New mum Lana Jones returns to the stage
Principal artist of the Australian Ballet, Lana Jones, will return to the stage after giving birth to her first child in next month’s Melbourne premiere of Symphony in C. Here she is pictured with her son Velasco - he was born on 17 November, 2016.
“Symphony in C” opens in Melbourne in August and is a program which brings together the pioneering choreography of George Balanchine with pioneers of today.
The ballet that gives this season its name, Symphony in C, is a tribute to the golden era of classical dance. The work runs the gamut of balletic expression, from explosive leaps and quick footwork to a swooning pas de deux with captivating bends and balances. Although Symphony in C is grounded in Balanchine’s classical training in Imperial Russia, shades of his years on Broadway emerge in a culminating display of pure white tutus. The work is set to George Bizet’s eponymous score, written in 1855 when the composer was just 17 years old and living as a student in Paris.
The elaborate group work of Balanchine is complemented by a series of shorter works, each with their own unique modern energy. Making their Melbourne mainstage debuts are two new works by corps de ballet dancers Richard House and Alice Topp (who featured in Dance Australia’s June/July issue). After making their names as choreographers in the Australian Ballet’s new work series “Bodytorque”, House and Topp debuted their first mainstage shows in the Sydney season of Symphony in C in 2016, garnering popular and critical acclaim.
House’s From Silence is for four dancers and explores youthful love and loss, accompanied by cinematic music by Michael Nyman.
Topp’s Little Atlas sees three dancers in sleek black performing a closely entangled pas de trois to soft piano music of Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi.
‘Symphony in C’ plays exclusively at Arts Centre Melbourne, State Theatre, from August 24 to September 2.