Études

Harald Lander

Études, French for ‘studies’, takes the dancer’s morning ritual of ballet class and transforms it for the stage. Designed to gradually warm up muscles and align the body for rehearsals and performance, the classical ballet class follows a standard order of exercises that start small and gradually get bigger and more complex. These same movements, even the smallest pliés and tendus, are the building blocks from which classical ballets are constructed. Études illuminates these classroom exercises, demonstrating how these simple steps can become a fabulous showpiece of physical art.

Choreographed by Harald Lander in 1948 for the Royal Danish Ballet, this one-act ballet is set to piano studies by Carl Czerny, arranged by Knudåge Riisager. Emulating the ballet studio experience, the dancers perform precise exercises at the barre, which become more expansive as they move into the centre, and develop into a grand finale of full-velocity movement in perfect synchronisation. Complemented by spectacular new costumes from Lise Lander, Études will transform you to the inner world of the dance studio with its beauty, grace and immaculate movement.

Circle Electric

Stephanie Lake

Using the full force of The Australian Ballet’s dancers, Circle Electric starts as a microscopic investigation of the intricate and the intimate, ultimately expanding to encompass a telescopic view of humanity.

Grappling with the search for meaning, Stephanie Lake in her first full length commission for The Australian Ballet, looks at a fundamental paradox of our existence – how we can be both utterly insignificant and profoundly important at the same time.

Zoom out far enough, and you will see humanity as nothing more than scuttling ants, existing on a perfectly placed planet in an immense cosmos of billions of galaxies. But zoom in and you see that despite our relative minuteness and the brevity of our time on Earth, each person is unique and valuable.

Working with her largest cast to date, Lake creates rhythms and patterns to composer Robin Fox’s unique score, which blends live orchestra with his signature electro-acoustic sound worlds, and reunites with the design team behind her hit piece Manifesto.