Vitesse, Australian Ballet, State Theatre. Wednesday March 16th 2016

Vitesse, Australian Ballet, State Theatre. Wednesday March 16th 2016

"Vitesse" was presented by The Australian Ballet at the State Theatre on Wednesday March 16th 2016.  This is one of the best contemporary triple bills in The Australian Ballet's history comprising "Forgotten Land" by Juri Kylian,  "In the Middle Somewhat Elevated" by William Forsythe and "DGV©  : Danse A Grande Vitesse" by Christopher Wheeldon.

For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre.  So if you want a re-telling of the story please refer to the links for further information or for further insights.  Note, that I may provide different links for repeated main words or phrases.  I also mainly write for my memories of what I have seen.

"Forgotten Land" by Juri Kylian is a beautiful work that I have seen on about four or five occasions. I thought this cast were terrific dancing Juri Kylian's haunting choreography.  The sets and costumes are also by Juri Kylian.  The skirts look heavy-weighted fabrics but the female dancers make them move as if part of the choreography and also paying homage to costumes worn in Martha Graham's ballets.

The last girl in the cream coloured dress had a higher centre of gravity and from the beginning of her pas de deux affected her ability to be grounded like the other female dancers.  This gave the feeling that she was slightly off the beat.  She danced beautifully though created a visual heaviness with her partner.

"In the Middle Somewhat Elevated" by William Forsythe is another of my favourite contemporary ballets.  I have also seen this work on about four or five occasions and adore it.  The cast danced this beautifully with zest and verve.  It is an in-your-face work and is confrontational for the narrative story ballet-goers with its recorded score.

Apologies as I am finishing this review a few weeks after the event and did make notes though I am vague in names.  The shortest man had brilliant balance and was so light and buoyant.  I think his name is Callum Linnane and he is a dynamo to watch as he is so charismatic and was like a bouncing ball.  He was replacing Jarryd Madden at the last minute.  These type of cast changes are so exciting as the dancers are even more alert with a heightened sense of responsibility to deliver the goods.  Congratulations as the entire cast were brilliant and had me on the edge of my seat with your hyper extensions, off balances and thrilling bravura.

The finale pas de deux contained some hand holds that were so difficult - as the female lunged forward and was off balance.  They made it look effortless - when I can appreciate the timing, strength and skill involved. Cheers for a sensational and breath taking connection in your partnership. This was a sublime pas de deux.

"DGV©  : Danse A Grande Vitesse" by Christopher Wheeldon was my least favourite work of the night - though I still thoroughly enjoyed it for surprising reasons.

The set and costumes by Jean-Marc Puissant were fun.  The set was similar to seven rolls of celluloid film rolled up and jaggered at the raised ends which created various images of rolling hills or secret hiding places.

The corps de ballet out shone the principals for the choreography they danced as it was much more interesting and was so arresting and mesmerising.  It was as if the four pas de deux were lifting show cases for the men to show off how many lifts they could execute in the shortest given amount of time. Though each pas de deux was well danced they were such a serious contrast to the corps de ballet and the fun choreography they danced.  The corps were like the scenery you pass on a train journey and if you were not looking out of the train window you would miss their fleeting moments.

The corps de ballet reminded me of the Busby Berkley sequences from the movies with the various formations and playfulness.  Their port de bras was reminiscent of Delcroix Eurthymic exercises with a splash of Busby Berkley.  The changing of the arms with the couples turning their partners was a trick of the eye and so much fun.  They created optical illusions that had me questioning if I was watching correctly - a twist here, a turn there and a cheeky change of hands etc.  Wow!

Even before I had a chance to read the programme, I thought the pas de deux ballet reminded me of the dance sequences from the Gene Kelly film "An American In Paris" and as if I was looking out the window of a train to entertain myself.  The corps de ballet provided the light interludes and splash of dynamics.

There is an intrinsic focus problem with this ballet and that is the corps de ballet have the most interesting choreography.  They pull focus from the principals each time as I wanted to really concentrate on their moves, patterns and delivery.  They created such wonderful images of a journey.

I became obsessed with wanting to follow the corps de ballet from their first formation: when they moved from Stage right to left I was watching the first pas de deux and realised the corps had disappeared.  It was so enticing and played with our senses: as I questioned myself whether the corps suddenly were blacked out or gradually faded to a black-out.  This cemented the imagery of a train journey for me as if entering a new tunnel.  They moved along to Stage left in their formations.

Some of the entrances and exits were through a gap between two of the jagged ends of two film strips.  The dancers had to angle themselves to squeeze through the gap.  To me it was if we were voyeurs and sneaking into this private journey of what we could see on the travels.  Climbing through this barrier was embedding memories into our brains to differentiate between the fleeting moments that passed us by -  to these determined and deliberate actions to invade a new space.  They were trespassing and invading our senses.

The coda was sharp, bold and defined.  The music ended as the four couples held their female partners aloft.  This finale image was an after shock or an orgasmic after-glow to suspend the majesty of the ballet to let it linger in our memory.  This is our after glow or end to our journey to "Bliss".

Although it was my least favourite of the evening's ballets -  I do want to see it again as it was so rich in details.  I feel cheated that I did not get another chance to travel on this journey.

The music by Michael Nyman sounded like Phillip Glass repetitions and cycles with subtle changes in between.  Michael Nyman's score was played by Orchestra Victoria with gusto.

I really loved was the dancer's wrists were not a distraction as in any of these ballets.  The men and women created fluid lines that radiated beyond their finger tips, where-as in some story ballets the women, in particular, have a jarring angularity in their wrists which creates an evilness rather than an ethereal quality.  Here tonight, the dancers created magnificently pure shapes.

Each dancer gave us every ounce of their energy and artistry, and they were all were sensational.  The dancers serve us proud as a nation - dedicated to their art.

"Forgotten Land" by Juri Kylian,  "In the Middle Somewhat Elevated" by William Forsythe and "DGV©  : Danse A Grande Vitesse" by Christopher Wheeldon is the one best triple bills by The Australian Ballet with its dollar per step value.  Give me a good quality triple bill any day rather than the fluff and filler-material in the story ballets.

Better still it was a mobile phone free night!  No distractions in ten years!  Call the Ambulance as I am having a heart attack at the shock!

A brilliant night at the ballet.  That is a brilliant night at The Australian Ballet.  Who?  Yes The Australian Ballet - our ambassadors to the arts world.

Picnic at Hanging Rock, Malthouse Theatre, Wednesday March 9th 2016

Picnic at Hanging Rock, Malthouse Theatre, Wednesday March 9th 2016

For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre.  So if you want a re-telling of the story please refer to the links for further information or for further insights.  Note, that I may provide different links for repeated main words or phrases.  I also mainly write for my memories of what I have seen.

The new play "Picnic at Hanging Rock" has been adapted from Joan Lindsay's novel by Tom Wright. We saw this production at the Malthouse Theatre, on Wednesday March 9th 2016 and we practically ran out of the theatre screaming "Miranda...get me out of here."

"Picnic At Hanging Rock" at the Malthouse made us seething inside and we felt like Edith screaming and running down from the rock "Miranda, Miranda. Miranda." We could not wait to get out of the theatre. "Miranda, Miranda. Miranda get us out of here" It was an awful adaptation of the book and seemed to be a three hour production with its laboured transitions between scenes and it was only 85 TOO too long. Highly NOT recommended.

The best part was when three of the actors formed a triangle and raised alternate arms and then touched palms to create the most ethereal aspect of the production.  They did this sequence twice which followed after the shadow of the large looming tree at the back of the set.  The shadow looked like an alien space craft and together with their actions created some mystery to the production. Obviously this was the trigonometry imagery required to give visual weight to this lacklustre production.

Where in Joan Lindsay's book is the word "fuck"?  There is a sequence that defies logic where Irma returns and the other students want information and they attack her.  Irma of course rants "fuck" as one lady must do in Victorian times!

The opening created a shared descriptive monologue that foretold the doom of this production.  Each of the five actors shared the verbose opening.  Oh yeah I get it that the actors will rotate roles and not look like the characters at times. It would help when and if they would try and use some body posture to differentiate each of the various characters.

Oh no - let's just make it a radio play - like "Under Milk Wood" and use our voices to create the story.  If only this had occurred!  It would have been better to have read the book to us.

The production lacks focus, and is so confused.  Half an hour into the production and suddenly an actor appears in a man's outfit.  Why?  Why now suddenly use different costumes to create and differentiate characters?

Arielle Gray was the most effective when using vocals to create a male character.  She also used her body to create a male posture.  Though her writhing scene as Sarah was beyond comprehension. Vocally as Sarah she whispered her lines like a mouse and then suddenly found her voice towards the end of the play.  This was an interesting device to show her change in finding courage and her sense of identity.

Elizabeth Nabben's created a journey as Miss Appleyard.  Her diction was clear and precise though the accent lacked the precision of words like "room" and "noon" which were a bit strine.  Oh yes there is a difference for words like room and noon when using an upper class English accent compared with an Australian accent.

The other actors Harriet Gordon-Anderson, Amber McMahon and Nikki Sheils had their fleeting moments of glory, but due to the script and direction they were drowning with the material.  Sadly we were cringing as any semblance of rapport was lost between the characters as we quickly had to advance to the next scene change.  Sadly you could see the anticipation on their faces and in the breathing for their next line or action.  To stave off boredom I would watch their feet to see how they would prepare for the next line.  Oh yes one lady needed to rest her heel and calf at this moment or otherwise she may cramp!  Or I watched their breathing to see the anticipation in preparing for the next deep breath to support the next tirade.

Set and costume design by Zoe Atkinson had a modest set comprising of a large v shaped wall with a wardrobe upstage right. The carpet was the most interesting feature to keep me entertained as I watched where the foot prints were embedded into the carpet after each black-out.  This was so interesting as to ascertain where the actors and crew entered and exited for each "not too quick" scene change with thumping noisy sound effects to drown out any sounds.

While costumes were of school uniforms we then had to endure the confusing introduction of character costumes occasionally.  MMMMM we wondered "why some characters were being dressed in a different costume and not others?"  Another example to make us cringe.

Programmes were not available for sale until I asked for a copy at 7.10pm.  Finally the programmes were put on display.  This did not give a good impression of the Front of House staff.  Reading the programme notes gave away a hint of what was to come "The cast rehearsed with their eyes closed, and our backstage crew wear night vision googles during the performance."  Yes night vision googles not goggles!  Even Mr Google corrected "googles" to goggles in the previous sentence.  I think they mean "night vision goggles" and could not resist creating a link for them here!

The production was an academic discussion of the myth.  It was a drama school project gone wrong.

The lighting by Paul Jackson did not add to any mystery but further alienated me with the long black outs between scenes.  The best saving grace was the illumination of the tree hanging in the background as if looming.  The long black-outs reminded me of the days when the tabs would close in the theatre for a scene change with music playing to distract us.  The music created atmosphere but with the extended black-outs added to the fury we felt about the production.

The sound scape and composition by J.David Franze and Ash Gibson Greig reminded me of "Earthquake" with sensurround in the 1970s.

Oh yes I did read the director's blog (Matthew Dutton) after seeing the play.  Yes I have read the book and understand the significance of the gym scene.  But really do we need "fuck" in the script? Oh yes I understand now - "fuck" was used to help us run screaming out of the theatre like Edith.

This was not a memorable production and must be on the school curriculum as there were many teenagers in uniform at this performance.  The teachers will have a field day debating the book, movie and now this play.

I cannot wait for the musical or the "Forbidden  Broadway Picnic at Hanging Rock" send-up.  Tongue firmly in my cheek as I again scream for "Miranda".

For a more entertaining and informative piece - read the "The Solution to Joan Lindsays' Novel 'Picnic at Hanging Rock'?" by Brett McKenzie.  Your article made more sense than this ordinary production.

My partner gave it a 5/10 and then changed his mind to a 4/10.  I generously gave this production a 5/10.