Celebration Gala Melbourne

The Australian Ballet is back, but not as we’ve known it. And this is not a bad thing. I have long bemoaned the seeming inability of the Corps de Ballet to dance in unison. After all ,the purpose for the members of the Corps should be to blend in, not to stand out. The sloppy nature of the Corps for the last several years has driven many away from The Australian Ballet, as the Principals improved and those in the Corp lost their way.

Before the opening curtain, newly minted (well to be fair, new to Melbourne performances) Creative Director David Hallberg stepped out onto the apron to address the audience in Melbourne for the first time. It was clear from Hallberg’s oversized plaid suit that this wasn’t going to be business as usual. He asked nothing more from the audience other than they applaud and cheer if they saw something they liked and the audience was already primed to do so. 

Act I of the Gala is Balanchine’s Serenade. As the curtain opened to rows of female dancers gazing off into the distance with their hands raised, there was an audible “ah” in the audience. A spectacular opening vision, but could the Corp pull off the level of synchronization the Balanchine would demand? Could they ever! Mesmerising in baby blue leotards and romantic length tuille the Australian Ballet demonstrated with precision and fluidity, why they are our national ballet company. Every arm was perfect, each leg lifted to precisely the same height, as the dancers became one with each other. There is something particularly poignant about the flow of Serenade, the linking of hands and arms. Here, demonstrated on stage, was the touch that we have all had to forego for the last two years. This piece (from the New York Dialects program) was a magical way to bring the audience back to seeing the ballet in the theatre.

The second act opened with an excerpt from the Artefact Suite and if there was any doubt what a well-oiled machine the Ballet had become, it was immediately wiped away as Coco Mathieson lead the dancers in a thrilling display of razor sharp port de bras. For those who like the more traditional, Aya Watanabe and Chengwu Guo did not disappoint in La Favourita, originally choreographed for David McAllister and Elizabeth Toohey. Cheng defies gravity as he always seems to but the props here should really go to Watanabe who shows she is definitely a dancer to watch.

Sharni Spencer and Christopher Rodgers-Wilson do a good job of an Act II pas des deux from The Merry Widow before the Corps return, having swapped ballet shoes for white jazz shoes. This is an excerpt from Hallberg’s first commission, Tanowitz’s Watermark.  The inclusion of this piece is in Act II is curious, which may well have been the idea. Hallberg seems determined on questioning what we know about the Australian Ballet, before throwing us back into familiar territory with the Black Swan pas de deux.  It was beautifully danced, but I can’t help but think that Benedicte Bemet’s natural exuberance may be a little light for Odile. Imogen Chapman and Cristiano Martino do a beautiful job of the pas de deux from Chroma, although it seemed all too short a time to spend with them.  The Gala wraps up with the crowd-pleasing Dance of the Snowflakes from The Nutcracker and it really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

There was a notable lack of Principals in the program, as if Hallberg is telling us that things around here have changed.  Similarly, there are new faces in the Corps. After such a long absence it was wonderful to be back at the ballet and the Australian Ballet is back!

L.B. Bermingham

Photographer: Jeff Busby.