Although 2013 will see Aurelien Scannella take over from Ivan Cavallari as Artistic Director of West Australian Ballet (WAB), Cavallari will return to Perth to stage John Cranko’s Onegin in September/October.
In fact, the 2013 season is Cavallari’s swan song, programmed by the outgoing director but led by the incoming one. While this does mean that Scannella won’t be flexing too much artistic muscle in his first year with WAB, he is content with the arrangement. “I am very happy to be taking the reins of this great WA company from outgoing director, Ivan Cavallari, and am inspired and genuinely excited to be leading it through Ivan’s final program, as well as looking forward to continuing to build on the company’s strengths and aspirations,” he says.
As is traditional, the program will open with WAB’s annual “Ballet at the Quarry” season in February. 2013 marks the 20th anniversary of this much-loved outdoor event. The season will include Glen Tetley’s Voluntaries, as well as new works Yes, I’ll Move For You, by Cass Mortimer Eipper, and Jubilate by Daniel Roberts. The “Quarry” season will be followed by La Sylphide in May, restaged for WAB by Danish repetiteur Dinna Bjorn. This Romantic classic will be followed by a contemporary classic – Onegin. Wrapping up the year in November/December will be Russell Kerr’s Peter Pan, based on J.M. Barrie’s famous children’s story.
Onegin. Dancers: Sergey Pevnev and Fiona Evans. Photo: Jon Green.
