By Rebecca Martin.

Two of Stuttgart Ballet’s rising stars, Daniel Camargo and Elisa Badenes, journeyed to Melbourne to perform at The Australian Ballet’s 50th Anniversary Gala late last year. They performed the first piece of the night, choreographed by Stuttgart Ballet’s own Demis Volpi. It was a challenging contemporary piece that highlighted the dancers’ exquisite bodies and technique.

Ultimately though, it was their performance later in the evening of the Don Quixote Act III pas de deux that blew the audience away and exhibited why Stuttgart Ballet is one of the world’s greatest companies.

Dance Informa caught up with Daniel and Elisa upon their return to Germany following a tour to China with Stuttgart Ballet.

Tell us a little about your dance training.

Daniel Camargo
I began my dance training in my native country Brazil at the Guaira Ballet School in Curitiba. In 2005, I participated in the Youth America Grand Prix and met Tadeusz Matacz, Director of the John Cranko School, who invited me to come to Stuttgart. At the John Cranko School I studied with Petr Pestov, a great teacher who influenced me very much. In 2009, I joined the Stuttgart Ballet.

Elisa Badenes of Stuttgart Ballet in Don Quixote.

Elisa Badenes
I started at age 11 at the Conservatorio Profesional de Danza de Valencia in my home country of Spain. My teacher was Rafael Darder.  In 2008, I participated in the Prix de Lausanne and received a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School where I studied for one year. In 2009, I auditioned for the Stuttgart Ballet and joined the company.

What was it like to perform for The Australian Ballet?

Daniel Camargo
Amazing. The entire company was very nice and welcoming. Of course it is always interesting to see how different companies work. I found the Australian Ballet to be like a big family with lots of positive energy.

Elisa Badenes
It was very nice and a lovely experience. Everyone was working so hard and it was clear from the atmosphere that it was a very important evening for the company. The staff and the dancers made our stay really enjoyable and comfortable.

What did you think of Australia and of the dancing?

Daniel Camargo
Melbourne was fantastic and in general the country reminded me of the USA in terms of the “wide open spaces.” Everything seemed very new and the mix of architectural styles was impressive. The people are very friendly. 

Elisa Badenes
I always wanted to travel to the “other side of the world,” so this was a dream come true for me! Everything was exciting. We really loved the people.  Unfortunately we didn’t have much time to travel around but when we left we had a very positive overall impression of Melbourne. The level of the dancers was very good and it was especially nice to see how supportive the audience is of the dancers.

What is your favourite piece to perform?

Stuttgart Ballet’s Daniel Camargo in Don Quixote

Daniel Camargo
So far, definitely the full length Don Quixote!

Elisa Badenes
It’s hard to say…. I just love all the pieces I have danced so far.

Do you prefer traditional ballet or modern pieces?

Daniel Camargo
Both. I love the traditional pieces, the classics, as well as contemporary works. It is the most challenging to be involved in the creation process for brand new works, but it is very exciting.

Elisa Badenes
I simply can’t choose because the biggest pleasure is to be able to do both. I can’t imagine dancing just classical or just modern. I love dancing different styles and different works. That is one of the big pleasures of our job, that we are changing roles, characters and styles.

What would you do if you weren’t a dancer?

Daniel Camargo
Sports – soccer, skateboarding or snowboarding.

Elisa Badenes
I could imagine studying, but it would surely involve the arts or a profession where one has contact with many people.

Top photo: Stuttgart Ballet Soloists Daniel Camargo and Elisa Badenes. Photos courtesy of Stuttgart Ballet.

Capitol Theatre, Sydney
15- 19 August 2012

By Lynne Lancaster.

Pretty ballet purists will hate this, but if you are into jaw dropping contemporary dance amazingly performed, this is it.

The Eifman Ballet’s Anna Karenina is a pared down, psychological thriller version that concentrates  on the triangle of Anna, her husband and Vronsky – there is no Kitty, Levin, Dolly et al in this reworking. This adaptation of the Russian classic was first performed in 2005 and here uses the assorted, edited, recorded music of Tchaikovsky. This is the first time the Eifman Ballet have toured Australia and it has exploded onto the Capitol stage with the force of a tsunami.

It is obvious that Eifman likes his dancers tall, lean and with a long flying line. They are incredibly daring, athletic and able to perform his extraordinary choreography full of fiendishly difficult, unusual lifts and swirls. He demands a very high, soft jump and amazing turns. The dancers must also be able to act.

Nina Znievets as Anna is astonishing. In an amazing performance she gives a portrait of a woman who sacrifices all for love and disintegrates into drug addiction and mental breakdown. Towards the end, in the incredible pas de deux with Vronsky, she is like a bizarre broken puppet, manipulated by her fears and longings.

As Vronsky, Oleg Gabyshev is breathtaking with impeccable technique. He is a great actor too.  In this version Vrosnksy is portrayed as young, extremely handsome and very much in love with Anna. He has a couple of amazing solos that display his incredible jumps and his partnering in the pas de deux is exemplary.

As Karenin, Oleg Markov is more than excellent. While superficially cold and aloof (especially to Anna) we see the boiling passion hidden underneath. He is tall, blonde, handsome and quite distinguished. An amazingly elegant dancer, he has some fabulous solos.

There is fine ensemble work by the huge cast, especially in the ballroom scenes, train scene and the breathtaking finale.

From a design perspective generally the production is quite sparse and simple, with (for example) just a sofa or bed spot lit. But there are also some opulent scenes and visually impressive use of a bridge at times. The bridge is also dramatically tilted and used symbolically when Anna has her breakdown in Act 2.

The costumes, magnificently designed by Slava Okunev, range from dazzling, exquisite ball gowns, masks and uniforms to skin coloured unitards. The overall colours of the production are mostly grey, silver and black, with some beige/khaki for the soldiers, contrasted with the occasional splash of colour.

If you want to see ground breaking contemporary dance don’t miss this!

Photo: Eifman Ballet’s Oleg Markov and Nina Zmievets in Anna Karenina. Photo by Cynthia Sciberras

Parramatta Riverside Theatre
October 27 2011 

By Dolce Fisher

The latest installment from youMove, presented by Form Dance Projects, showed how this company has graduated to the next level. Previously being known in the community as a youth dance company, youMove has taken its place as a pre-professional company offering real opportunities, training and mentorship for its dancers. youMove has a very different vibe to that of other small companies of a similar nature. This can only be put down to its leadership under Kay Armstrong and her generational vision.

4Tell featured five small works, each very individual in theme visually and artistically. Interjected between each work were short solos that came out of the company’s blog. These were highly entertaining and well-rehearsed.

The show opener was Boundaries choreographed by Ian Colless. The work showed his Bangarra background. The dancers captured the style and the smooth quality of the movement and were really grounded into the floor.

Next, Kevin Privett’s work By Looking featured twisting and swirling effects created by the dancers’ movements. The creative lift work was an intriguing and integral part of the choreography.

youMove dancer Angela French choreographed and performed a solo work entitled 3^rd Time Over. The movement had a repetitive nature but a very deep emotional element made the work very intense.

Last Pace to Go, danced by Anna Healey and Sean Marcs, was a virtual work choreographed by Davis Williams. The dancers and choreographer used Skype to bring the work together, showing how we can take advantage of technology to develop our art. The choreography was extremely intimate and showed many facets of a relationship. The work was performed so well that at times I felt like the moments created were really just for the pair, and not the audience. The feeling of looking into the pair’s relationship became very real.

Lastly, Anton’s Multiplicity was precision perfection. There was one section that had all of the dancers moving their arms frantically in a circular motion, incredibly fast. This alone had me on the edge of my seat.

4Tell is an exciting sign of what is to come from this company, going from strength to strength and producing some talented young artists. The only downside was that the season was so short and wasn’t seen by more audiences in Sydney, across NSW and the rest of the country.

Photo: Wendy McDougall

Jack Productions burst onto the scene with their acclaimed first production, Human Abstract in 2010.  The brainchild of Lucas Jervies, Robert Curran, Andrew Killian, and Laura Tong, Jack Productions promised to inspire audiences and produce a fusion of classical and contemporary dance that was innovative while exploring classical ballet technique.  With performers from The Australian Ballet as well as international stars, Jack Productions has revolutionized the dance landscape in Australia and is set to further impress audiences with the upcoming collaboration A Chamber Ballet with Ensemble Liaison. 

Ensemble Liaison was formed in 2006 and was recently named Ensemble in Residence at Monash University.  Comprised of three internationally acclaimed musicians: David Griffiths (clarinet), Svetlana Bogosavljevic (cello), and Timothy Young (piano), they performed their debut concert for ABC Classic FM the same year.  They have collaborated with sopranos, violinists, performed interstate and overseas, released a CD, and been broadcast nationwide on various radio stations. 

A Chamber Ballet, the collaboration between Jack Productions and Ensemble Liaison will feature Joseph Simons, Marc Cassidy, and The Australian Ballet’s Rachel Rawlins and Andrew Killian, with choreography by Lucas Jervies.  The chamber ballet will present the passionate songs of Manuel de Falla – The Six Songs interwoven with Love the Magician arranged by Ensemble Liaison.  The essence of the collaboration is about building on the instinct to get up and dance to music. This exciting union of creative forces is for only one night at Melbourne Recital Centre, and promises to bring a unique opportunity for lovers of ballet and chamber music to come and experience these two art forms united.

Dance Informa asked dancer Rachel Rawlins and pianist Timothy Young about the experience of putting the production together.

Rachel, you have worked closely with musicians and composers previously. How does the experience of working with Ensemble Liaison compare?

The process of working with Ensemble Liaison has really just begun. I have met the company and heard them play. It is such an inspiring atmosphere to be involved with talented, enthusiastic, passionate musicians.  Reacting to live music is one of the best thrills of being a dancer.

Timothy, what were your impressions of dancers prior to working with them, and has that impression changed now?

My understanding of what it takes to be a dancer has only been reinforced through this experience. The discipline and grueling practice regime required to be in top form is not dissimilar to being a musician. To observe the focus and commitment of the dancers was no surprise. I think the rehearsal space with wall to wall mirrors and the constant visual scrutiny of their every move left more of an impression – we rely mostly on ours ear to make these judgments!

How does working with dancers and choreographers compare to working with musicians and composers?

Rachel
Being a professional dancer for twenty years, working with other dancers and choreographers is like second nature to me. I think having musicians and composers involved in the creative process and the end result completes the artistic experience.

Timothy
The comparison between the two art forms is unbelievably close. It would seem that the dancers’ and choreographer’s creative work and decision making is simply an extension of what we do musically all the time. As musicians we technically divide space in time to achieve the sounds to realise the composer’s intentions. The dancers too divide space in time to realise the movements to achieve those same intentions. Rhythm forms the foundation for us both to work from.

How much of a collaborative effort is this production? 

Rachel
So far I have been mostly working with Lucas on developing and expanding movement phrases. He is completely open to suggestions and personal interpretations. There is a lot of freedom within his ideas and themes for collaboration.

Timothy
From the outset the production has been a close collaboration. This started with the selection of the music to perform. It then progressed to ordering the succession of musical numbers corresponding to connections made between the individual musicians and dancers. We are also combining other works of De Falla within the body of the ballet, so we needed to maintain the dramatic build up in the original musical form. Then there are logistical issues on how to position the players and dancers on stage without losing the intimacy required to perform chamber-music and still interact integrally with the dancers. Further questions then arise; Do we reflect this collaboration in what the musicians wear? Should the musicians move and dance around the stage too, should the dancers play?, etc.

What are some of the challenges of a production like this?

Rachel
The challenge is finding time. 

Timothy
Some of the challenges from the purely musical perspective are to arrange a score that has a large orchestral palette to begin with and transcribe it for only four instruments. We are striving to maintain the dramatic implications of the score’s original wealth of colour and contrast.  At the same time we must adhere to the natural qualities that our instruments have both in their individual and combined voices. Integrity regulates the creative balance between what we can realistically achieve without changing the composer’s intention.

What have been some highlights of the experience?

Rachel
Seeing how Lucas creates movement and turns it into dance, being created on and dancing with Andrew Killian. Also I’m really looking forward to next week when the musicians are being woven into the piece. 

Timothy
Some of the highlights have been watching Lucas spontaneously create and improvise some of the moves for the dancers to try, and then observe their almost immediate assimilation of those ideas. To see how the same interpretative process that a professional musician takes is applied to ballet is inspiring. It has also been exciting and satisfying to see how the musical arrangement and interpretation has taken shape as ballet and reciprocally how the dancers’ movements have influenced our interpretation and spontaneity.

What can the audience expect on August 18th?

Rachel
The audience can expect  an energetic, uplifting collaboration between fantastic musicians, an inspired and refreshing choreographer and dancers who just love to have the opportunity to be involved and contribute in creating new art.

Timothy
Lovers of chamber music and ballet can come together and experience these two art forms united .The audience will have a rare experience to hear and see Manuel De Falla’s masterpiece in a very intimate and unique arrangement in a stunning venue. It is a beautiful way to witness this magical dialogue and strong bond between music and dance.

A CHAMBER BALLET – Ensemble Liaison with JACK Productions
Date: August 18, 7pm
Venue: Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre
Book at www.melbournerecital.com.au or call the Box Office on 03 9699 3333.

The Australian Ballet with Orchestra Victoria
Choreographer: Stephen Baynes

The State Theatre, Victorian Arts Centre
June 2011

By Tamara Searle

“He ne’er is crown’d
With immortality, who fears to follow
Where airy voices lead.”              
Keats

The Australian Ballet’s program Elegy is comprised of two meditative pieces, Requiem and Beyond Bach by Australian Ballet resident choreographer Stephen Baynes.  Both pieces pursue another-than-human world of spirit.  Requiem invokes voices from the afterlife and Beyond Bach explores the heavenward reach in pure classical form.   Baynes is in full control of the language of classical ballet; the illusion of effortlessness, the sublime lines, and dedication to musical scores.  It may at first seem strange that Australia has a master choreographer for classical ballet, until you consider that Baynes was a contemporary of Forsythe and Killian at Stuttgart Ballet early in his career.   

In Requiem Baynes explores through symbolism the impossibility of knowing more than our human condition. The piece takes its title from Faure’s Requiem which it is set to. The singers are integrated into the ballet by faintly lighting them on the outside of the set.  This is a lyrical and highly successful dramaturgical conceit, as the singers become the voices that the dancers can never quite see. Initially the audience are invited into a world of anonymous bodies. These bodies seek and turn restlessly. They are haunted by the voices they cannot see.   The figures gesture at life events and struggles. These events are framed by austere white walls, designed by Roberts and lit by Levings, which dissolve into blackness at the height of the proscenium. The performers are always seeking to know what is beyond these walls they are constrained within.  When not dancing they stand in tableaux with their heads cocked to listen to what goes on beyond the wall.  There are two pas de deux in which Kirsty Martin and Kevin Jackson, and Madeline Eastoe and Robert Curran fold into the music and each other in endless variations on the theme. Veteran of the ballet Marilyn Jones OBE performs the role of the omniscient mother, reminiscing on the lives of her children.  She could also be seen as a god figure as she intertwines and intervenes in the lives and movements of the dancers.

The maturity of Jones combined with the older principal dancers, the effervescent Eastoe, the solemn Curran and the supreme grace of Martin gave the Saturday night cast considerable gravitas. 

Beyond Bach is a reminiscence on the form of classical ballet, exploring the influence of Bach on the development of ballet in the courts of Louis XIV.  A lady in court attire sets the scene, gliding across the stage and disappearing enigmatically, before dancers in short tunics take off into athletic sequences of dance driven by the complexities of the Bach arrangements. Just as Bach and other art produced around the court of Louis XIV sought to represent the potential for transcendence through religion and the monarchy, each element of Beyond Bach draws our eyes and spirit upwards.  No more so than in the French court stage design by Carter. The candelabras lift up off the stage in the opening sequence, a huge gold staircase spirals up to the height of the stage and a floor to ceiling window at the rear all reinforce the motif of transcendence. It is a testament to Baynes that Beyond Bach is 15 years old. There are not many late 20^th century pieces of dance in repertoires by Australian choreographers. 

The program of Elegy had a notably shorter season, running for only a week, where a full-length narrative ballet may run for two or three weeks.  It is curious that programs of modern classical ballet such as these command less of an audience.  They are great works of art. 

Photo: Olivia Bell of the Australian Ballet in Beyond Bach. Photo: Branco Gaica