11 March 2010
By
Juliet Burnett
filed under
Fashion
It was very cool indeed to receive a media call sheet from fashion bible Harper’s Bazaar in my pigeonhole at the Sydney Opera House one morning. Not knowing what to expect, apart from instruction to bring flesh-coloured pointe shoes, and, for the gents, a jock strap, twelve of us dancers plus Li Cunxin were piled into cars and driven out to Scheyville National Park, about an hour north of the Sydney CBD.
We were to be shot for an exclusive pictorial spread, inspired by Disney fairy tales such as Snow White and Beauty and the Beast. The story we were to help realise was Cinderella (or Sin-derella, as it transpired), in which Li was our Prince Charming, as a prominent Australian was to feature in each fairy tale. A different fashion designer was assigned to create a look for each tale, and Kit Willow dressed the beautiful Danielle Rowe in an ethereal draped wisp of a dress, with outrageous knee-high platform boots covered in red glitter, as her vision of Cinderella. Li was dressed simply in a top and pants by Rick Owens. Us ladies were dressed in our white Suite en blanc tutus, with turbans in the same nude diaphanous fabric used for Danielle’s dress and bare legs, while the gentlemen … well, I’ll get to that in a minute. Read the rest of this entry »
Share
9 November 2009
By
Juliet Burnett
filed under
Concord, From the studio
“Do I dare disturb the universe?” T.S. Eliot
Most dictionaries define art as the production, by aesthetic principles, of that which is beautiful. Trust a dictionary to be so curt and clinical. If I were to provide a definition, I would say that art is the expression of the human psyche. Art may express beauty but there will be art that disturbs, or challenges, too. By ‘disturbing’ I don’t mean alarming or upsetting audiences, but confronting and inspiring them with new insights, innovation of form and pushing social parameters. A fundamental element in art – and not just art, but good art – is that it should challenge the viewer.
As dancers we are extremely privileged to be able to use our bodies like a brush on canvas, if you will, as our creative voice. When you consider that we don’t have the assistance of our voices, we’re challenged to articulate in a strong and coherent manner exactly what it is that we are aiming to convey. I have had the good fortune to dance some roles by choreographers whom I admire for their understanding of the human body and its limitations and expressive potential. These choreographers have dared to reinvent classical technique and their works have challenged their contemporaries – namely George Balanchine and Graeme Murphy. And so I couldn’t believe my luck when Wayne McGregor chose me as one of the dancers he wanted to work with for his piece Dyad 1929. Read the rest of this entry »
Share
14 August 2009
By
Juliet Burnett
filed under
From the studio
This time of year at The Australian Ballet marks the dancers’ annual performance review. Naturally, it’s a time most dancers dread. Not because of what issues might be confronted in our reviews, because, let’s face it, to have made it this far in our careers means we must be doing something right, and dancers, as perennial pursuers of perfection, find discussing one’s career and areas for development really valuable. The cause for this dread, rather, lies in the dancers’ self-appraisal form, where there is a space for us to fill in about our strengths as a dancer.
Allow me to explain. I hear you asking, “Surely that wouldn’t be so hard?” but the talk in the dressing rooms at this time of year always seems to be punctuated with exasperated cries of, “I could fill out the ‘weaknesses’ space ‘til the cows come home, but ’strengths’?”. Read the rest of this entry »
Share
1 May 2009
By
Juliet Burnett
filed under
Ballets Russes, From the studio
Soloist Juliet Burnett remembers her late, great mentor, Valrene Tweedie
As The Australian Ballet revels in the pinnacle of a four-year long celebration of the Ballets Russes, having just closed the final curtain on the Firebird and other legends programme and reopening it for Graeme Murphy’s Nutcracker: The Story of Clara, I have fortunately been busied with some challenging work in both programmes, but also with thoughts and memories of the lady who instilled in me the passion for the provenance of these works, Valrene Tweedie.
Throughout my ballet training with Valerie Jenkins, Miss Tweedie was an omnipresent figure, forever a bounteous fount of wisdom and fierce wit. I held her on a pedestal, and wouldn’t ever cease to do so, as I was awed by stories of her joining Colonel de Basil’s Ballets Russes on their 1936-1940 tour, and dancing all over the world under the stage name of Irina Lavrova. Her matter-of-fact, call-a-spade-a-spade demeanour was something very important in reigning in my acute case of stars-in-the-eyes syndrome as a young student. I used to pore over countless dance magazines and books and closely watch the more senior girls in eisteddfods, then go to great lengths to emulate their shapes and movements. Read the rest of this entry »
Share
3 April 2009
By
Juliet Burnett
filed under
From the studio
You might call it a Coronation by Fire – Soloist Juliet writes about her transformation from understudy to princess in Graeme Murphy’s Firebird.
It’s always useful to have a mantra. I have several hidden up my sleeve, from those verging on the monosyllabic and mundane to profound but succinct adages, all to drive me over the odd hurdle here and there. One of my mantras: “never say never”, rung true more than ever last week.
It began last Monday when, sitting in the dancers’ common room after class and unassumingly wolfing down a quick vegemite sanger, fellow dancer Daniel Gaudiello asks me if I would like to do a quick rehearsal of the prince and princess in Graeme Murphy’s Firebird … turns out his partner had just learnt that an injury would keep her from dancing for a couple of weeks, and they were supposed to be on that night … “Maybe we could dance it tonight?”. Hardly pausing for thought, I found myself saying “Yeah, sure, see you in the studio in ten.” Well, a thought probably did pass through my head –“As if!” – closely followed by “Well, give it a go. Why not?”, and then, a gentle but insistent reminder: “Never say never”.
Read the rest of this entry »
Share
