The Australian Ballet School will present “Summer Season 2018” at the Arts Centre Melbourne’s Playhouse, 7-8 December.
Headlining the program is August Bournonville’s La Sylphide, one of the oldest surviving ballets. The original work showcased the technique of the great ballerina Maria Taglioni and announced a new Romantic era of dance. In La Sylphide, the human realm of a small Scottish community – evoked by folk songs in Herman Løvenskiold's score – meets a spiritual realm, with James, a classic Romantic hero, bewitched by a beautiful and otherworldly sylph.
The program will also feature Wolfgang Dance, choreographed by Simon Dow to "Allegro", the first movement from Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik; "Waltz" from Birthday Celebration, created for the ABS’s 40th Anniversary Gala in 2004 by Mark Annear; and Margaret Wilson's Heart Strings, a suite of short dances exploring the issues - real and imagined - faced by adolescenets.
The matinee will also include a character dance by Level 1-2 students and Haydn Symphony, choreographed by Paul Knobloch.
The ABS's Summer Season plays Arts Centre Melbourne, December 7 and 8. More: www.artscentremelbourne.com.au
Photo: Sergey Konstantinov