temple_dancer

Ahh, sorry floss yes I should have mentioned. I am looking forward to seeing Murphy's version next year though, some of my friends who are also fans of the original version of Swan Lake found that Murphy's version was just as good.

Hello, I'm from Australia. If I'm not mistaken, there are other Aussies on this forum but they're mostly hiding right? ;)

The Australian Ballet website usually puts up company news under their Media section. Also news regarding the 2004 season got launched recently and they also have details there. I think they also send newsletters to their subscribers, or at least, used to because I haven't received any this year.

Oh I see.. phew. There's been so many principal dancers in the AB coming and going these last few years, even though Steven Heathcote is at a point where he could retire, it'd be a shame to lose him, seeing as he's been there for so long. I hope he reprises his role in Swan Lake next year, along with Simone Goldsmith, they are so beautiful as dancers together. floss, Justine Summers is coming out of retirement to dance for just one or two shows. Her toes are apparently getting very itchy again ;)

I love story ballets, IMHO there's something magical about them that really makes you think that ballet can belong in a world of its own. Ballets without a story are lovely too but well, it's just dance and that's it. I notice that no one has mentioned La Bayadere as their favourite ballet, or one of their favourites. When I saw it, Darcey Bussell danced the principal role of Nikiya and then AB principal dancer Li Cun Xin danced the role of the golden statue. I couldn't take my eyes off either of them when they came onto the stage, they danced so beautifully and I think my memory of that also left me fond memories of the ballet itself. Macmillan's Romeo and Juliet too is a favourite, as is Sleeping Beauty

Is Steven Heathcote retiring?? When did it get announced?

That's ok. Yes I do know that Graeme Murphy has a very diverse choreographic style, which is why I think he stands out so much for many of us Australian dancers

Robert Curran? Out of the principal male dancers of the AB, I think he's one of the best I find that he has a very zestful style and I haven't seen any badly performed step from him yet. I've seen him perform quite a few of the AB's repertoire, so I'm quite confident in saying that's he pretty good. (And incidentally, Robert Curran's aunt owns a dance studio that my teacher used to hire a room from) Small world.

I haven't seen the WAB perform in a production of their own per se, but they performed in conjunction with the AB last year. Can't complain, as an audience member I expected a good night of entertainment in the form of good dancing and expectations were met. The smaller interstate ballet companies of Australia don't often tour around to other states do they? I've never heard of many other major Australian ballet companies other than the AB passing through Sydney.

Has anyone ever seen Sydney Dance Company's production of "Ellipse" by Graeme Murphy? I missed it when it premiered in Sydney last year and I'd really like to know what it was like, and how it compares to their other works such as 'Underland' or 'Tivoli'.

Perhaps because the AB dancers are able to project expressiveness and emotion into their dancing so well, we often overlook their technique, so in that sense there is some kind of 'protection'. I also agree with you on the point of the corps' technique - they do seem to have a much harder time presenting a controlled technical performance on many of the more 'classical' pieces such as Don Quixote, and I remember when I watched La Bayadere, this was also extremely noticeable in the 'Kingdom of the Shades' opening piece. My sister has often said that should you combine the technique of the Royal Ballet dancers with the expressiveness of the Australian Ballet, you would have a perfect ballet company. Or reaching perfection might be more correct. The AB is putting on The Three Musketeers at the end of this year during the Sydney performance season, should be a good one to look forward to for us 'classical' fans.

Hello. I've been a subscriber of the Australian Ballet's Sydney season for the last three years, and I have also noticed David McAllister's tendency to cast less experienced dancers in the alternative performing cast of each ballet. In my humble opinion, it's not that the non-principal dancers cannot emotionally interpret the pieces well, but it seems to me that they have more trouble coping with the technical demands of the pieces performed. The particular example that I write the above opinion with comes from the AB's new ballet, 'Wild Swans'. I'm not sure if any of you watched it. Annabel Bronner Reid was cast in the lead role the night I saw the performance, and I thought that she had a good emotional interpretation of the role of Eliza, but she struggled to control many of her adage movements, and I felt that that was quite a shame. Another thing that I don't quite like about the direction that the AB is taking under the direction of David McAllister is the choice of ballets that are performed in each year. Having grown up on watching Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty ballets, I like to see the 'classic' ballets being performed. Not the trilogies and contemporary ballets that are slowly coming to dominate the AB's repertoire. I think this preference will vary greatly with each individual though.