Three Australian Ballet shows to see in autumn
01 SWAN LAKE
Commissioned in 2012 to celebrate the Australian Ballet’s 50th anniversary, Stephen Baynes’ Swan Lake is a return to the romantic tragedy of tradition, after Graeme Murphy’s contemporised ‘love-triangle’ version. All attention is focused on Prince Siegfried and his royal troubles, which are compounded when he falls in love with an enchanted princess trapped in the body of a swan. Add an evil sorceror and his black-swan daughter, and things aren’t going to end well. By all accounts Baynes has left intact Petipa’s famous sequences with the swans in Act 2 – you can’t improve on perfection. The design, by Hugh Colman, tilts between Edwardian splendour and ethereal beauty. Sydney Opera House. $43-$194. Apr 1-20.
02 SYMPHONY IN C
Symphony in C, opening at the end of the month, hedges its bets: the title work, set to music by Georges Bizet ( Carmen) is golden-era classical ballet, courtesy of George Balanchine. But accompanying Balanchine’s work are five short works – ‘divertissements’ – two of them showcasing classical pas de deux, and three of them contemporary. The three contemporary divertissements come one apiece from UK wunderkind Christopher Wheeldon and Australian Ballet company members (and Bodytorque alumni) Alice Topp and Richard House.
Sydney Opera House. $43-$234. Apr 29-May 14.
03 VITESSE
Vitesse brings together three giants of post-classical ballet: American choreographer William Forsythe (former artistic director of Ballet Frankfurt, and whose
Quintett was the highlight of Sydney Dance Company’s 2015 season), Czech choreographer Jirí Kylián (the influential artistic director of Nederlands Dans Theater from 1975 to 1999), and British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon (artistic associate of the Royal Ballet, London). Sydney Opera House. $43-$234. Apr 26-May 16.