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Well, the last of the swan feathers have been packed up for Nagoya and all attention is firmly pointed towards Nutcracker – The Story of Clara. Tuesday saw everyone let loose to the four corners of Tokyo and beyond and there was much exercising of credit cards as the retail districts of Shibuya, Harajuku and Ginza were well patronised by Australian fashionistas. There were others who ventured further afield to the joys of Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea, and even some who bullet-trained themselves to Kyoto or went to Mt Fuji to experience the more cultural side of this great country.

But yesterday and today it was back to the what’s been affectionately nicknamed the ‘Bento Box’ studio. We had the first full rehearsals with both the ‘emigres’ and ‘children’ for Graeme Murphy’s very Australian Nutcracker. Both were outstanding – the centuries of combined stagecraft from the ‘emigres’ and the youthful  energy of the young ones – irresistible!

The tech crew have been doing an amazing job getting this mammoth production onto the stage. It’s the first time this production has been performed outside Oz so there’s a big day ahead. It is fascinating to see the rows and rows of costumes strategically placed around the corridors … my favourite is the rat heads that greet you as you arrive down the stairs from stage door!

Nutcracker – The Story of Clara opens in Tokyo tonight

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.

Monday was day one of work and we were lucky enough to have some time at the wonderful West Australia Academy of Performing Arts studios. Thanks to Nanette Hassell, we were made so welcome and spent the morning ironing out the creases after the flight over the Nullarbor. After class Kitty Walker, myself and eight Swans flew the coop for a media call at Lake Monger where the ballet Swans got to mix with some local swans of the feathered variety. I must say the local swans took the adulation in their stride, preening and parading, while our ballerinas took photos on their mobile phones! Not so glamorous were the dancer’s soiled pointe shoes and damp tights from poising by the water*. The webbed-footed swans certainly had the advantage here!

We headed back to WAAPA and because the rehearsals went so smoothly we could give the dancers an early break and allow them a couple of hours to discover the joys of Perth. For me it was time to head home to Dad’s place and change before a cocktail party at the lovely Perth home of our Board Member Peter Smedley and his wife and fantastic supporter, Christine. It was so wonderful to spend the night with a group of ballet lovers who have supported the company over the years, even when we haven’t been able to come to Perth for some time. Looking out over the city of Perth reminded me just how lucky we are to live in this glorious country and how every corner of Australia has so much to offer.

Tuesday was our first day in the theatre. While our technical crew had been there for four days weaving their magic, it was time for the rest of the company to add the final element. It’s a great space and even though it’s a little different to other theatres we have performed in, the dancers quickly adjusted. Despite some initial hiccups, the technical rehearsal ran smoothly. There was more fun and champers with our local supporters before the curtain lifted on the last dress rehearsal and it was also our first chance to hear our orchestra of the season, the W.A. Philharmonic. Our Music Director and Chief Conductor Nicolette Fraillon had been here working with the orchestra and, as always, managed to bring this 70-strong orchestra of musicians up to speed with the Swan Lake score. While we have done this production every year for the past eight there are always new people introduced to the work, both on and off stage. In this rehearsal it was Kevin Jackson and Leanne Stojmenov’s chance to do their first run on stage with all the trimmings as the Prince and Odette. It was so great that our two West Australians will do their debuts in this production in front of their family and friends. No pressure!

So now it’s opening night and all the notes from the final rehearsals have been given, all the ‘chookas’ cards have been written and the opening night flowers and chocolates seem to arrive in ever-increasing abundance. I am sitting here controlling my nerves with this blog! I have no doubt the dancers will be wonderful. I keep thinking of all those young West Australian dancers who will see this production and be bitten by the ballet bug as I was when I saw my first ballet. Well, in my case it was certainly a love-bite and so far it’s been one hell of a ride!

Swan Lake runs until 25 October in Perth

*Please note, no new pointe shoes were harmed during the making of this media call!

After the knock-out performance of Divergence, The Australian Ballet was invited back to So You Think You Can Dance to present a pas de deux from Nutcracker – The Story of Clara on the grand finale. Artistic Director David McAllister blogs about the experience.

Well, Sunday dawned and as can happen on a designated day off, I woke up early and filled with purpose to get domestic. With all of the appliances working for me (dishwasher, washing machine and vacuum with me attached) I was a whirlwind of Domestos, Windex and elbow grease to tidy up my Sydney flat. By 11:30am I had done a trip to the Supermarket (a Sunday morning ritual) and raced around the QVB and surrounding shops finding little gifts for Nutcracker opening night, and was on the train bound for Redfern and a day rubbing shoulders with the So You Think You Can Dance crew.

It was very reassuring to have been there before with Robert and Leanne for Divergence as I knew where to go and what to do. CarriageWorks is a brilliant venue, but as with all theatres until you know where you are going, a little daunting.

Anyway Danielle Rowe was already there with Andrew Killian, and Robert Curran arrived as I did so we could all go in together. We found our dressing room easily and were sharing with Pilobolus, a company from America who are doing a season at the Sydney Theatre next week. On the way in we heard class music and so stuck our heads in to see Francois Klaus and his wife Robyn teaching a group from Queensland Ballet.

I called Jenni Vinten, our contact for the day, and she came around to collect the music which I had on mini disc. It was quickly returned when it was discovered they didn’t have a mini disc player! Not a problem, thanks to the wonders of modern technology. I rang Duncan Salton, one of our amazing music staff, who emailed the music to Jenni in a flash. Thank God for computers and mobile phones, not to mention wonderful people like Duncan who make dramas disappear!

The camera rehearsal happened and it was great to be in the wonderful hands of director Simon Francis, who only on Wednesday was calling our live broadcast of Firebird and other legends on ABC2. After three run-throughs everyone was happy, and it was back to the dressing room to wait for the dress rehearsal. I had brought the paper to fill in the time but it was much more fun to chat to Danni and Andrew, and get to know our colleagues from Pilobolus.

There seemed to be all sorts of rehearsals going on and the corridors were thumping with dance music. We sat around chatting as the dancers continued to warm up and prepare. I put my wardrobe skills to play steaming the costumes. I must say Kristian Fredrickson was a genius and the costumes for Nutcracker are SO beautiful. The nightie that Danni was wearing is a beautiful silk and lace number and after applying steam looked as if it had just been made. Andrew’s jacket uncreased was also a sight to behold.

Dress rehearsal was also a fairly smooth affair. Host Natalie Bassingthwaighte was a picture with perfectly manicured hair, leggings and a sloppy jumper – as we were to see later, a work in progress. The set was a hive of activity and it so interesting to see how different TV is to the theatre. The rehearsal looked even better with the cameras doing all the things we had asked for … thank you, Simon!

As it was the grand finale there were no seats in the auditorium, so I decided to watch the show from home like everyone else. It was exciting to be there at home on the couch imagining what was happening back stage. Each of the routines unfolded and then came Danni and Andrew doing Nutcracker after a lovely intro by Natalie. They were wonderful. I sent them a text to how great they were, and how lucky we are to have such amazing dancers representing the company on this hugely successful show. I really think it’s fantastic that dance is out there on a commercial network, inspiring young people to get excited about the art form.

It was a fun day and what’s more Talia the ballerina won the series! A good day for ballet all round!

David McAllister

Graeme Murphy’s Nutcracker – The Story of Clara plays Sydney until 18 May. It then goes to Melbourne from 5-18 June