The Australian Ballet: "Icons"

The Australian Ballet: “Icons”
State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne, 30 August

The Australian Ballet's “Icons” is a retrospective of three works considered to be significant in the company's establishment of an Australian idiom in dance.  The works are from 1960, 1973 and 1980, respectively and give a snapshot of how the company saw itself over that period.  What emerges from the program choice is more retro than retrospective.  However, each of the works was identified as ground-breaking at the time.

Robert Helpmann's The Display astonished and titillated contemporary audiences with its overt sexual themes and representation of society on the cusp of the 1960's.  Today it seems old-fashioned in its theatricality.  For me, it had the feel of a 1950's musical (but not a good one). The overt “Aussieness” of the content must have been refreshing at the time, however.

A forest (Victoria's Sherbrooke) is interpreted through a series of Sydney Nolan scrims. A lyrebird flits and creeps in its legendary shyness.  Unfortunately, this seems a little comical and coarse by today's tastes, but the show of feathers must have impressed audiences of the time.  A young girl/woman (Madeleine Eastoe) enters the scene and dances lyrically. Friends join in to have a picnic.  Lads flirt, drink beer and play footy.  It's all terribly mannered.  An interloper, danced by Kevin Jackson, attempts to seduce the girl with a slow (seductive?) mating display.  Alas, it is rather wooden choreographically.  We know he is not wanted because his costume does not match that of the other dancers. The lad is rejected and comes back to sexually assault the female.  We know this because her skirt is ripped off.  The dancers did as well as they could with this stolid material.  The audience on opening night seemed willing to go along, but I found it tedious and dated. 

In contrast, Glen Tetley's Gemini (1973) is an abstract work.  It was originally considered to represent a new fusion of classical and modern technique, very sharp, sparse, technical and expansive in its use of space.  The 2012 rendering of this work is enjoyable and shows choreographic elements that still find their way into current dance making.  Lana Jones, Adam Bull, Amber Scott and Rudy Hawkes demonstrated technical skill and precision as the opening night cast. 

Gemini is all about purity of line and bodies in space, working with and against the sparse, angularity of the design.  Famously this work of Tetley's was an early example of the use of lycra to accentuate the physicality of the dancer.  Costume design in combination with lighting is still a striking feature of the work.  Every nuance of the dancers' bodies is revealed, bringing together the aesthetic and anatomical.   In some ways the ballet evolves through a series of photographic highlights - striking, spikey poses; crisp, clean, leaps and intimate though slightly detached melding of bodies. 

The final work on the Icons program is Graeme Murphy's Beyond Twelve.  A crowd-pleaser from its opening, this work follows the life of a male dancer from adolescence to the final days of his career.  Beyond Twelve attempts to connect with the general public through humour and footy references.  But being reminded of footy shorts from this era can never be a good thing and a lot of the humour relies on caricature. That said, there are still some lovely choreographic moments, especially between the three versions of the dancer, traces of memory echoing in their movements. 

All three dancers were strong in their roles.  I particularly enjoyed the loose lyricism of Andrew Killian as he enacted Beyond Thirty.  He conveyed a sense of regret and loss while hinting at the enhanced artistry that can be gained by a more mature dancer.  

The representation of masculinity in The Display and Beyond Twelve was a little irritating.  Were men really that effete and physically underwhelming only a few decades ago?  And such stereotypes?  The terrain of blokes in dance and dance representing men of all kinds is fertile and relevant.  But these works, while having some charm, have had their day.  

- Susan Bendall

The Australian Ballet continues its season of “Icons” until 8 September in Melbourne and will play the Opera Theatre at the Sydney Opera House 8-26 November.