What are museum pieces today were part of a ballet revolution in which dance, design, drama and music were integrated to make a combined impact that reshaped the artform and revitalised audiences.
That happened almost a century ago, with the first Australian tour by Ballets Russes dancers in 1936. To celebrate, the Australian Ballet is working with the National Library of Australia and the University of Adelaide to research the tours and offer information about them in the printed program of each anniversary event they present over four years. Revolutions is the first.
Three iconic ballets by Mikhail Fokine make a strong start. The moonlit luminosity of Les Sylphides is beautifully portrayed in this revival, for which three former Ballets Russes dancers resident in Australia contributed their knowledge. Its breakthrough was free-flowing movement in plotless abstraction: delicate dances for a troupe of sylphs and a lone man to music by Chopin. The ensemble starred on opening night for their precision and mood, setting the scene for graceful solos by Olivia Bell, Lucinda Dunn and Kirsty Martin.
Le Spectre de la rose is a delightful confection in which a girl returning from a ball with a rose dreams that the flower becomes a man who dances with her. Madeleine Eastoe captures the exquisite simplicity of her choreography and the innocent longing of her character. Matthew Lawrence dances the steps elegantly, but his role emerges as more flower than man, which takes the edge off the encounter.
Scheherazade - like the previous work, staged by expatriate Australian dancer John Auld - probably suffers most from the passing of time. What was hot and steamy drama in 1910 can be a bit of a giggle in 2006, especially with some of the costumes by Gabriela Tylesova, whose hybrid update of a set combines a handsome backdrop with hard and sharp furnishings that are as painful to look at as they must be to fake an orgy on.
The long central duet is more modern, and provides an alluring vehicle for Olivia Bell and Nobuo Fujino as Zobeide and the Golden Slave, both of them sinuous and sexy. Steven Heathcote has presence as the Shah, and Marc Cassidy is suitably unpleasant as the chief eunuch. Lana Jones, Danielle Rowe and Amber Scott dance the odalisques in fine style.
Throughout the program, especially in Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade with swirling solos by concertmaster Aubrey Murphy, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra plays with enthusiasm as well as skill under the direction of Nicolette Fraillon.
SMH: Jill Sykes
November 10, 2006
Photo: Bob Pearce