The Australian Ballet School presents Showcase 2019

Published by: PBP | 16-Sep-2019
The Australian Ballet School's much-loved annual showcase will fill the stages of Arts Centre Melbourne and The Concourse in Sydney this September, with a program of exquisite dance ranging from pure classical ballet through to contemporary works. Sunday 22 September, State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne. Friday 27 & Saturday 28 September, The Concourse, Chatswood. ""¦the nation's finest young dancers" - Dance Informa
Venue: Arts Centre Melbourne & The Concourse Chatswood
Address: Melbourne and Sydney
Date: Sunday 22 September, State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne and Friday 27 & Saturday 28 September, The Concourse, Chatswood
Time: 7.30pm
Ticket: $48-65
Web: https://www.australianballetschool.com.au/pages/showcase-performance
The full-time students of The Australian Ballet School will perform in Showcase 2019 "” a carefully curated program of ballets where beauty, symmetry and finesse are balanced with the boundless passion and flair of young talent. The result is an enthralling journey through the traditional and the new, presented by the next generation of Australian dance artists.

Exemplifying the technical skill and talent of The Australian Ballet School's dedicated students, this year's program features four premieres including The Australian Ballet School Défilé, Con Brio, After Escher and Sketch Tone at the expertise of choreographers Simon Dow, Margaret Wilson and Richard House.

The program opens spectacularly with over 100 dancers taking to the stage for The Australian Ballet School Défilé - a tribute to Dame Margaret Scott, the founding Director of the Australian Ballet School, who passed away earlier this year.

This is followed by another work choreographed by Simon Dow, Divertissement, which was originally staged in 2016. With added solos and a quartet to celebrate and challenge the classical artistry of the 2019 graduate students, this piece highlights the passionate young dancers who are on the brink of their professional path.

The program takes a contemporary turn in Journey, choreographed by Margaret Wilson, which draws inspiration from the migration of birds from one region to another.

In Con Brio, Level 4 students display detailed technique when dancing to the superb music of Haydn's Allegro, choreographed by Simon Dow.

Level 8 students perform Margaret Wilson's After Escher - a work in three sections based on quotes by M C Escher including "I am always wandering around in enigmas" and "Order is a repetition of units".

With choreography by Richard House, Sketch Tone movement presents itself almost like a classical ballet version of a flock of birds showing the swirls and openness but in a beautifully managed entanglement. Richard is an alumnus of The Australian Ballet School, and retired as a dancer with The Australian Ballet in 2018.

In La Tarantella Italiana, choreographer Leigh Rowles' 21st century choreographic interpretation of the 16th century Tarantella expresses fast-paced, exhilarating, virtuoso dancing in this classical, Italian folk flavoured performance. A former ballerina with The Australian Ballet, Leigh has been teacher, educator and choreographer with The Australian Ballet School since 1991.

Who Cares?, a Balanchine® Ballet, is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust. Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust, re-staged by Victoria Simon.

Though George Gershwin and choreographer George Balanchine had arranged to work together on Samuel Goldwyn's The Goldwyn Follies in 1937, the composer's sudden death put their collaboration on hold. It was not until thirty-three years later that a project joining the two creative minds would come to fruition in the form of the ballet suite Who Cares? With Balanchine's choreography and thoughtful selection of musical numbers, the work evokes the exuberance of life in New York, with a sound and style that is both thrilling and distinctly American.

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