An interesting aspect of The West Australian Ballet’s production is that although the three pieces which make up Light and Shadow reflect on the poignant interaction of male and female, the excerpt from Graeme Murphy’s Air and Other Invisible Forces seems marked by that inescapable influence of this land, with its myths and mystery, that eventually permeate the souls of those of us who have lived here for any length of time. Its production in the pockmarked stone shell of the historical Quarry no doubt aided this perception.

Adding manna to Murphy’s captivating choreography was his choice of music, Mourned by the Wind. Its composer, Giya Kancheli, hailing from Georgia, where inhabitants have long fought for its culture and land against invaders, was wonderfully empathetic in its lyricism and turbulent interchange of viola and orchestra.

Chihiro Nomura and the dancers of West Australian Ballet in Air and Other Invisible Forces. Photo © Sergey Pevnev

Murphy’s choreography focuses on a quintessence of emotion through small, individual dramas, while a lone black-clad dancer (Glenda Garcia Gomez) wanders on stage at intervals as though searching for something or someone. It is marked by a motif of encircled...