International Gala 2012

This fifteenth annual gala was a cornucopia of delights.

Retiring Artistic Director François Klaus invited many QB alumni now gracing overseas stages to return home for this brief season to join the world class company that he nurtured and developed over his fifteen year tenure. They are the real centrepiece of this entertainment.

Knowing how audiences cherish the classical pas de deux, Klaus included those from Le Corsaire (with Natalie Kusch of Vienna State Opera Ballet – the only non-alumnus on the programme – and Daniel Gaudiello, now a principal with Australian Ballet); Romeo and Juliet (Rachael Walsh and Piran Scott); Othello (Meng Ningning and Nathan Scicluna); and The Sleeping Beauty (Natalie Kusch with Yu Hui). To these he added two modern pas de deux, both danced by Chantelle Kerr and Jón Vallejo from Semperoper Ballett Dresden: Intimate Distance from Unerreichbare Orte and the stand-alone, New Sleep.

Paul White was a hit with his original comical mime/contortionist solo, “Mask”.

A big-company joyful “Jive” from Klaus’s nostalgic creation Cloudland opened the show and an excerpt from Timeless Dances (by Klaus with didgeridoo expert William Barton) illustrated Klaus’s commitment to our indigenous culture. Budding young QB choreographer, Gareth Belling, created Bittersweet to showcase his talent, and Nils Christie’s cheerful party piece Dîner Dansant might have made a better finale than the rather sombre Übergang (= Change Over).

Clearly, François Klaus’s legacy is prodigious.  

Jay McKee

Images: Gareth Belling's Bittersweet. Queensland Ballet dancers & Natalie Kusch Vienna State Opera. Photographer:  Ken Sparrow