Posts by Isabel Dunstan

  • Let’s Dance: a Q&A with Kate Coyne
    Oxana Panchenko and Clair Thomas. Photo Jake Walters
  • Let’s Dance: a Q&A with Kate Coyne
    Simon Williams. Photo Jake Walters
  • Let’s Dance: a Q&A with Kate Coyne
    Melissa Hetherington.Photo Jake Walters

Let’s Dance: a Q&A with Kate Coyne

By Isabel Dunstan
Music

Tonight Kate Coyne will dance a challenging nine-minute solo wearing several oversize syringes sewn onto a flesh-coloured unitard. Michael Clark originally choreographed the solo Heroin – an agonizing dance of death about drug addiction – on himself some 21 years ago. In Come, Been and Gone, at Melbourne’s the Arts Centre, dancers perform several explosive numbers to the soundtrack of Michael Clark’s life: David Bowie, Iggy Pop and The Velvet Underground. We chatted to the classically trained Kate about carving her career and dancing for Michael Clark, the enfant terrible of ballet.

How long have you been performing Come, Been and Gone?
About 16 or 17 months. It’s always developing, though. That’s how Michael Clark works. There will be new bits in the Melbourne show which other people haven’t seen. The basic seed of the performance started a while ago and we’ve been building it ever since. It’s going to be quite a long show, I think

It’s interesting that Michael has allowed the work to evolve.
That’s one of the fascinating things about working with Michael. His works are never set. He’s constantly tweaking things to improve them, but also to keep everyone interested.

Is that challenging for you as a dancer?
Yeah, it can be – particularly if the instructions are given quite late. I think that’s partly to keep us on our toes, but also because he’s always striving for perfection. But, yes, it can be very challenging. You have to be able to adapt, rather than repeat the same movement. (more…)

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7 October 2010
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Jetés to Japan

By Isabel Dunstan
International tour

In four days The Australian Ballet embarks on its 31st international tour to perform Graeme Murphy’s smash-hits Nutcracker – The Story of Clara and Swan Lake in Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan. What does it take to get two spectacular ballets off the ground, 8,155 kilometres across the Pacific Ocean? Read on to find out.

Packing
Touring a ballet company to Japan with two three-act ballets in tow is no mean feat. Six weeks before performances, seven 40-foot-high cube shipping containers are loaded with props, sets, make-up, leotards, tutus, pointe shoes, and medical supplies. Every single item – right down to the last pair of ballet tights – is to be declared to customs. Dancers are not allowed to take their tutus and tights on the plane, and are only allowed to pack their personal belongings. Principal Artist Danielle Rowe only “packs the essentials” (to leave enough space for Tokyo shopping, of course).

Flying
You know you’re on a long-haul flight with a company of dancers when you see legs sprouting up from the seats in front of you. For dancers who are used to spending six out of seven days in the studio, keeping blood flowing is essential. Elevating your legs so that your toes are pointing right up to the roof of the aircraft is the best kind of in-flight stretching. “We walk around a lot on the flight, too, which is probably very annoying for the other passengers,” Danielle says. “But it’s important to keep moving so we don’t feel stiff and sore when we arrive.” (more…)

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29 September 2010
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  • My favourite tutu: giveaway and a glimpse behind-the-scenes
    Juliet Burnett. Photo Jo Duck. Make-up Nicola Snell for Napoleon Perdis
  • My favourite tutu: giveaway and a glimpse behind-the-scenes
    Miwako Kubota. Photo Jo Duck. Make-up Nicola Snell for Napoleon Perdis
  • My favourite tutu: giveaway and a glimpse behind-the-scenes
    Madeleine Eastoe. Photo Jo Duck. Make-up Nicola Snell for Napoleon Perdis

My favourite tutu: giveaway and a glimpse behind-the-scenes

By Isabel Dunstan
2011, Ballet V Fashion

In The Australian Ballet’s 2011 calendar 13 of the company’s leading ladies are featured wearing their favourite tutu. Dancers chose powder-puff, Romantic and ultra-modern tutus from a wide range of works including The Sleeping Beauty, Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, Swan Lake, Firebird and more. Soloist (and regular Behind Ballet contributor) Juliet Burnett sheds light on the tutu – the ballerina’s tool of the trade – in the calendar’s in-depth foreword.

For the calendar The Australian Ballet teamed up with photographer Jo Duck to shoot three dancers wearing their top tutu. The Melbourne-based photographer has worked with fashion labels Limedrop, chip chop! and magazines YEN, Fallen and Vice among many others. Before Jo Duck’s ballet shoot, we bumped into the studio with a mountain of tutus, three ballerinas, a make-up artist from Napoleon Perdis and their endless lipstick supply. The result? Three unique shots of three dancers wearing their favourite projecting skirts. Check out the behind-the-scenes gallery and a Q&A with Jo Duck below.

What kind of look were you aiming to achieve with each of these tutus?
I was quite lucky to shoot three tutus which each invoked a completely different mood. For Juliet’s rehearsal tutu, I wanted a relaxed almost ‘backstage’ – but still dreamy – look. We built a wall of beautiful tutus behind her, and then framed the shot with some extra tulle in front of my lens to make the image a little more romantic. Madeleine’s tutu had an incredible shape, and I wanted to really accentuate the dramatic silhouette of the garment. We tried quite a few different poses, but I felt the strength in this pose showed off the shape and colour of this amazing tutu. Miwako’s classical tutu is so beautiful; I felt it would work best if we allowed her a few minutes to move and dance in the garment to try to capture the character of the classical ballerina – the kind you might see in paintings.

What’s your favourite tutu out of the ones featured in the 2011 calendar?
As a fan of both the X-files and Judy Jetson’s fashion sense, I must say I was most excited to shoot Madeleine’s UFO-style tutu!

You’re a bit of a ballet fan – what’s your favourite ballet?
It would have to be Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake. The set design and costumes are so beautiful. There’s one scene involving a piped wall and a bathtub which sounds a little ordinary, but it’s so breathtaking.

It doesn’t matter which ballet I see – my absolute favourite moment is when the lights go down, the orchestra begins and that beautiful red curtain rises. Incredibly relaxing!

We have five 2011 calendars valued at $25 each to give away! Tell us your favourite tutu of all time in the comments section below for your chance to win. Comp closes at 10am on Friday 1 October and we’ll announce the winners here!

Update: After a record-breaking number of comments, we’ve selected five winners who will receive their own copy of My Favourite Tutu! Winners will be contacted via email. Congratulations to these tutu lovers:

Nicole Carrick (the Sugar Plum Fairy’s tutu in The Nutcracker)
Tara (Coppélia)
Jess Hodgkinson (Theme and Variations)
Emirina (Divergence)
Lois Howard (Kitri’s tutu in Don Quixote)

Calendars available at The Australian Ballet Shop

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24 September 2010
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Character dance

By Isabel Dunstan
The Nutcracker


Five artists of The Australian Ballet talk about dancing the lead roles in The Nutcracker

In Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker, Soloist Gina Brescianini steps into the shoes of the wide-eyed Clara, rides a flying goose, saves her Nutcracker Prince and travels to the Land of Sweets.
Clara is definitely one of my all-time favourite roles. She’s bright, inquisitive and wants to be involved in everything. It’s such a joyous role. From the moment the curtain goes up, you enter the stage and dance throughout the entire ballet. I love how much dancing you do, but also how magical the production is.

The Nutcracker is a magical journey from a child-like perspective, but with a range of complicated emotions as well. For me, when the nutcracker doll wakes up I think something awakens in Clara, too. She really thinks he’s dead, but he wakes up and they dance a beautiful pas de deux together. They have a real, loving friendship. Every dancer brings their own interpretation to the role of Clara but I think when a dancer is drawing their interpretation from a real place within them, and they’re expressing that, then the audience can really connect.

Damien Welch has a penchant for villainous characters. In 2009, Damien retired from the principal ranks of The Australian Ballet. This year he returns as a guest artist to play the shadowy magician Drosselmeyer.
The key thing Peter Wright told me about Drosselmeyer was that he needed to have a particular kind of authority, so that when he makes his very first entrance he’s already commanding the room. He’s been employed to entertain the kids and adults – in other versions of The Nutcracker he’s an uncle or a friend – but in this one he’s a professional musician, entertainer and storyteller. There’s even a scene where he gets paid for his services. He’s a man of complete confidence and he’s a little bit devious as well. (more…)

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23 August 2010
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Peggy, the exhibition

By Isabel Dunstan
Peggy

Right now at the Arts Centre in Melbourne is an exhibition featuring photos and ephemera of ballet visionary Dame Peggy van Praagh. The exhibition covers the full breadth of Peggy’s career, including early charity performances at age six; performing and teaching with the Ballet Rambert, London Ballet and Sadler’s Wells Ballet; her artistic directorship of the Borovansky Ballet; and most notably her artistic directorship of The Australian Ballet.  Thanks to the Arts Centre’s Performing Arts Collection, we’ve posted a few photos from the exhibition.

The Arts Centre’s Peggy van Praagh exhibition runs until 24 September 2010

Peggy! The Australian Ballet’s season dedicated to its founding artistic director plays until Monday 5 July

Main image:Peggy van Praagh as Juno in Pas des Desses, London Ballet, Arts Theatre, London, 1939
Photograph by Anthony Gordon
Peggy van Praagh Collection Gift of The Australian Ballet, 1998
Performing Arts Collection, the Arts Centre
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2 July 2010
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Flashback: a legendary pair

By Isabel Dunstan
Flashback, Peggy

After dancing together for the first time, Rudolf Nureyev dropped to his knees and kissed Margot Fonteyn on the hand during the curtain call. The audience roared. From this moment, Nureyev and Fonteyn became a celebrity dance partnership. In a documentary about the couple, Nureyev said they danced with “one body, one soul”.

As part of her five point plan for The Australian Ballet, founding Artistic Director Peggy van Praagh was determined to present the world’s best dancers to Australian audiences. In 1964 she invited Nureyev and Fonteyn to dance the title roles in Giselle. Fonteyn had performed in Australia in 1957 with the Borovansky Ballet but, for Nureyev, dancing on the Australian stage was a new experience.

In an article tracing the history of international ballet dancers visiting Australia, published in The Age in 1964, Geoffrey Hutton described Nureyev and Fonteyn as: “… probably the most highly priced dancers in the world; Fonteyn the pride of the British ballet who has queened it for a generation; Nureyev the sensational young male dancer from the Leningrad Kirov who has brought a new sense of excitement into the Western ballet.” (more…)

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23 June 2010
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