Posted by Hazel J Taylor on November 28, 2010
Photo by Jeff Busby
Edge of Night, the Australian Ballet’s most recent Sydney Opera House triple bill, shows off the divinely gorgeous choreography of Stephen Barnes and Tim Harbour through the bodies and souls of some of the world’s hottest dancers.
Choreographed in 2003, Stephen Barnes’ At the Edge of Night (first on the bill) is a delicate, intriguing and sultry piece set to a selection of seven of Rachmaninov’s Op.23 and 32 preludes. Barnes began with the preludes as the foundation from which he built the ballet. Sitting with his set and costume designer Michael Pearce, the decision was collectively made that the ballet should take an ephemeral quality, with broad themes which inspired more questions than answers.
As a result, the ballet does not commit itself to a definite time or place in history, although the dramatic deep maroon coloured dresses made of thick Chinese dressing-gown fabric, and professional business attire of the ballet gents emanates a post war vibe, particularly when coupled with the nationalistic Rachmaninov score. Barnes and Pearce note that the fragments of the story emerged from their analysis of the score. Evoking themes of the past, of memories and of dreams, the dancers appear throughout the piece as if floating through an old house like ghosts in the night, calling on memories and conjuring images of forgotten times.
Lucinda Dunn starred in the At the Edge of Night lead role when Kluster showed up to watch on a humid Tuesday evening. Every bit the flawless prima ballerina, Dunn paid homage to the piece with a powerful performance, reinforcing the ballet’s status as a timeless classic. At the Edge of Night was lastly performed in New York in 2003 and 11 years on, the ballet has been revamped for a whole new cast of dancers, who take to the piece like swans to water.
Next on the bill, Halcyon, a new ballet based on your standard (but essential) big Greek mythology themes of forbidden love between a mortal and a god and the disjunct between the mortal world and the supernatural one. Choreographer Tim Harbour’s imagination was set alight when he heard the story (or myth rather) of Halcyon and her human lover Ceyx. Moving away from his earlier, more contemporary, abstract works, Harbour gets right into a ballet based on a strong narrative and traditional Greek mythology themes.
Halycon is a compelling debut work which, at the end of the day, is a very serious and poetic love story from which the term ‘halycon days’ was coined. The story surrounds the beautiful goddess Halcyon’s love for a mortal which really ticks off Zeus and his woman Hera. Of course, Halcyon and Ceyx are banished, which, due to the stresses that go hand in hand with being in love with a god when you’re a mortal, Ceyx crosses oceans to have a word with Zeus about it all and inadvertently dies on the way. Halycon knew this was about to happen, so she turned into a bird, retrieved his body, transformed him into a god or a spirit of some kind and they live happily ever after flying off into the sunset.
Kevin Jackson, as mortal Ceyx, was the clear standout in this ballet. A powerful, engaging - but at the same time somehow a really natural - considered performance. Adam Bull as Zeus was also pretty spectacular in his role, assisted greatly by his commanding stature.
The final ballet in the bill, Molto Vivace, was well placed to lighten up the sleepy crowd. A light-hearted, comical and colourful ballet, Molto Vivace looked like it would be a whole lot of fun to dance, contrasting to the romantic, dramatic seriousness of the preceding works. As leading cupid, Brett Chynoweth was the absolute cutest, keeping the audience chuckling with his humorous, cheeky moves.
Compared to The Edge of Night and Halycon, Molto Vivace is an upbeat, lively display of nothing very serious at all. Molto Vivace, which first premiered back in 2003, is a witty commentary on 18th Century life, times and society. The piece is founded on the artworks of French painters Fragonard and Watteau, whose works illustrate well-to-do society kicking it in pastoral landscapes and having a jolly old frivolous time.
The costume and set designer were on the money with their use of the stage and the lighting arrangements in this piece - a clever compliment to a cleverly choreographed, fun and unusual ballet, which injected some energy into every corner of the theatre. The hot multi-fluorescent-coloured pointe shoes were a stand-out costume touch, matching jovially with the different characters’ fun get-ups.
edge of night, australian ballet, sydney opera house, stephen barnes, tim harbour