Leigh Witchel Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 It's on their website - http://www.australianballet.com.au/season_...alianballet.htm Link to comment
Helene Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Thanks for the heads up -- I've been waiting for the AB to update the site past this calendar year. The 2006 season is now on the Calendar. Link to comment
Leigh Witchel Posted September 21, 2005 Author Share Posted September 21, 2005 I wrote to their press department, and found out they usually update mid-September. And in case it's useful, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires (www.teatrocolon.org.ar) updates at the very end of the year for a season that begins around February. Link to comment
MinkusPugni Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 I'm really disappointed with the coming season. I don't think I'll see anything. Giselle is the only decent thing there but I fear that they won't be able to do justice to it. I am incredibly angry that they are bastardising yet another ballet, this time the classic Raymonda. Sleeping Beauty by Stanton Welch was terrible! Link to comment
Helene Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 If I remember correctly, I've actually seen a piece by Stephen Baynes that I liked more than anything I've seen by Welch, but I have to say that when I added this Raymonda to the calendar, I cringed. Link to comment
Bluenightdipper Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 Oh the shame!! Not one Australian has posted here. Once again Tasmania misses out on any cultural enjoyment. Tour directors (not only ballet) seem to think that the Eastern seaboard only comprises Sydney, Melbourne and occasionally Brisbane and Canberra thrown in? It is a sad state of affairs when the Russian School of Ballet performed here two or so years ago to sellout audiences and due to public demand they increased the number of performances and also extended the tour (and that was only in regional Tasmania), but we can't even get to see our own Ballet company perform. I wonder what audience they are trying to cater to? Do many/any of the US companies have a philosophy on performing in regional areas? Link to comment
carbro Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 Well, that hardly seems fair! The larger American companies do not tour as extensively as they once did, or as they probably should. The expense is just too much, and some do have lengthy home seasons. But that's not really the subject matter for this thread. I'm glad you've found us, Bluenightdipper, and hope you'll introduce yourself on our Welcome Page. Link to comment
Helene Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 Bluenightdipper, There aren't any national ballet companies in the US that are mainly state-subsidized. Most are tied to specific home cities, and occasionally are co-sponsored by two cities. Others like NYCB have summer residencies outside the city. Many have charters to perform and do outreach programs in schools and try to tour to other parts of the state. We assume that when there is touring, the companies have done substantial fundraising to subsidize the tour, and that they only travel if they think it is feasible financially. I think that your complaint is echoed by people in countries with national ballet companies. For example, when National Ballet of Canada focuses on touring in the East -- it is based on Toronto -- and skips the western cities (Vancouver, Regina, Calgary, Saskatoon, and Edmonton to name the biggest and most prominent), there's an awful lot of grumbling. The Dutch National Ballet does tour outside Amsterdam for a small part of the season; perhaps one of our Dutch posters could comment on whether the touring schedule is adequate for a national company. You live in a beautiful place; I visited Tasmania for the first time in 2004, and fell in love with it. When I looked to see if there were any cultural events when I was there, I found that the symphony has a very limited number of performances, and there were no other events scheduled. It's sad to know that while you are so close by air to the standard touring cities (Melbourne and Adelaide), the Australia Ballet skips you altogether. Link to comment
Sophoife Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 No, the AB doesn't come to Tasmania - the biggest reason being that not even the Princess Theatre in Launceston can fit their sets, let alone the Theatre Royal in Hobart. Dancers' Company (AB School) comes to Launceston about every 2 years, and Hobart once in a blue moon. The first time I saw the AB was Fool on the Hill in Sydney in (I think) 1977. I've been travelling to Melbourne 5 times a year since 1980 and it has cost me a lot of money (apart from 1980-81 and 1986-92 when I actually lived there), but I have gained a lot of pleasure from watching the company. I was in the Palais Theatre the night the company went on strike, and I've still never seen Hunchback! I've also seen the company elsewhere, a Butterfly in Sydney with Miyako Yoshida comes to tearful mind, also David McAllister's last performance! I saw Giselle last Saturday in Melbourne, and Lucy Dunn's second act was the best I have seen in probably 20 years. I'm going back on 30th June for the Fokine triple bill, and have managed to weasel tickets to Friday night, Sat matinee, and Sat night. Three casts in 26 hours hey! I've never seen either Scheherazade or Spectre de la Rose! Link to comment
Helene Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 Welcome to Ballet Talk, Sophoife! It's always great to hear from someone who can see the Australian Ballet perform live, and we hope you'll post about the performances you see. While on vacation, I saw the company perform a number of excerpts in their anniversary program in 2002 and then some smaller ballets, like Fonte's Almost Tango that didn't need fixed sets. I personally think the Company should take a bunch of these works, plot out lighting for the cyclotron, and bring them to Tasmania. (Which is a beautiful place...) I saw the very young Lucinda Dunn dance Lise in Ashton's La Fille Mal Gardee in 1994, when the Australia Ballet toured in Seattle. I've loved her ever since, and to hear about a triumph in Giselle is great news. Link to comment
Sophoife Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 Hi Helene and thank you for your welcome! Always happy to spout about Performances I Have Seen... Ohhh Lucy Dunn's adage! Saw her in the Murphy Sleeping Beauty last year, and she's just rock solid. Not a wobble in the whole Rose Adage, and you couldn't even see the usual arms gripping like death and shaking with tension thing! Annabel Bronner Reid was the Lilac Fairy in the same cast, and she's one to watch. The same day I saw Lisa Bolte and Steven Heathcote dance the matinée, and Lisa's Aurora was just - not quite right - even before I saw the evening performance. Steven was Steven and still a consummate partner. Technically the dancing was better in the evening but I lurve Steven and Lisa so I still enjoyed the matinée. Annabel BR was Carabosse in the afternoon and that's when I decided she might be one to watch, which opinion was borne out by her Lilac Fairy of the evening. Back to topic and the 2006 season - the Fokine triple bill is part of an ongoing project about the Ballets Russes and Steven will be playing the Shah in Scheherazade - sadly can't see him doing Spectre as (a) he isn't and (b) I know it's probably beyond him now. Link to comment
Sophoife Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Geesh what an active board. Not. Well I never got to the Revolutions triple bill (many reasons) in Melbourne but am going to jolly well get to Sydney. Just back from the usual 2 performances in a day for Raymonda and I have to say that it was very good indeed. The music we all know is beautiful. The costumes were faaaaabulous 1950s gowns - both really long and ballet-length - and it's funny to see men in black tie and white tie-n-tails dancing ballet - but it worked. The dancing was generally of a very high standard although some of the characterisations didn't quite work - the fault of the dancer rather than the choreographer as what worked in the afternoon didn't in the evening in one unfortunate case. There were some cheesy bits but generally the choreography worked really well with the music and nothing stands out as being glaringly out of place. The male trio of the "Rat Pack" did get a bit repetitive at times though. Sadly Kirsty Martin did her ankle (bad twist/sprain) towards the end of act 1 early in the week (Rachel Rawlins got called in to do the second act) so Steven Heathcote got the week off too. Happily got to see Damien Welch dance the Other Man to Rawlins' Raymonda, with Tristan Message as the Prince. Then in the evening Lisa Bolte's Raymonda was a real woman and her Prince was Robert Curran who just gets better and better. Matthew Lawrence's Other Man was good too but he's not Damien Andrew Killian who danced both performances was full of energy, and the Starlet (Gina Brescianini) in the matinée was very good indeed. Excellent characterisation! Link to comment
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