WA Ballet zooms into 2015
The WA Ballet next year will dance the steps of famed choreographer William Forsythe for the first time and perform a full program of works by George Balanchine, the father of American ballet.
The inclusion of two of the heavyweights of 20th century choreography marks a major leap forward for the company under artistic director Aurelien Scannella.
Also in the season is WA Ballet's second co-production with Queensland Ballet, Coppelia, and the return of Cinderella, created in 2011 by principal artist Jayne Smeulders.
Ballet at the Quarry begins the year, as ever, as part of the Perth International Arts Festival in February.
Headlining the popular outdoor event will be the Australian premiere of Zip Zap Zoom, one of two works at the Quarry from Colombian-Belgian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. The second work from Ochoa is La Pluie (the rain), a pas de deux to the music of J.S. Bach.
Forsythe's seminal Steptext comes into the WA Ballet repertoire, challenging the traditional role of a ballerina in a typical pas de deux setting with three male dancers. "It was one of my goals to bring William Forsythe into the WA Ballet and this one will hopefully be the first of many," Scannella says.
He has worked with Forsythe in the past and for two years performed the duet from the American choreographer's In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated with his wife Sandy Delasalle, who has joined him at WA Ballet as ballet mistress.
"We always kept this relationship so when I got in touch with him there was no problem," Scannella says. Steptext should be the first one in a long list because I really like what he does."
To round out the Quarry program, Scannella also has commissioned WA Ballet dancer and choreographer Daniel Roberts to develop Hold the Forth, a work set to music by Max Richter which first appeared in the company's experimental Genesis program last year.
The Quarry season in 2012 introduced WA Ballet audiences to Balanchine through his work Serenade.
On the strength of that performance, and a video sent to the George Balanchine Trust in New York, the company was able to leverage an entire program for the return of ballet to His Majesty's Theatre in May.
"In the ballet world, to get a full Balanchine evening is not easy," Scannella says. "It is easier to get permission from the Balanchine trust for one piece but three pieces at once is not easy financially or artistically. They have to be sure that the company is artistically and technically able to perform it well.
"The company has done Serenade and I had to send a video of that and they checked it to see the quality was there."
Embraceable You: A Celebration of Balanchine will feature Who Cares, based on music by George Gershwin, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, based on a rediscovered piece from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, and Concerto Barocco, inspired by Bach's Concerto in D for Two Violins.
To complete the program, Smeulders creates a Balanchine-inspired version of the Tarantella.
Punctuating the four formal stage seasons, Genesis returns to the WA Ballet Centre in June.
"It is a great opportunity for the dancers to show their choreographic skills and for me it is good to see their work to program maybe later at the Quarry," Scannella says.
He announced the 2015 season on Thursday at His Majesty's Theatre where the company tonight wraps up La Fille Mal Gardee, its first co-production with Queensland Ballet.
The two companies also commissioned choreographer Greg Horsman to create a new version of Coppelia, resetting the
comic tale of an eccentric doctor, his
lifelike doll and two meddlesome lovers in the historic South Australian town of Hahndorf. After a season earlier this year in Brisbane, it comes to His Majesty's in September.
The year concludes with Smeulders' version of Cinderella. "It was one of the biggest successes of the company a few years ago so we thought let's bring it back next year for the Christmas season," Scannella says.
Approaching his third year as artistic director, the Belgian-born Scannella says his 2015 season offers a balanced diversity with plenty to please and challenge the public and the dancers alike.
"We are here to challenge the public," he says. "We are not allowed to do it too many times every year but I think once a year it is important to do it.
"We have to bring to the Perth public what they don't know, not what they know. Otherwise it is boring. It is like having only one restaurant in Perth always serving the same dishes for 10 years."
THE YEAR AHEAD
BALLET AT THE QUARRY: ZIP ZAP ZOOM: February 6-28, Quarry Amphitheatre,
City Beach.
EMBRACEABLE YOU: A CELEBRATION OF BALANCHINE
May 15-30, His Majesty’s Theatre
GENESIS
June 24-27, WA Ballet Centre, Maylands
COPPELIA
September 11-26, His Majesty’s Theatre
CINDERELLA
November 20-December 13, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth
Season details: waballet.com.au
