The Australian Ballet is no stranger to America, having toured here regularly for half a century, but five years have elapsed since the last visit giving New Yorkers a welcome opportunity to catch up on some of the company’s newest work and some of its brightest stars. A world premiere (Tim Harbour’s smart and sassy Chairman Dances) and a work still under a year old (Alice Topp’s multifaceted Aurum) gave plenty of food for thought, while a chance to revisit a former Helpmann winner in the form of Stephen Baynes’ 2004 duet Unspoken Dialogues, was particularly welcome, especially when danced as powerfully as it was here by Kevin Jackson and Jill Ogai.

Dana Stephensen in Chairman Dances. Photo © Justin Ridler

The first half of the program erupted onto the stage of New York’s Joyce Theater with Chairman Dances, 11 dancers in a riot of colour and light illuminating a hitherto unexplored side of John Adams’ brilliant musical party piece. Harbour has also designed the costumes for his work, but while his formal suits in vibrant red echo the work’s Maoist origins — the...