A Night At The Ballet

Went to see The Australian Ballet last week.  Infinity is three works on the company choreographed by contemporary choreographers.  The first piece was by Australia's contemporary dance pioneer Graham Murphy.  Oh dear.  Not a good start, but perhaps that is why they put the most traditional piece first in the hope that the punters would stay to see the more exciting pieces.  There were of course occasional moments of brilliance and exquisite movement, but most of the time I was inwardly shaking my head muttering "Graham, Graham, Graham......".  Anyone who gets a dancer to tap themselves on the head whilst they slide down into middle splits has got to be questioned.

Anywho, on to better things with a hilarious and updated version of Swan Lake called There's Definitely A Prince Involved.  Ex-Artistic Director of Chunky Move (where I take my weekly class in dance and sanity) delivered a very funny, theatrical piece which showcased some gorgeous duets and tantalising movement, nothing at all connected with ballet, but very smartly done.

However, the complete showstopper of the night was Bangarra Dance Theatre, a company which fuses indigenous and contemporary dance culture.  Absolutely mind-blowingly gorgeous piece.  I was interested to see how they would be able to make ballet dancers cope with movement which was raw, mainly floor-based and more grounded than any prima donna would like.  The movement material was modern, edgy and very collaborative.  I take my hat off.

PS. Forgot to update on the dance job front: yes ended up taking on the Thursday night classes.  Added another one on to that beforehand, so have decided to juggle babysitter, karate, The Accountant and dance classes for the sake of keeping my hand (foot, elbow, head, back etc) in the game.