Alice Topp’s first full-length ballet, Butterfly Effect, which tells a contemporary story inspired by Madama Butterfly, is about to premiere at West Australian Ballet. Deborah Jones talks with the busy choreographer and composer Jessica Wells, who has written the score.

Alice Topp. Photo © Stef King

Alice Topp has only one subject really but it’s the big one. It’s us. It’s how we feel in love and loss. How we connect with one another or fail to do so. It’s our imperfections and the need to embrace them. It’s the ebb and flow of energy between bodies. It’s courage, resilience and all sorts of other qualities and experiences.

“I’m always interested in what makes us human,” Topp said recently. 

A piece she made for West Australian Ballet for...