22 February 2010
By Isabel Dunstan
filed under From the studio, The Silver Rose
In just four days the curtain will rise on The Silver Rose. With an all-Australian creative team, Graeme Murphy and Janet Vernon took this quintessentially European story and tailored it for the ballet stage. We chatted to the master choreographers about how this extraordinarily lavish ballet got off the ground, and found its way home.
Where did the idea for The Silver Rose come from and was it a work you had been thinking about for a while?
Graeme: It’s something that had been in our minds for some time. Der Rosenkavalier was a particular favourite; Janet and I have always loved it musically. We loved the roles, and I have a thing for themes about age, love, loss, moving on and being left.
Ivan Liska, [director of the Bavarian State Ballet] asked us in 2004 to do a work. He wanted something for the family for the Christmas premiere season and The Silver Rose surfaced. Ironically Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier had premiered in the same theatre in Munich. That was something that linked the ballet and the opera.
Janet: It was very short notice. We didn’t think we would be able to do it because we were working on Hua Mulan, Graeme had just finished choreographing Grand, and we’d just taken Swan Lake to London with The Australian Ballet.
What was it about the characters that appealed to you in a ballet context?
Graeme: They’re all large – they all read big. You have the mature, pensive, distraught, self-obsessed, slightly older Marschallin; and by contrast the total innocence of the fresh young flower [Sophie] and the puppy-love of adolescent youth [Octavian], which is really nice for a dance character. Then there’s the Baron who is a sympathetic buffoon, whose love is really based around desire, sex and lust. You just knew the actions for these incredibly intricate relationships could be explored in solos, duos and quartets.
Janet: And underneath those four principals there are the soloists (who are the paparazzi), and the entourage of hair dresser, make-up artist and couturier introduce interesting subplots as well. Read the rest of this entry »
20 January 2010
By Annie Carroll
filed under From the studio
Unlike so many evolving art forms, the roots of classical ballet technique remain deep and unwavering. As writing, music, and the visual arts have moved forward with each social progression, classical ballet can at times seem a significant yet somewhat static reminder of the past. However ballet and dance offer a greater opportunity to perceive the progress of women than any other art form. Ever since August Bournonville created the otherworldly Sylph in La Sylphide (1836), audiences have imagined the ballerina as a gauzy and delicate fantasy. Much like the carefully disarranged gardens of the Romantic era, she appeared in sweet disorder. What muscles she had were somehow hidden within a veil. How could someone so slight possess such graceful strength? In almost every classical and romantic ballet, it is the ballerina who needs the ‘prince’ to rescue her, to redeem her, to set her free. From Aurora’s need for an awakening kiss, to Manon’s desperate last few clutches at her lover, it is the vulnerability of women that links these enduring ballets.
Hurtle forward to 2009 to The Australian Ballet’s recent Concord season, in which Wayne McGregor’s Dyad 1929 proved that in modern choreography, the depiction of masculinity and femininity in dance is almost a fluid concept. Defined muscles draw shapes at speed. The gender boundaries blur and the stage thrives with the power of the human body. And in Sydney Dance Company’s latest work Mercury by Kenneth Kvarnstrom, the women are independent travellers, secure in their fate without the sworn love of a man. The modern, tangled relationships between man and woman are portrayed and tender emotions are conjured underneath the stage lights. All of this while the women twist, manipulate, and lift the men with inimitable power and poise. The sheer absence of fragility in the women is undeniable; the fleeting sylph, from whom all ballerinas were born, has left the theatre. Mercury and Dyad 1929 are the newest avatars in the evolution of women’s role on the dance stage. There is no sign of Giselle in Kylian’s Petite Mort, not a flutter of Odette in Forsythe’s In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated. Ballerinas have evolved into lithe and fierce creatures. Perhaps this evolution could be said to have begun with a certain hedonistic Russian by the name of George Balanchine. Read the rest of this entry »
8 January 2010
By Isabel Dunstan
filed under From the studio, Music
In the late 1940s, mathematician Rudolf Benesh caught his wife, Joan, a dancer with Sadler’s Wells, struggling to remember and record her steps. Later at work in his office, he jotted down a few lines meant to represent someone sitting at a desk, then fetched a colleague and asked for a second opinion. Soon an entire system of written symbols was created to represent all ballet’s possible movement.
Those who practice this system are known as choreologists. There are only a handful of them in the world, but The Australian Ballet has been at the forefront of documenting ballet since its inception. Our current Choreologist, Mark Kay, took time to chat about his work.
What is choreology?
Well, that’s a big question. Everyone thinks I write the ballets – which is not correct at all. Choreology is a form of notation where you write all the steps down and it’s something I picked up at The Australian Ballet School. I went through an injury spate and so I took this on. I was encouraged by the staff there because they thought I had the potential. I went to London, did a choreology course and my dancing career came to an abrupt halt early in my life. But I got this job and have been doing choreology ever since.
For the dance companies who don’t have a choreologist, how do they record dance?
Video. A lot of people think that video is the most reliable form of recording dance. I mean, it has its advantages, but it has its disadvantages as well. For example, if you focus on only a few dancers, there’ll be people dancing on the other parts of the stage and you won’t be able to see what they’re doing. The major classical ballet companies in the world have a choreologist. Then there’s The Royal Ballet and they have two or three on staff. Read the rest of this entry »
23 December 2009
By admin
filed under From the studio
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
22 December 2009
By Isabel Dunstan
filed under From the studio
Coryphée Stephanie Williams has only been with The Australian Ballet three short years, but has already danced an impressive array of lead roles. We celebrate Stephanie’s recent double Telstra Ballet Dancer Award win by sharing some of her favourite performances to date.
Concord
I was in both Por vos muero and Dyad 1929. For me, Por vos muero is the complete package. I fell in love with dancing it, and I fell in love with watching it – you can’t always say that. Dyad 1929 was incredible too. I loved watching Wayne McGregor work and hearing what he had to say – I liked being the sponge. No one had any pre-conceived ideas about the work, so I could just go out, dance and be me completely.
Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun
This is a work of pure genius. Throughout the ballet, you hardly catch eyes with your partner, but when you do it’s magical. It’s the most beautiful thing on stage when you share a moment with your partner that no one else truly understands. I was honoured to dance this with guest artist Cedric Ygnace for the Sydney season.
Stanton Welch’s The Sleeping Beauty
I love The Sleeping Beauty because it’s really classical, and that’s what you always dream of dancing as a little girl. I performed the role of the Lilac Fairy, which is very challenging. When I perform it I really feel like I’ve been taken away to another world. Read the rest of this entry »
14 December 2009
By Anna Sutton
filed under From the studio
In an age where superliners tend to resemble shopping malls on water, Darcey Bussell’s new role as godmother to the P&O’s Azura will inject some good old-fashioned glamour into the world of pleasure cruises.
Cruise ships used to be places where, if the movies are anything to go by, you might have chanced upon a dapper group of African-American musicians jamming with Fred Astaire in an Art Deco ship’s engine room. Now we have Darcey to rekindle the idea that cruise ships should be places of style and charm rather than floating theme parks where cattle roam hungrily amongst the video game arcades and 24-hour buffets.
Bussell, who is well known internationally for her career as a ballerina as well as her current role as Strictly Come Dancing judge in the UK, will smash open the champagne at a naming ceremony for Azura in Southampton in April next year.
Only a few months ago the world’s largest cruise liner, Oasis of the Seas, began its maiden voyage from Helsinki to Florida. Weighing in at roughly 226 000 tonnes to Azura’s 115 000, I would say it probably heaved rather than glided out of the harbour. Quality over quantity should certainly prevail when members of the Royal Ballet perform on deck at Azura’s launch next year.
9 December 2009
By admin
filed under From the studio
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 »
2 December 2009
By Annie Carroll
filed under From the studio
“I know you’ve heard it all before,” Ballet Mistress Wendy Walker says convivially. She is taking rehearsal for Swan Lake. Standing before her are a flock of girls, all in lines, in unison. It’s the fifth rehearsal of the week for the corps de ballet swans. Given that the steps are second nature to most of the dancers in the studio, it feels like the hundredth. Sighs of exasperation echo around the walls as we attempt to unpick and re-stitch the fabric of the choreography we have danced many times before. It is ironic that these rehearsals can at times seem tedious when routine is the life force of a dancer’s career. We are all about routine. A dancer will wake up and before they know it, one hand is on the barre and pliés have begun.
Days begin to melt into each other. Eventually repetition can be mind-numbing, dangerous even, for a dancer. One unconsidered step can result in injury. As equally as our days are routine, so are they highly unpredictable. Unlike a violin, which rests in its case overnight untouched, unaffected, a dancer’s body is undergoing constant change. No two days are the same. Four pirouettes one day and two the next. Perhaps this unpredictability is why we feel the need for formulaic days. Towards the end of a particularly long season of performing, I look around the dressing room at my colleagues, each girl with their pre-show rituals down pat, settling into a comfortable, unvaried pattern.
Read the rest of this entry »
27 November 2009
By Kate Scott
filed under Concord, From the studio
Prince, peasant, artist, cad, student, swashbuckler – there’s no role Damien Welch hasn’t performed in his 18 years as a dancer. This Monday 30 November he’ll take his final curtain call as a Principal Artist with The Australian Ballet.
The son of Australian dance legends Marilyn Jones and Garth Welch, and the younger brother of choreographer Stanton Welch, Damien started ballet classes at the relatively late age of 15. He quickly made up for lost time, joining The Australian Ballet in 1992 and reaching the top rank of Principal in just six years. Dancing countless ballets both at home and overseas (often cast opposite his on-and-offstage partner, fellow Principal Artist Kirsty Martin), he’s worked with some of the world’s leading choreographers, and had numerous roles created on him, switching effortlessly between classical and contemporary works.
In recent years Damien has worked behind the curtain as well, restaging Stanton Welch’s masterwork Divergence and documenting new works. Earlier this year, he made his choreographic debut with a piece called Chemical Trigger for the Bodytorque 2.2 season, for which he also composed the score. The sight of Damien wandering the hallways of The Australian Ballet between rehearsals, guitar slung from his shoulder, will be sorely missed. He’ll return as a guest artist in 2010 and continue his long relationship with the company, but for now we bid farewell to an extraordinary talent.
Damien takes his final bow on the closing night of Concord in Sydney
23 November 2009
By admin
filed under From the studio
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 »
