Paquita. By The Australian Ballet
The Sunday Age
Sunday June 17, 2007
4/5
Paquita. By the Australian Ballet, State Theatre, the Arts Centre. Until June 18. Tel. 1300 136 166. $30 to $107.The Australian Ballet's first outing for the year, Don Quixote, was a spectacle of masculinity, engaging with Rudolf Nureyev's redefinition and expansion of the role of the male dancer. This new collage of short pieces offers the perfect counterpoint, its female leads showcased for their varied strengths. Not that the men suffer - opener Valetta, choreographed by Paul Knobloch, is a beefcake buffet of men in tighty whites, cheeky in every sense. From there on in, though, it's the women who shine in half a dozen shorts of diverse character. 1957's Spring Waters is a bold, show-off piece in the Soviet style - skimpy costumes emphasising the raw athleticism of its dangerous leaps. Le Corsaire, on the other hand, is a cooler, more classical number from 1856. The headline work of the night, though, is Paquita itself, but after the quality of the preceding six dances it feels less a hearty main course than a lavish dessert. The piece is mainly composed of a series of pas de deux, but each offers a detailed sense of the dancers' distinctive styles. Principal Kirsty Martin's glamorous presence - most obvious in last year's Raymonda - is an excellent contrast to senior artist Olivia Bell's cool, sensitive precision. Soloist Gina Brescianini conveys a youthful dynamism, while Lana Jones presents a breezy, summery lightness. It's a short, sharp evening of equally brief moments, but the sum is a hugely rewarding tour of the AB's current line-up.
© 2007 The Sunday Age