Innholdsfortegnelse for April - May 2016 i Dance Australia

IT is a possibly unfortunate reality that dancers wanting a full-time career have to travel overseas. I say “possibly unfortunate” because many would not consider this as a misfortune at all! In fact the prospect of travelling to different countries and cultures, and mixing with other artists and expanding one’s horizons, would be very exciting for most. It would even be considered an advantage of a dance career. Nonetheless, some of those travelling overseas may be under the misapprehension that the life of a dancer is much easier than in Australia. They may think that art is generally more appreciated – particularly in Europe. But is this really the case? There may be more jobs, but there are also many more people competing for those jobs, whether in Europe or…

THE second biennial Keir Choreographic Award will take place in April and May this year, with the event being shared between Melbourne’s Dancehouse and Sydney’s Carriageworks. This year’s eight finalists were chosen from a pool of 64 – 41 from Victoria, 14 from NSW, three from the ACT, three from Qld and three Australians living overseas. Each had to pitch an idea for a work using a five-minute video, which was assessed by a panel of judges. The finalists received up to $16,000 each and four months (100 in-studio hours) at either Dancehouse or Carriageworks to build their concepts and ideas ready for presentation. The lucky eight are: Sarah Aiken (Vic), James Batchelor (Vic), Chloe Chignell (Vic), Ghenoa Gela (NSW), Alice Heyward (NSW), Rebecca Jensen (NSW), Paea Leach (NSW) and…

WOULD you like to see London’s legendary Royal Ballet company performing Giselle? And would you like to see two of the world’s leading dancers – RB principals Marianela Nuñez and Vadim Muntagirov – in the leading roles? Well you can! Thanks to the fabulous Palace Opera and Ballet cinema series, Dance Australia has 10 double passes to give away to a live screening of a performance captured at the Royal Opera House on April 6. All you have to do is email competitions@danceaustralia.com.au with “Giselle” as your subject. Make sure you include your name and contact details. Sessions run from May 6 to 11 at Palace and associated cinemas in all Australian cities. For session times and venues go to http://www.palaceoperaandballet.com.au. The Palace Opera and Ballet screenings continue throughout the…

“Lightning did strike, though, and both girls were cast.” I MEET Nadia and Zoe Komezec at the stage door of Sydney’s Lyric Theatre, the Sydney home of the hit musical Matilda. The Adelaide-born sisters are both performing in the show. Technically, the sisters have that day free (ordinarily there would be understudy rehearsals) but have arrived early especially for our interview. I’m instantly struck by their immaculate presentation: their gorgeous smiles; their positive and vivacious energies, and their easy relationship with each other. We head across the road to a fab little café in the foyer of the Google building at Pyrmont to introduce ourselves properly and to chat over lunch. Once seated I direct the first question to Zoe, sitting diagonally opposite – except I’m actually addressing Nadia. Oops…

Where did my confidence go? “I find that ever since I became a fulltime student, I’ve become much more self-critical. Looking back at old videos, I can see that my technique isn’t as good as it is now, but I can also see a strong confidence in my dancing that I seem to have lost. How can I find this confidence again?” When we get older we become gradually more self aware and self critical. When I was 16 years old almost nothing intimidated me in the studio or on stage. Suddenly, at around 17, I started to hide at the back of the room behind my peers, something I’d never done before. My technique was definitely getting stronger. But with each day came a growing awareness of the dancers…

“There are seven bedrooms of different configurations in both sections of the house.” IT has taken many years, and a great deal of fundraising, but the Australian Ballet School (ABS) has finally achieved what so many elite schools around the world take for granted: it now has a student boarding residence. At an overall cost of $8 million, the ABS can now ensure that the many young people who take the huge step of leaving their families to follow their talent will have a safe place to live. Marilyn Rowe House, as it is called, opened officially on January 30, and is now home to 23 aspiring dancers, ranging from 13 to 18 years old. Eventually that number will increase to the capacity of 37 that it is designed to…

CO3, Perth’s new contemporary dance company, is taking dance out of the studio and into the art gallery in 2016. Artistic director Raewyn Hill, with six Co3 dancers, is developing her next work at the Art Gallery of WA and gallery visitors are invited to sit and watch. Initially presented as part of the Perth International Arts Festival in February, the process will continue at different dates throughout the year. The work is called Reason for Being. For the creative process, Hill will invite people who are blind or vision impaired into the development to describe how t hey express emotion without having seen emotion expressed. With the Co3 dancers, she will then translate this conversation into a physical language and develop characters that embody their experiences. Inspired by AGWA…

“To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.”– Leonard Bernstein IN May 2014, it was announced that acclaimed freelance choreographer, Jacopo Godani, would take over The Forsythe Company as of the 2015/16 season. The announcement came during Sydney Dance Company’s “Interplay” season featuring Godani’s Raw Models. I was fortunate to review this work for Dance Australia (http://www.danceaustralia.com.au/review/ sydney-dance-company-interplay). I found it so tight and thrilling I resolved to follow Godani on his journey as director. I was lucky to be in Frankfurt to catch his premiere season in October, 2015. The Forsythe Company (now the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company) was directed by William Forsythe, one of the most influential choreographers of our time. It was formed in 2005 after the closure of Ballet…

MAGIC and fairytales are on the menu for both the Queensland Ballet and the West Australian Ballet this year. Casting the spells will be two illustrious overseas choreographers, each of whom seem to have a secret gift for conjuring up beautiful story ballets. David Nixon, OBE, the artistic director of the Northern Ballet Theatre in England, will stage his enchanting production of Beauty and the Beast for the West Australian Ballet. First created in 2011, his retelling of the well-known fairytale has been very well received by audiences and critics alike. Aurelian Scannella, the artistic director of the WAB, was considering creating his own version, but decided that Nixon’s ballet was as good as they get. He knew Nixon from when he staged his Ondine for the Ballet du Rhin,…

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THE Australian Ballet is now the largest it has ever been. This year for the first time the company has grown to include 79 full-time dancers, up from sixty-eight. Nine of those new dancers are graduates of the Australian Ballet School: Isobelle Dashwood, Evie Ferris, Sean Kiley, Mason Lovegrove, Montana Rubin, Georgia Scott-Hunter, Edward Smith, Aya Watanabe and Lucien Xu. In addition, Jake Mangahakia, the Telstra People’s choice award winner in 2012, rejoined the company after a two-year break to do missionary work in Canada. Coryphée Jaqueline Clark returned to the company in July 2015, having spent time in the UK dancing with the Royal Ballet. Jessica Wood and Melody Martin also joined the company in 2015. Nathan Brook, a graduate of the Australian Ballet School who danced for two…

IF the size of the premises reflects the size of the ambition, then Melbourne City Ballet is thinking big. The troupe has now moved into its new studios in in Coburg, in Melbourne’s west. The building is part of the new development of the old Pentridge Gaol site, and has sweeping views over some of the historic buildings. MCB occupies two levels, comprising up to six studios, as well as storage space for scenery and costumes. All classes and rehearsals are held here: for the main company as well as Melbourne City Youth Ballet and for the community on weekends. And the company does have big plans for the year. Its 2016 season comprises full length story ballets: Napoli (which played in March), Tink (giving Tinkerbell’s side of the Peter…

“In business circles they would be called a ‘power couple’: both running their own companies, both travelling the world.” LUCY Guerin is on a roll. Over the last year the Melbourne-based choreographer has notched up a considerable number of overseas commitments. She has been in Germany, with her company, Lucy Guerin Inc, presenting her Untrained. She has been to Sweden, where Skanes Dansteater in Malmo remounted her piece, Weather. She has been to France, where her Black Box was performed by the Ballet de l’Opera de Lyon at the Theatre de la Ville; and she has been to Finland, on an exchange project with Routa Company. And that renowned English contemporary dance company, Rambert, has honoured her by commissioning a new work, which will premiere at Sadlers Wells in London…

“The lighting for the first part of ‘Lux Tenebris’ was so dark that the dancers were significantly obscured.” Sydney Dance Company COUNTERMOVE ROSLYN PACKER THEATRE, SYDNEY FEBRUARY/MARCH A contrasting double bill that places light against dark and fun against seriousness. SYDNEY Dance Company’s “Countermove” is a double bill comprising two works: Cacti and Lux Tenebris. Alexander Ekman’s Cacti has been a globally successful work since it was first created in 2010 for Netherlands Dance Theatre. It stands out for the irreverence and humour with which Ekman skewers overly intellectual and pompous interpretations of contemporary dance. The musical score is diverse, combining excerpts of classical music from composers such as Beethoven, Schubert and Haydn with voice recordings, and much of the choreography is fast paced. In fact the work as a…

“What a travesty it would be if the irreplaceable expertise of these teachers was lost.” SAFETY is a fundamental right, a legal requirement and a moral obligation. The overwhelming majority of dance studios comprehensively uphold their obligations to protect and nurture their students. However, with the 2015 child abuse conviction of Sydney dance teacher Grant Davies and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse’s recent call for submissions about Child Sex Abuse in the Entertainment Industry, many teachers are rethinking their safety policies and practices. There are a number of dimensions of safety. The psychological dimension is concerned with the emotional health and wellbeing of students, such as creating an environment that is nurturing and supportive. The physical aspect of safety addresses such things as properly equipped…