Dance routines have become viral phenomena online, and it was only a matter of time before established dance companies embraced that energy to bring in new audiences. Queensland Ballet is raising the barre, setting pirouettes to pop music.
Elastic Hearts:
Elastic Hearts: presented by Queensland Ballet and Experience Gold Coast
The first of three music-led world premieres, Queensland Ballet and Experience Gold Coast have joined forces to present Elastic Hearts, a contemporary ballet with bold visuals set to the hits of one of Australia’s most distinctive pop artists.
Australian singer and songwriter Sia is no stranger to having her music interpreted into dance. Over a decade ago, she co-directed a series of her own music videos choreographed by Ryan Heffington and starring child dancer Maddie Ziegler. The videos attracted more than six billion views on YouTube. Yes, billion.
This Queensland Ballet production taps into that popularity, uniting contemporary ballet and Sia’s chart-topping songs, with her music reimagined by Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
Elastic Hearts: a pastel-pink wonderland
As the red curtain rises, we meet Gaia (Georgia Swan), goddess of the Earth and the show’s beating heart, whose movement channels the cycles of life.
The stage builds with light and we slip into a pastel-pink wonderland. Upstage, a stage-wide slide is used throughout the production, where dancers glide into scenes at speed.
Around Gaia swirls a sea of Sias, the ensemble all sporting silk suits, red sneakers and those iconic blonde bobs that nod to both Sia and her muse.
Choreographed and directed by Garry Stewart (best known for his 22-year tenure at Australian Dance Theatre), this visually rich production is an exploration of humanity and nature through creativity and play. At times, the choreography is reminiscent of that in Sia’s record-breaking music videos, mixed with hints of TikTok-style dance sequences and refined ballet.
There are flashes of traditional ballet with clean lines, extensions and lifts, but they’re layered between looser, more free-flowing movements. Repetitive choreographic phrases echo looped gestures of viral dance routines. Group choreography isn’t always in sync which may cause ballet purists to frown, but here it adds to the playful nature of the production.
At other times, it feels as if we’ve stepped inside a living heart with the ensemble pulsing like red blood cells as emotion courses across the stage. Later, Gaia’s quilted gown and train opens up to reveal flora and fauna stitched into it. A reminder that nature lives in us all.
Read: Hair review: musical’s emotional heart lost in underwhelming production
Rather than focusing on precision in pointe shoes, this production allows the Queensland Ballet ensemble to let loose. Though all except Gaia wear the same wig and costume, each dancer’s personality shines through, with every Sia track having its own emotional moment.
Designer Charles Davis transforms the space into a pink playground of childlike delights. A giant heart is brought to stage during a processional, with the goddess Gaia leading the charge and towering flowers parading behind. Sheer gauze curtains depicting a forest are flown in, bringing softness to a dreamlike state.
During title track Elastic Heart, the stage turns into a battlefield as flags slice through the air, and a red drape streams out from the giant heart.
One of the most joyful moments comes during Chandelier, when five silk tassel chandeliers descend from above, only to transform into swings for the ensemble. Dancers fly over the front rows of the audience, and all get to share in the fun.
Alexander Berlage’s lighting transforms the stage and costumes into different colours and tones for each mood and track. At times, lights flicker like a nightclub dance floor, where Sia’s music has been mostly played this last decade.
Elastic Hearts: Sia’s familiar voice
Sia’s familiar voice soars over Elliott Wheeler’s cinematic orchestral arrangement. Performed and recorded by a 44-piece orchestra conducted by Nigel Gaynor, the score highlights different instruments throughout, layering rich textures across each track.
Though likely a practical choice for this short season, a live orchestra would have amplified the emotional energy. In addition to this, the surround sound lacked impact. With a slight audio adjustment, the music could’ve vibrated through our bones and moved through our bodies the way Sia’s music does.
Elastic Hearts is a dazzling collision of ballet and pop, inventive, joyous and unabashedly fun. It marks a bold new chapter for Queensland Ballet and Experience Gold Coast, one that invites audiences to dance, feel and play along. The production will doubtless enchant the young and young-at-heart, first-time dance goers and seasoned ballet lovers alike. But with only four performances, you need to be quick to see it.
A Queensland Ballet and Experience Gold Coast co-production at Home of the Arts, Gold Coast, the limited season of Elastic Hearts runs until Saturday 8 November 2025.
This review was amended on the day of publication, at 12:58pm, to add new production images and an additional paragraph describing the choreography in more detail.
