Tag Archive: Amy Harris

The Full Package

November 27, 2023 0 Comments

“Marguerite and Armand”/“The Dream”
The Australian Ballet
Sydney Opera House/Joan Sutherland Theatre
Sydney, Australia
November 21, 2023 (livestream)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2023 by Ilona Landgraf

1. N.Brook (Armand), “Marguerite and Armand” by F.Ashton, The Australian Ballet 2023 © D.Boud The last new program of the Australian Ballet’s 60th anniversary season was an all-in-one package. Its two Ashton ballets – “Marguerite and Armand” (1963) and “The Dream” (1964) – showcased the dancers’ prowess and satisfied the audience’s appetite for both the tragic and the comic while at the same time celebrating the company’s historic connection to the Royal Ballet. This connection has been of the most pleasant nature as became evident in the interview that the livestream’s presenter, Catherine Murphy, and the artistic director, David Hallberg, conducted with Berry Wordsworth. Wordsworth, the Royal Ballet’s former music director, joined the Opera Australia Orchestra to conduct the Ashton program. As he recalled Ashton’s creative passion and the friendship between Peggy van Praagh, the Australian Ballet’s founder, and her London counterpart, the Royal Ballet’s Dame Ninette de Valois, one could sense that the buoyant spirit of the good old days is still vibrant. Furthermore, warmth and good humor dominated the add-on program and included additional backstage interviews and videos. (more…)

Cheers!

March 30, 2023

“Don Quixote”
The Australian Ballet
Arts Centre Melbourne / State Theatre
Melbourne, Australia
March 24, 2023 (livestream)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2023 by Ilona Landgraf

1. C.Guo (Basilio), A.Kondo (Kitri), and ensemble, “Don Quixote” by R.Nureyev after M.Petipa, The Australian Ballet 2023 © R.LantryGood news from the Australian Ballet: livestreams of performances will be resumed! The first of these – Nureyev’s version of Petipa’s “Don Quixote” – was broadcast this weekend. The company celebrates its sixtieth anniversary this season, and perhaps that is why artistic director David Hallberg chose a special opener – special because this “Don Quixote” harks back to the one that Nureyev, together with Robert Helpmann (then artistic director of the Australian Ballet) adapted for the screen in 1973. It stars the Australian Ballet, with Helpmann in the title role and Nureyev as Basilio. Needless to say, the film became a hit. Hallberg decided to re-adapt the hit film for the theater stage with piercing exactitude, replicating its aesthetic as closely as possible. That’s why Richard Roberts’s set design (including Don Quixote’s knightly home, the port of Barcelona, some windmills in Castilla-La Mancha, Dulcinea’s garden, and a smoke-filled tavern) was based on Barry Kay’s original film set and why Kay’s gorgeous costumes were painstakingly reconstructed. I especially admired the traditional Spanish garb of the corps at the tavern. (more…)

Galvanizing

October 26, 2022

“Romeo and Juliet”
The Australian Ballet
Arts Centre Melbourne / State Theatre
Melbourne, Australia
October 18, 2022 (livestream)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2022 by Ilona Landgraf

1. A.Harris (Lady Capulet) and S.Spencer (Juliet), “Romeo and Juliet” by J.Cranko, The Australian Ballet 2022 © J.BusbyEach of the three livestreams I’ve watched from the Australian Ballet so far have proven that the company’s standards are high. The most recent – John Cranko’s “Romeo and Juliet” – left me flabbergasted. I’ve seen Cranko’s 1962 version a few times, since Stuttgart Ballet (where the largest part of his oeuvre was created) regularly revives the star-crossed lovers’ tragedy. It’s a pillar of their repertoire. But compared to the work that the Australian Ballet delivered in Melbourne, Stuttgart’s performances pale. From the first moment that the first maid set foot in Verona’s marketplace, it was clear that the Australian Ballet was performing on an entirely different level.

Artistic director David Hallberg, who co-hosted the livestream together with Catherine Murphy, was correct in noting that “we look good on screens all over the world tonight”. Dance, set, costumes, lighting – everything was perfect. (more…)