The Western Australian Ballet’s Quarry Season, The Wild Between Stars, is one of the first productions of this year’s Perth Festival. It is also, as Acting Artistic Director David McAllister points out, the first time WAB has featured three world premieres together at the Quarry.

It’s a serendipitous mix – created with the Quarry’s bush-fringed outdoor stage in mind ­– with the neo-classical and classical works of two feted choreographers, Loughlan Prior and Lucas Jervies, sitting on either side of the earthy perspective that Tara Gower brings to her exquisite and heartfelt work, Ripples.

Polly Hilton and dancers in The Wild Between Stars by Loughlan Prior. Photo © Sergey Pevnev

Prior’s neoclassical The Wild Between Stars is set to the music of Now Ensemble’s Judd Greenstein and Mark Danziger. Its relentless tempo, deviating tones, and rhythms propel its 12 dancers almost non-stop across the stage. Along with Artist Kassidy Thompson, Principal, Solo, and Leading Artists excelled in Prior’s choreography – lifting, twirling, chasing, and graduating toward each other in a maelstrom of activity that gave the impression they’d be quite happy to be propelled into the darkest reaches of space, if...