Dance Australia September-October-November 2020

PROGRESS through stillness. Action through inaction. Conquest by being quiet and staying at home. The things we have to do to battle this pandemic are very counter-intuitive, especially to a community in which moving is what we do. Compliance is not a characteristic Australians are generally known for; we rather cherish our idea of ourselves as anti-authoritarian. So it is fantastic to see, thank goodness, that most are putting their heads down and doing the right thing. The pandemic is lasting longer than many have expected and the tail will be frustratingly long, as NZ prime minister Jacinda Ardern put it. The performing arts are unlikely to return to normal until a vaccine is found. As you will read in this issue, big theatres and companies won’t be able to…

Musicals are back! IN another welcome sign that live theatre is returning, a number of musicals have announced opening dates. One is Pippin at Lyric Theatre at The Star in Sydney on November 24. “We’re thrilled to invite audiences back to the theatre to experience this magical show,” stated producers John Frost and Suzanne Jones. “We saw this astonishing new production in New York where it was the most nominated Broadway show of the year, and it has gone on to thrill audiences across the globe. Now it’s Australia’s turn to enjoy the Pippin magic with this exclusive Sydney season.” Another show, but on a smaller scale, is The Producers, scheduled for the Brisbane Powerhouse in January, 2021. This is a new production and is directed and choreographed by local…

HOW would you feel if you had to wear a mask to the theatre? If you had to stand in long queues to get through the doors, sanitise your hands and have your temperature checked on the way in? If ushers wore hi-viz vests and cleaners were evident everywhere? It doesn’t sound like a very glamorous or atmospheric experience, does it? Such might be the conditions, however, of being in a large theatre audience while the coronavirus remains at large. Each state in Australia is at different stages of controlling the virus but the resurgence of the virus in Victoria, as in other places around the world, show that the public will have to stay on guard until a vaccine is found. As says Richard Evans, the President of Live…

Remarkably, in South Korea, Phantom of the Opera continued its run through the pandemic (apart from a mandatory three-week closure). The 126 member cast performed in a 1600-seat theatre. Audience members were sprayed with a light mist of disinfectant before entering the theatre. Each person’s temperature was taken, they had to fill out a questionnaire, sanitise their hands and wear masks. There was also high public confidence in the government’s management of the pandemic, thanks to a highly effective contact tracing regime. Social distancing measures, however, were not applied to seating (though the front row was removed to create a wider distance from the stage).…

In Perth, the WAB’s first live performance was held while the state was in Phase 3 of restrictions, when 1.5m distancing was still required (front, back and sides of seats). The company presented a performance workshop, CoVid Lab, and was able to fit 40 in the West Australian Ballet Centre. Audiences members were temperature-checked, questioned upon entry, contact traced, provided with hand sanitiser and optional face masks were available for all patrons both upon entry to the building and again entering the studio. There were no food or beverage services and no printed tickets (just names checked off a list). By August, the company, under Phase 4, could host an audience of 132 at the WA Ballet Centre and the protocols above weren’t required. August 15 was the expected date…

KRZYSZTOF Pastor is a successful and prolific choreographer. Not a year has gone by since his debut as a choreographer in 1992, at Dutch National Ballet, when he hasn’t brought at least one new creation into life. Most of his career has been in Europe, but, in the way of the cosmopolitan world of ballet, he already had some connections with the West Australian Ballet (WAB) before this current commission of Dracula. A long time ago, Pastor visited Perth at the invitation of Barry Moreland, a former artistic director of the company. “I was in New Zealand to stage my Firebird,” Pastor recounts with some amusement. “Barry was interested in staging it. He arranged for me to come to see the company but when I got there there was nothing…