Summer Soirée

The extraordinary talent pipeline in the Queensland Ballet Academy is on show for a few performances only at the new Talbot Theatre at the Thomas Dixon Centre. The Summer Soirée is a colourful, intense, sophisticated and fun mix of styles, inspired by works in the visual arts realm by Tim Storrier AM in conjunction with Philip Bacon Galleries. The live accompaniment by Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra is the icing on the cake for a wonderful evening of entertainment by our talented local dancers from Queensland Ballet’s Pre-professional Program, Classical Course and Transitional Course, and their collaborators and choreographers, Natalie Weir, Paul Boyd and Louise Deleur.

What an inspiring experience for all the young dancers involved! And also for the audience, because this is not a mere technical tick-box exercise: these pieces are all fabulous artistic and entertaining works in their own right. And they illustrate why dance is such an intriguing art form – it makes you realise how imaginative your own brain can be when invited to interpret and watch movement and music instead of relying on words. Combined with the original art works, this is a winning formula. In the first piece, ‘Evening Embers’, Paul Boyd (Queensland Ballet’s Head of Upper School and Resident Choreographer) and his dancers respond to a series of paintings of fire. A young relationship is sparked and the couple (Jenna Civin and Jasper Metcalfe) face the challenges from first attraction to the fear of all-encompassing, raging passion – all to the soundtrack of Dvorak and Vasks.

‘Arcadian Repose’ by Louise Deleur (Head of Contemporary Dance and Resident Choreographer) takes a completely different series of paintings by Tim Storrier that combine beach settings and domestic props. With music by Nigel Gaynor and Guillaume Lekeu, the work explores the theme of water and and our relationship with the environment. The plastic costumes were wonderful and lead dancers Jessi Hough and Harrison Fletcher totally engaging.

Water continues to inspire in an emotional piece ‘The Voyager’ (the lead character was danced by Joseph Moss) with an ocean setting backdrop.

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Natalie Weir (Resident Choreographer) and her dancers create a story of love and loss, life and death, to commissioned music by Robert Davidson and Richard Meale. This piece contains some wonderful complex dance and movement, and I must single out the trio of Joseph Moss and his partners, Alyssa Park and Alisa Pukkinen.

I also enjoyed seeing Hana Nonaka Aillon who portrayed the Moonlight for her evocative, languid and cool performance.

This piece involved more than 15 dancers creating beautiful ocean waves. All the lead performers were outstanding, and no doubt we will see them in lead roles for Queensland Ballet in the future. There are obviously some very talented and dedicated performers in the ranks. A final selection of student works end the evening on a high: ‘A Fan of Love’ takes a cheeky look at a love triangle, as the Camerata musicians have fun with the Tango tunes of Carlos Gardel, choreographed and performed by Jasper Metcalf, Jorja Signitzer and Mia Paske. ‘Delicacy Amongst Chaos’ continues to use Storrier’s sea and flower wreath symbols and is choreographed and performed by Taya Barnard, Maeve Rooney, Lily Paige, Zara Ibrahim and Jeannie Mok. The ‘Grand Défilé’ sees around 80 dancers on stage (the seven levels of the Academy from the very young in the Lower School to the older students from the Pre-professional Progam) in a final impressive showcase.

With a fantastic selection of music, beautiful costumes by Kathryn Lee, and enigmatic lighting design by Ben Hughes, this year’s Summer Soirée is a total treat for the eyes, ears and brain. I look forward to watching these star dancers perform in mainstage productions for Queensland Ballet in the future as they all continue to work to prove that ballet in Queensland is in extremely good shape and ready to be seen at a world-class level.

Beth Keehn

Find out more: www.queenslandballet.com.au/performances/2022/queensland-ballet-academy-...

Photographer: David Kelly