David McAllister’s production of The Sleeping Beauty first premiered in 2015. Although it has made slight changes to content since then, it is still a lavish and extravagant production. As the most expensive production in the company’s history, no cent was wasted to create a stunning set design and exorbitant costumes. The aesthetics of the…
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It’s almost every little girl’s dream to dance the lead in Swan Lake. The chance to be the centre of attention amidst the grace and beauty of ballet at its most finest is just too enticing to resist. Admit it: even if you now couldn’t care less for ballet, there must have been some point in…
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Sheer opulence and grace is just one way to describe the Australian Ballet’s rendition of The Sleeping Beauty. David McAllister’s retelling of the classic Grimms fairytale entwined white rats, bluebirds, woodland creatures and a magnanimous Lilac Fairy onto the lavish sets. The plush costumes, dreamy orchestra and majestic decorum played a pivoting role in bringing…
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The Dream moves through three pieces by English ballet giant Frederick Ashton: Monotones II, which is a simple formalist modernist dance, Symphonic Variations which is a paired-back love story in Greco-Roman costume and Ashton’s surprisingly funny interpretation of a Midsummer Night’s Dream, simply named the Dream. While the performance is a masterful rendering of these historically important pieces, it sometimes left me wanting more….
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The world of the ballet meets high fashion in the sumptuous new exhibit at Melbourne’s NGV International, Ballet & Fashion. Celebrating the close relationship between renowned local and international designers and ballet, the exhibit explores the blurred line between the costumes and haute couture. Launched in conjunction with 50th birthday celebrations for the Australian Ballet,…
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Plenty of women would kill to look like Jenifer Ringer. The 37-year-old ballerina is slim, toned and healthy, with a million-watt smile, and something about her that just seems to sparkle. But according to New York Times critic Alastair Macaulay, this beautiful woman ‘looked as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many’ in her…
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This piece first appeared in issue three of Lip. Age five was the first time I stepped out onto the parquetry of the ballet studio. Excitement, wonderment and joy filled me. I was dressed in a pretty white leotard and skirt, pink ballet shoes and my hair in piggy tails with colourful ribbons. All this…
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