The Sleeping Beauty, Australian Ballet, State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne, Wednesday June 21st 2017
"The Sleeping Beauty" - A production by David McAllister was presented by The Australian Ballet, at the State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne on Wednesday June 21st 2017For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre. I buy my own tickets. 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 write for my memories of what I have seen, and is more of a stream of consciousness.
In a word this performance was AWFUL!
I have seen this new version of "The Sleeping Beauty" by David McAllister when it was first presented and still think it is the best version of this story ballet. Sadly the cast were under-rehearsed, tired and walking through their performances.
This was the worst performance by The Australian Ballet I have ever seen.
The fairies in Act One all had faults in their solos. I will not be writing names as everyone can have a bad day. One dancer had incomplete extensions, another floppy feet, an awkward pas de chat that was squashed and nearly crashed into a couple on stage left. The costumes looked pretty!
The wrist lines were wrong for about four females during the garland waltz whilst wearing the blue and lemon costumes.
The patterns and lines were messy at times.
Act One when the baby is carried on needs refinement. It looked as if a doll was being thrown around in a very pedestrian fashion. There was no sense of fragility in baby handling skills by all who held the baby.
The crib entrance is still clunky and should be on a truck or wheels, or on one side of the stage.
During Act Two we witnessed a pointe shoe coming undone. This was elegantly attended to as the young lady gracefully re-tied her shoe whilst sitting on her partner's knee. This was a highlight and over rated the quality of the dancing! Yes - it out performed the majority of the dancing.
The Usher in the stalls (stage left region) was monitoring our dreaded woman who persists on turning her phone during every ballet performance. Congratulations to this Arts Centre Melbourne usher for her diligence as the light from the phone is so distracting.
Some of the miming needs refining and reworking. There is an over use of the port de bras to second gesture that is used to mean so many different things. There could be more clarity with the gestures.
The Act Three Bluebird pas de deux had an incomplete presage lift. I can understand this is a difficult lift and timing is paramount to its success. Sadly this pas de deux looked under rehearsed. Again, these usually sensational dancers had an off night. Do not whip yourselves. Yes I am calling what I saw - but you are both sensational dancers and I look forward to your next performance. You redeem yourself by getting back on your feet.
Amy Harris as Princess Aurora with Andrew Killian as Prince Desire danced adequately but were not on fire. Amy Harris did not look secure in her balances. One of her pirouettes had to be completed as she got stuck facing her partner Andrew Killian. His solo was too slow and laboured, that made him so grounded rather than elevated. This fine duo was good but not their usual brilliance. Again do not whip yourselves as I think Carabose had cursed this performance.
In Act Three one of the female guests fainted on stage and about three cast carried her off stage right. This created a buzz on stage where the concentration levels peaked. Sadly this young lady's misfortune created the best part of the ballet as the corps de ballet lifted their game with concentration, alertness and team work.
I was so impressed with this section as a couple on stage left from the corps de ballet left the stage to compensate for even patterns. Watching the corps de ballet chat among themselves to reconfigure and adjust positions was priceless. I am in awe of this group of dancers who did not allow this to destroy the show. BRAVO to you all for such camaraderie. Yes the final circle was incomplete - but who cares when you had the dancers really trying the hardest to make this scene work.
I think the whole night was a "Comedy of Errors" and each error compounded the next.
The Australian Ballet, at the State Theatre, on Wednesday June 21st 2017
I have seen this new version of "The Sleeping Beauty" by David McAllister when it was first presented and still think it is the best version of this story ballet. Sadly the cast were under-rehearsed, tired and walking through their performances.
This was the worst performance by The Australian Ballet I have ever seen.
The fairies in Act One all had faults in their solos. I will not be writing names as everyone can have a bad day. One dancer had incomplete extensions, another floppy feet, an awkward pas de chat that was squashed and nearly crashed into a couple on stage left. The costumes looked pretty!
The wrist lines were wrong for about four females during the garland waltz whilst wearing the blue and lemon costumes.
The patterns and lines were messy at times.
Act One when the baby is carried on needs refinement. It looked as if a doll was being thrown around in a very pedestrian fashion. There was no sense of fragility in baby handling skills by all who held the baby.
The crib entrance is still clunky and should be on a truck or wheels, or on one side of the stage.
During Act Two we witnessed a pointe shoe coming undone. This was elegantly attended to as the young lady gracefully re-tied her shoe whilst sitting on her partner's knee. This was a highlight and over rated the quality of the dancing! Yes - it out performed the majority of the dancing.
The Usher in the stalls (stage left region) was monitoring our dreaded woman who persists on turning her phone during every ballet performance. Congratulations to this Arts Centre Melbourne usher for her diligence as the light from the phone is so distracting.
Some of the miming needs refining and reworking. There is an over use of the port de bras to second gesture that is used to mean so many different things. There could be more clarity with the gestures.
The Act Three Bluebird pas de deux had an incomplete presage lift. I can understand this is a difficult lift and timing is paramount to its success. Sadly this pas de deux looked under rehearsed. Again, these usually sensational dancers had an off night. Do not whip yourselves. Yes I am calling what I saw - but you are both sensational dancers and I look forward to your next performance. You redeem yourself by getting back on your feet.
Amy Harris as Princess Aurora with Andrew Killian as Prince Desire danced adequately but were not on fire. Amy Harris did not look secure in her balances. One of her pirouettes had to be completed as she got stuck facing her partner Andrew Killian. His solo was too slow and laboured, that made him so grounded rather than elevated. This fine duo was good but not their usual brilliance. Again do not whip yourselves as I think Carabose had cursed this performance.
In Act Three one of the female guests fainted on stage and about three cast carried her off stage right. This created a buzz on stage where the concentration levels peaked. Sadly this young lady's misfortune created the best part of the ballet as the corps de ballet lifted their game with concentration, alertness and team work.
I was so impressed with this section as a couple on stage left from the corps de ballet left the stage to compensate for even patterns. Watching the corps de ballet chat among themselves to reconfigure and adjust positions was priceless. I am in awe of this group of dancers who did not allow this to destroy the show. BRAVO to you all for such camaraderie. Yes the final circle was incomplete - but who cares when you had the dancers really trying the hardest to make this scene work.
I think the whole night was a "Comedy of Errors" and each error compounded the next.
The Australian Ballet, at the State Theatre, on Wednesday June 21st 2017
In summary the dancing was ordinary,
Overall I gave this performance a 6.5/10.
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