Bespoke

Queensland Ballet , Talbot Theatre, West End

Performances: 25 July-3 August 2024.

This production provides a superb night of creative dance, celebrating three contemporary works:

•  "gurdigan. wise woman" reflecting the Aboriginal tradition,

• "Birds of Paradise", illustrating courtship rituals, and

• "Papillon", taking us us on the  transition from birth through the tension and ugliness of egg and lava to  the fragile beauty of the butterfly.

gurdirgan, wise woman

Choreographed by Katina Olsen

This piece honours the legacy of Wakka Wakka woman Aunty Maureen Williams. It is a story of her life from childhood in the bush then working as a domestic servant from the age of 10. This was common for many young Aboriginal girls, including the internationally acclaimed poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, also known as Kath Walker.

The Wakka Wakka people are the custodians of the region extending from Gayndah and Eidsvold in the north, inclusive of Ban Ban Springs and the Bunya Mountains, through to Cherbourg (Aboriginal Reserve) and Nanango in the south. 

The music is performed and commissioned by the celebrated Southern Cross Soloists (SXS) and the SXS Didgeridoo Commissioning Project, composed by Sean O'Boyle AM and Chris Williams. The music artfully links the bodily rhythms of classical ballet with the compelling melodies of the didgeridoo.

The work illustrates the history of the position of Aboriginal people in Queensland whose lives were governed by the Aborigines Act. They were “under the Act” and subject to the direction of a white manager on a reserve such as Cherbourg.

It is terrific to see the Queensland Ballet produce a contemporary work such as this. As Australia recovers from the traumatic divisions last year over the “Voice” referendum, this production finds common ground and beauty in the world of dance. Your reviewer was put in mind of the words of the Irish poet William Butler Yeats in his poem Among School Children, “Oh bodies swayed to music, oh brightening glance/ How shall we know the dancer from the dance?”.

Birds of Paradise

Choreographed by Milena Sidorova

This is a ballet about the courtship rituals of exotic birds found principally in Papua New Guinea, eastern Indonesia and eastern Australia, or is it really about us?

Cole Porter answered this question in the roaring 20’s with his song Let’s Do It:

When the little bluebird

Who has never said a word

Starts to sing "Spring, spring"

When the little bluebell

At the bottom of the dell

Starts to ring, ding ding

When the little blue clerk

In the middle of his work

Starts a tune to the moon up above

It is nature, that's all

Simply telling us to fall in love

And that's why birds do it, bees do it

Even educated fleas do it

Let’s do it, let’s fall in love. 

The distinguished choreographer Milena Sidova writes that “the audience can expect colourful imagery and I hope they will also be able to resonate with our own human experiences”. When interviewed by your reviewer about the tension between classical ballet and contemporary dance she sagely deflected the question to her dancers by saying that she was no longer dancing on stage.

Principal artists Neneka Yoshida and Alexander Idaszak dance beautiful leading roles and assist in the ensemble.

It is a vigorous and  thoughtful contemporary ballet which prompts us to reflect that our customs and mores in courtship rituals are not so different from the birds and animals that have preceded us for eons. 

Papillon

Choreographed by Jack Lister

What is life but egg, lava and post birth existence? You will find an answer in this ballet!

The irony of contemporary ballet is not that it rejects the strictures of classical ballet but that it seeks to deal now with the ancient, eternal life questions posed by such classics as Swan Lake and Giselle. Can love triumph over death?

This production of “Papillon” gives us the opportunity to pose the question and to attempt an answer.

It is a beautiful, dynamic piece.

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Reviewed by: Matt Foley

Performance seen: 26 July 2024

Performances: 25 July-3 August 2024 

Choreographers: Katina Olsen, Milena Sidiriva, Jack Lister

Music: Southern Cross Soloists (SXS) and the SXS Didgeridoo Commissioning Project, composed by Sean ‘Boyle AM and Chris Williams