Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne
Reviewed December 15
Corresponding with the 40th anniversary of Possum Magic by legendary children's writer Mem Fox and glorious illustrator Julie Vivas, Loughlan Prior has created Possum Magic, the ballet for the senior students of the Australian Ballet School. It is really a genius move to leverage the appeal and Aussie flavour of such a well-loved story and at the same time hand the young dancers some wonderful opportunities to interpret these favourite characters.
Possum Magic, the ballet is a fun-filled romp through the Australian landscape, featuring all of our iconic animals. At its heart is Hush, a little possum who is made invisible by Grandma Poss in order to keep her safe from harm. But Grandma Poss has forgotten what magic she wove to create this protection. So starts a search through our great continent to find just the right food to return Hush to visibility. Hush and Grandma Poss hop on a bike and commence their grand tour, accompanied by all their critter friends. Hush's invisibility was magicked by the simple device of a costume change - her colour is stripped and she regains it little by little as she and Grandma Poss find just the right food.
As Hush, graduating student Milana Gould is beyond cute. She also happens to have crystalline technique and artistry to burn. A lot of the choreography for Hush has a contemporary feel, combined with a touch of clown, and there is a "just right" feel to the casting. Equally, Kit Thompson as Grandma Poss is playful and larger than life, displaying strong stage presence and acting ability in addition to her dancing.
Each character reveals themselves in all their iconic Aussie glory. These included a very athletic Koala, danced with energy and attack by Ethan Mrmacovski, some good comedic work from Charlton Tough as the wombat, along with the full gamut of cheeky and elegant Aussie animals. More words would allow me to comment individually about each, but, in summary, all the dancers embody their animal roles well. The music by Claire Cowan is terrific - each character has a signature style, from Grandma Poss with her blue-grass infused twang, to the jazzy emus, to a retro go-go beach vibe for the life savers (but, pardon - life-savers in Brizzy? We will forgive you this time).
The costumes and set design were also a delight. Emma Kingsbury’s designs for all the animals were fabulously rendered and very detailed - the sleek platypus, the elegant kookaburra, the gorgeously spiky echidna and big furry dingo. The big red kangas were statuesque and athletic, pavlovas and life savers doing their thing in stripped-down or meringued-up style. Animations by Glynn Urquhart were charming and very effective, with their lovely retro feel.
This is certainly a feel-good piece for young dancers and young audiences, and the mature viewers on this night seemed very taken with its charm, too.
Three other pieces were performed as part of the program. They were all danced with strong technique and artistry. First came a rather lovely concept in Paul Knobloch’s Degas Dances, choreographed to excerpts from Dvorak's Serenade for Strings and based on the look and poses from Degas' paintings: so very relatable for students. This work gave the Level 4 students the chance to show their cheeky exuberance as they portrayed somewhat undisciplined young dance students with great individual flair and comic skill.
In the role of Lead School Boy, Ruito Takabatake showed that he sure can jump. He performed all kinds of balletic pyrotechnics in his role as a young man besotted by Degas’ Little Dancer statue (danced with delicacy by Lily Keith). There is a delicious moment when a portrait at the back of the stage spills out an array of dancers as if by magic. Level 5 and 6 students show lovely technical skills and very tidy patterning, which was well-managed with a large number of bodies on stage.
Level 7 performed a beautifully lyrical piece by Stephen Baynes titled Nexus to excerpts from Capriccio by Graeme Koehne. It starts with a simple and striking image of two lines of dancers, one on the diagonal and the other in a straight line. The dancers moved with delicacy and the overall feeling was slightly modernist. The costumes were a simple but elegant emerald green.
Finally, the Level 8s were back again to close the evening with Techno Requiem, choreographed by Lucas Jervies, with music by Adam Ster. It starts with a chain of movement from the line-up of dancers dressed simply but effectively in purply-wine coloured unitards. The feeling is contemporary with some uber-classical moves, which suited the dancers well. The dancers from Possum Magic are transformed into sophisticated artists, showing a quite different side of their craft. They move swiftly from groups to pairings and solo moments and the piece is strong and dramatic.
With elite student performances, the dancing is always a combination of the opportunities presented in the choreography, as well as the technical ability and artistry of the developing dancer. This program gave ample opportunity for the students to showcase their talents.
- SUSAN BENDALL
'Possum Magic' ran from December 8 to 10.