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| "Monument" Andrew Kylian - Lana Jones Photo: Branco Gaica |
Australian
Ballet - Canberra
Theatre May 23 – 25
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
With nary a
tutu in sight, the Australia Ballet still managed to dazzle as it stormed
triumphantly back into the Canberra
Theatre with a superb program including the world premiere of a stunning new
ballet celebrating Canberra’s parliament house, performed in the presence of
its designer, Aldo Giurgola.
Balanchine’s
“The Four Temperaments”, danced to the music of Paul Hindemith, is a plotless
abstract ballet about perfection. The dancers, dressed in simple black and
white leotards perform intricate variations against a clear blue backdrop. It’s
exposing, with no room for error and little opportunity for emotion. The
dancers were up to the challenge, dancing with absolute precision in a
brilliant display of sheer technique.
The
exquisite pas de deux from Christopher Wheeldon’s “After The Rain” is also
about perfection, but dripping with emotion, and the audience held its
collective breath as Lana Jones and Adam Bull appeared to float through its intricacies
to the gentle strains of Arvo Part’s “Spiegel im Spiegel”.
These two
odes to perfection proved appropriate preludes to the main offering, “Monument”
commissioned as a Centenary of Canberra project to celebrate the perfection of Canberra’s
iconic parliamentary building.
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| "Monument" Daniel Gaudiello, Vivienne Wong, Jake Mangakahia, Ella Havelka Photo: Branco Gaica |
With a
driving electronic score by Huey Benjamin providing the heartbeat,
choreographer Garry Stewart has integrated elements of hip-hop, popping and
classical ballet technique to create a busy, enthralling ballet which
brilliantly and remarkably captures the essence and excitement of the building.
The dancers,
in crisp white figure hugging costumes, move briskly around the stage in
squares, rectangles, triangles and circles defined by Jon Buswell’s lighting, performing
combinations of stabbing, angular arm and body movements. Behind them 3D animations of the actual architectural
drawings give the impression that the dancers are moving in an out of the
building as it awakens and comes to life. Eventually a couple, Lana Jones and Andrew
Killian, emerge from the ensemble to perform a long pas de deux which draws
this remarkable ballet to a contemplative conclusion with both standing silhouetted
on the empty stage.
Regardless
of your familiarity with Parliament House, “Monument” is a remarkable achievement
destined to heighten interest in the object of its inspiration wherever it is
performed.
(An edited version of this review appears in CITY NEWS - May 29th edition)
