that all directors crave – the old made thrillingly new.
30 years later, to coincide with the centenary of Dame Peggy’s birth, The Australian Ballet performs the Coppélia that she, George Ogilvie and designer Kristian Fredrikson first presented to delighted audiences in 1979. Once again, in 2010, George was involved in the rehearsal process of this charming ballet. Read the rest of this entry »
23 December 2009
Until soon …
Behind Ballet is taking a little holiday over the Christmas period, but we’ll be back in the new year.
If you need to get your ballet on over the break, you can visit The Australian Ballet’s website for videos, galleries, season info and more, wiggle over to our YouTube channel, or swing by Facebook.
Thanks for reading this year. Sophie Bastas is the winner of our comment of the month competition for December for her beautiful missive on Damien Welch’s final performance. For January, we’ll be giving away copies of Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake on DVD to TWO lucky commenters, so please keep the good stuff coming! We’ll announce the winners at the end of the month.
Have a fantastic Christmas and a balletlicious new year,
Behind Ballet
Image: Lana Jones. Photography Justin Smith
17 December 2009
White Knights
Picture this: Mikhail Baryshnikov in a dusty room, being seduced by a red-lipped grim reaper. He throws himself onto wooden furniture and is eventually coerced into committing suicide. This is the opening sequence to Taylor Hackford’s 1985 film White Knights in which Nikolai Rodchenko (Baryshnikov) and evil Colonel Chaiko mimic the two rival nations – Russia and the US – during the Cold War.
What follows is a drama slash dance film set in Leningrad, starring Baryshnikov alongside tap great Gregory Hines. Paralleling aspects of his own life, Baryshnikov plays Russian dancer and defector to the US Nikolai Rodchenko. Nikolai’s plane is forced to land in Russia, leaving him a prisoner to the evil Colonel Chaiko. Hines plays an American expatriate who becomes involved with Nikolai’s plight to escape Russia’s Orwellian society and return to America.
There is romance, car chases and a soundtrack from the likes of Lionel Ritchie, all punctuated by intelligent and powerful dance scenes. Highlights include Baryshnikov’s passionate solo to Vysotsky in a deserted Mariinsky Theatre and his infamous pirouette gamble. Hines bets Baryshnikov eleven-Rubles in exchange for eleven pirouettes. They are done effortlessly. Blink and you’ll miss them.
While you may have seen Baryshnikov’s acting abilities as Carrie Bradshaw’s ‘lover’ in the final season of Sex and the City, it is truly amazing to see his acting talent alongside his natural talent: dance.
Marissa Shirbin was a dancer, is now a romancer and an editorial assistant at Right Angle Publishing
9 December 2009
Lucinda Dunn’s top five
Lucinda Dunn, The Australian Ballet’s longest serving principal artist, is revered equally for her bulletproof technique and her sparkling approach to characterisation. As she prepares to tackle the complex and very demanding role of the Marschallin in Graeme Murphy’s The Silver Rose, Luci shares some of her favourite ballet moments so far.
The Sleeping Beauty
Aurora is one of the ultimate ‘ballerina’ roles to perform. It’s so pure and technical with big a story to tell, from Aurora’s 16th birthday right through to her marriage celebrations. Although I always find this ballet daunting and challenging, I have wonderful memories of performances where I danced to my full capacity. Plus, having a new version of a classic created on you and dancing the world premiere is every dancer’s dream.
Don Quixote
Don Quixote is another great technical, demanding and energetic three-act ballet, and there are so many facets to the role of Kitri. I gained an Australian Dance Award for my performances in 2007. Read the rest of this entry »
23 November 2009
Dancing poolside
Tan lines had to be avoided at all costs as four exquisite dancers from The Australian Ballet rehearsed on a custom-built poolside stage at Hamilton Island’s luxury resort, qualia. Factor 30 sunscreen was applied liberally as Yosvani Ramos, Stephanie Williams, Ty King-Wall and Kristy Corea perfected their pas de deux for a one-night-only performance: a culmination of one month’s preparation. “You can’t have dancers with lines across their back,” said The Australian Ballet’s Executive Director Valerie Wilder, who incidentally helped apply the sunscreen.
The previous evening, over a scrumptious dinner of seared scallops, lamb loin and eggplant caviar, about 200 guests probed the dancers and Artistic Director David McAllister during a Q&A session. The audience were showered in honesty and insights. “You never stop dancing. It’s dancing that gives you up. You can’t do what you want anymore”, reflected McAllister who, after 18 years of dancing, retired from the stage in 2001. Other topics included career injuries, body image, life after ballet, and the hefty cost of pointe shoes. Read the rest of this entry »
13 November 2009
Reflections from the lake
Amber Scott returned from Perth after performing one of the most iconic roles for the ballet stage, Odette in Swan Lake. For Behind Ballet Amber writes about bumps and bruises, sunshine and beaches, and the thrill of performing on opening night.
Week one of rehearsals …
Here we are again: a room full of dancers faced with the task of taking on complex characters, entering into a world of love, betrayal, longing and redemption. Four acts of love scenes, mad scenes, swan scenes and a lot of lung-bursting dancing. I have missed Odette since the overseas seasons where we performed Swan Lake last year. There is something about this character that endlessly fascinates me. Each year as I begin work on the role of Odette I feel like I’m revisiting an old friend, and layers are peeled away to reveal what has been learned since we last met.
Graeme Murphy has given our company a beautiful Swan Lake. There is fantastic material to share with my partner the Prince (Adam Bull) and the nemesis Baroness (Lucinda Dunn) as the three characters tell their stories. There is also a lot of devilishly difficult dancing, partnered and solo work which, no matter how many years you have danced, requires a great deal of stamina and sweaty hours in the studio. This is the stuff that gives you strength and focus on stage. The rehearsals are a wonderful start to the journey. In saying all that, the first few rehearsals sometimes feel like a battlefield as you work out the various grips and holds for the pas de deuxs and trios.
In week one, there have been knees knocked, faces slapped (accidentally of course!), bodies slammed, fingers trod on, knees grazed and, at one point, I even managed to pull Adam over my head to the floor while I was in the splits! It was spectacularly funny and kept Miss Fiona Tonkin laughing for the rest of that rehearsal. After a few more days of sweating our way through the choreography, and going through boxes of bandaids, serenity returns to our lake. The pas de deuxs cease to flap and we start to glide harmoniously with one another. Read the rest of this entry »
6 November 2009
Heavenly feet
Feet are one of several fetishes in the dance world. They are the anatomical tools that delineate a ballerina from other athletes and are commonly subject to injury.
Good feet are judged on the size of the dancer’s arch, their high instep, strength and endurance. For those not blessed with naturally flawless feet, much is done to mould the foot and contour the lower leg. Young dancers engage in basic and often dangerous routines with weighty objects, such as pianos and phone books, that force the ankle joint upward and the toes downward.*
More recently, however, foot-stretching machines and padded sleeves provide safer alternatives for improving arches. Pilates and simple exercises that encourage dexterity of the feet are also taught to strengthen the metatarsals.
Over the years, there have been many dancers praised for their beautiful feet. Their feet have become so beautiful, in fact, that one could spend days perusing images and video clips of their feet at work.
And so here I attempt to rank ‘great feet’. It is by no means definitive. Click on the dancer’s names to see their tootsies in action!
1. Paloma Herrera – American Ballet Theatre
2. Sylvie Guillem – Sadler’s Wells Theatre
3. Alessandro Ferri – American Ballet Theatre, retired
4. Svetlana Zahkrakova – Bolshoi Ballet
5. Lynette Wills – The Australian Ballet, retired
6. Lucia Lacarra – Bavarian State Ballet
7. Polina Semionova – Berlin State Opera
8. Tamara Rojo – Royal Ballet
9. Lucinda Dunn – The Australian Ballet
10. Maria Kotchekova – San Francisco Ballet
* No, we do not endorse putting toes under a piano to improve a dancer’s instep! All dancers are encouraged to improve their feet using safe methods that lead to prettier – not injured – feet.
Marissa Shirbin was a dancer, is now a romancer and an editorial assistant at Right Angle Publishing
Photography Tim Richardson
23 October 2009
Alice the swan
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!
