The Australian Ballet Ramonda and Watermark

The Australian Ballet
images Danielle Brown
Counterpointe is the extremes of ballet colliding into one thrilling program.


This double bill program (with the addition of a stirring pas de deux) will combine the elegant 19th-century classic Raymonda with the vigour and attack of Artifact Suite by William Forsythe, an Australian premiere. The program will be rounded out with the effervescent Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux by George Balanchine.


Audiences will have the pleasure of seeing The Australian Ballet’s stars revel in pure ballet as they dance the Act III wedding scene of Raymonda. Just as he did in The Sleeping Beauty and Paquita, Marius Petipa, the grandfather of classical ballet, makes the wedding of the hero and heroine an opportunity for a sparkling display of classical technique; its Hungarian-inflected dances culminate in one of ballet’s most famous solos for a leading ballerina.


The program then moves on to Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, one of Balanchine’s most enjoyable gala pieces, which takes the tradition of the Petipa grand pas de deux and colours it with modern and surprising touches.


Counterpointe will conclude with 45 minutes of powerful movement in Forsythe’s Artifact Suite, a stand-out example of this groundbreaking choreographer’s signature style, which revolutionised the European dance scene. Forsythe’s work, which stretches and speeds up classical technique, is popular among The Australian Ballet dancers, who relish its challenges. Artifact Suite, an extract from a longer work Artifact, is set to Bach’s sublime Chaconne for solo violin and is contrasted with the repetitive urgency of piano pieces by composer Eva Crossman-Hecht.


Counterpointe is an experience not to be missed for the aficionado, and if you’re new to the art form, it’s a perfect introduction to ballet at the iconic Sydney Opera House.


SYDNEY 27 April to 15 May, Sydney Opera House, Sydney
australianballet.com.au/the-ballets/counterpointe


New York Dialects
An ode to one of the world’s most magnetic cities and the place where Artistic Director David Hallberg spent 20 years of his illustrious career, New York Dialectswill bring a slice of New York City’s creative language to Australian audiences. New York Dialects will unveil a new work by the American contemporary choreographer Pam Tanowitz – the first new commission by Artistic Director David Hallberg. It will be staged alongside two acclaimed masterworks, Serenade and The Four Temperaments, from the great game-changer of 20th-century ballet, George Balanchine.


SYDNEY 6 to 24 March, Sydney Opera House, Sydney
australianballet.com.au/the-ballets/new-york-dialects