Under the umbrella title of Vanguard, the Australian Ballet brings us three major works by three major choreographers, all considered challenging and confronting in their day. They are presented in chronological order of choreographic composition, and it is most interesting to observe the differences in styles and how the idea of ‘contemporary dance’ has changed and developed over time. All were danced absolutely magnificently.
The most dated work, I am afraid, is the earliest, Russian/American master Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments (1946). Technically the dancing was phenomenal and performed with exuberance and vigour but there was no emotional contact with the audience. On a plain bare stage, it was performed in ‘standard’ Balanchine black and white leotards/practice clothes, so was extremely revealing and challenging for the dancers. The starkly neoclassical choreographically was in parts perhaps a little repetitive, though the stark approach to the work allowed one to spot tiny choreographic phrases from Balanchine’s other works – Apollo, The Prodigal Son and The Firebird for example – and also to see how he prefigured Macmillan’s Manon. I also noted a particularly distinct style of épaulement for this work. Some of the solos were amazing, but the dancers were like machines briskly performing on the beat. Some of the famous Balanchine fleet footwork contrasted with a controlled floating movement in one of the pas de deux, and Lana Jones was astonishing in the explosive yet controlled ‘Choleric’ solo toward the end. Adam Bull was marvellous in the ‘Phlegmatic’ solo and I also especially liked Ako Kondo and Chengwu Go in the opening second theme pas de deux.
Audience favourite was the ravishing yet possibly challenging and confronting middle work, Bella Figura by Czech master Jiri Klylian (1985). Bella Figura means ‘beautiful figure’ – as in the body moving in space, as in life drawing. There are two tilted clear plastic boxes with nude mannequins visible when the show starts, and some of the work is performed topless. When the audience returns during interval the dancers are ‘marking’ the work on stage already then blackout and the curtain shifts…
A wonderful floating ‘caught in the curtain’ opening solo for a topless female dancer is presented at the start of the work. As devised by Kylian, the black curtains shift and change shape throughout the performance, sometimes blocking a lot of the stage and concentrating our attention on specific sections. Kees Tjebbes’ atmospheric lighting was stunning. For about a third of the work the dancers are in extraordinary, huge, rustling, tumbling, bell-like red skirts, almost like soft sculptures. For the final section there is a tender, lyrical pas de deux with a fire burning in the background. Performed in silence, it had the audience rapt.
Warning: for the last work, 2009’s Dyad 1929 by British choreographer Wayne McGregor (currently resident choreographer for the Royal Ballet in London) you might like to consider taking sunglasses. If you get migraines or similar the spotted set could possibly affect you visually and physically. Adding to the sense of visual tumult in this work is a luminous yellow bar that is lowered and raised at certain points in the work. The dancers have to appear boneless – choreographically and technically it is amazing, fiendishly, athletically difficult and at various points seemingly almost physically impossible. Steve Reich’s score is driving and relentless.
Created for the Australian Ballet in 2009 as part of the Diaghilev Ballets Russes centenary celebrations, Dyad 1929 is pure abstract dance, almost as if the dancers are inside a computer. The cast wear various assorted black beige or white costumes, some spotted or dotted, some in geometric designs, some a plain colour. There is use of a high, soft, pulled up jump but mostly the dancers are in various fast eddies and swirls of movement. Some of the lifts in the pas de deux are amazing. Lana Jones has a solo inside a yellow circle. It is also interesting to possibly observe both the Cunningham and Balanchine influence in McGregor’s choreography for this work.
A fascinating triple bill, especially as a snapshot of choreography over the past 50 years or so and how it has changed and developed, and featuring superb dancing.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Vanguard
The Australian Ballet
The Four Temperaments (1946)
Choreography: George Balanchine
Repetiteur: Eve Lawson
Music: Paul Hindemith, ‘The Four Temperaments’
Solo Pianist: Stuart Macklin
Lighting Design: Ronald Bates reproduced by Graham Silver
Bella Figura ( 1995)
Dance Production/Choreography: Jiri Kylian
Assistant to the Choreographer: Elke Schepers
Set Design: Jiri Kylian
Costume Design: Joke Visser
Lighting Design and Technical Adaptation: Kees Tjebbes
Music: Lukas Foss, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Alessandro Marcello, Antonio Vivaldi, Giuseppe Torelli
Soprano: Celeste Lazarenko
Mezzo Soprano: Anna Dowsley
Dyad 1929 (2009)
Choreography: Wayne McGregor
Music: Steve Reich, ‘Double Sextet’
Stage Concept: Wayne McGregor and Lucy Carter
Costume Design: Moritz Junge
Lighting Design: Lucy Carter reproduced by Graham Silver
Sydney Opera House
30 April – 18 May
