The Sleeping Beauty

The Sunday Age

Sunday December 21, 2008

John Bailey

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY

By the Australian Conservatoire of Ballet. At Hamer Hall. Season ended.

The Australian Ballet might dominate the local tutu scene but every week tens of thousands of students take ballet classes with smaller companies around the country. The Australian Conservatoire of Ballet (formerly the Christine Walsh Dance Centre) is one of the most impressive of these institutions and this recent end-of-year showing was a massive enterprise. Several dozen students were joined by local and international guest artists to deliver a reminder of the strength of the art in this country; moreover, it's performances such as these - in which young 'uns occasionally betray the terrible difficulties of classical dance through a slightly quivering pose - that reveal what an incredibly challenging art it is. There were no stumbles from the Conservatoire's orchestra, who offered a first-class, stirring rendition of Tchaikovsky's score. Natalia Vyskubenko gave a sharp though cool acquittal of the title role. And the students providing backup were simply evidence of the school's position as a training ground for excellent ballet.

© 2008 The Sunday Age

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