Summer Season with Butterfly 2022
This carefully crafted end of year presentation bears witness to the ballet students’ commitment to learning and the utter professionalism of the Australian Ballet School.
The six diverse pieces and the developing skills of the performers were well matched, and the students shone.
There was a dynamic balance of classical dance, Paul Knobloch’s The Jewellery Box, presented by Level 5 students, and modern dance including an interesting exploration of body percussion in Lucas Jervies and Oliver Northam’s Pi performed by Level 6 students and Paul Knobloch’s In Memory of The Moment danced by Level 7 students.
Level 8 students danced Stephen Baynes’ El Tango, an interpretation of Tango form. Charlotte Stratton-Smith and William Humphries presented an intense Pas De Deux. The Level 4 and 5 students added humour and characterisation to their excellent ensemble work in Simon Dow’s Wolfgang Dance.
In Lucas Jervies’ Butterfly, Sophie Burke and Mathew Solovieff demonstrated solid characterisation in their roles as Sophie and Jack, school students who are not in the popular group who find each other during an excursion to the Zoo’s Butterfly House. Amy Ronnfeldt as the Monarch Butterfly demonstrated strong line and ethereal presence. Charlton Tough and Jeremy Hargreaves as Mantis Guards and Evangeline Beal-Attwood (Pink Butterfly) and Indiana Scott (Blue Butterfly) made the most of their technical skills and strength and at times added a dash of humour. Sophie Wormald (Queen Bee) and the Bumblebees were delightful. The ensemble showed strong timing, awareness of others and beauty of line. The Australian Ballet supported Hugo Dumapit, an alumnus, filling the role of Jack Butterfly at late notice. Another alumnus, Franco Leo joined the company, masterfully contributing as the teacher.
The very effective costumes were designed by Maree Strachan, Hugh Coleman, Michael Pearce, Bloch and Fiona Holley.
All the performances were underpinned by well-planned and executed staging and lighting.
This performance demonstrates the Australian Ballet School is fulfilling its stated purpose of preparing dancers for a professional career with leading dance companies in Australia and worldwide.
Ruth Richter
Photographer: Sergey Konstantinov.
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