Melbourne Ballet Company on tour

Led by Alisa Finney and Simon Hoy, the Melbourne Ballet Company (MBC) will soon embark on a regional tour starting in June. Following a near sellout Melbourne season in March, the company is currently in rehearsals.

“We are very much looking forward to presenting On Air – Le Sacre du Printemps and Infinite Space to audiences in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria,” said Resident Choreographer Simon Hoy. “This tour will see 16 performances and 21 community workshops across seven towns.”

Last year, the contemporary ballet company completed two tours of these works, both choreographed by Simon Hoy, even travelling to Tasmania. Infinite Space includes four original works (In One Day, Dark Before Daylight, Phrased Without Words and Infinite Space.)

For this year’s tour, audiences will see new dancers with the company.

“We are very excited to announce that Jessica Wood, formerly of The Australian Ballet, and Francesca Giangrasso from Teatro Massimo V. Bellini, Italy, joined MBC in March this year,” said Hoy.

Wood and Giangrasso will join dancers Kristy Denovan (also formerly with The Australian Ballet), Jo Lee (formerly with Sydney Dance Company), Adam Thurlow (who danced with The Paris Opera Ballet, English National Ballet and The Australian Ballet) and Alexander Baden Bryce (freelance dancer who’s worked extensively with Hoy and other leading Australian choreographers.)

The company will kick off its regional tour on Tuesday, June 10 at the Blackwater Civic Centre in QLD. It will perform at 11 other venues across New South Wales and Victoria by mid-September. (See the full itinerary below.)

In between touring in August, the company will be working on a new creation. Hoy and internationally-recognised dancemaker Tim Podesta will launch Horizon Variation, bringing a striking program of precision and impressive athleticism to the MBC repertoire.

Hoy and Podesta explain: “While acknowledging the beauty of classical ballet and works driven by a narrative or message, we also want to push the boundaries of the genre and show the wonderful strength and versatility that MBC is becoming known for.”

Horizon Variation will present three works/sections: Submerged, an uplifting piece of contemporary ballet choreographed by Hoy that gives physical expression to a celebration of Samuel Barber’s musical masterwork “Adagio for Strings”; From a Dream, a short work choreographed by Podesta based on the character of Titania in Shakepeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; and Horizon Variation, a work choreographed by Hoy to the music of Max Richter that is inspired by a poem of Marina Tsvetaeva.

In addition to touring two previous works and presenting this new program, MBC will also regularly present educational programs.

Hoy said, “Our workshop and masterclass program has been designed to be effective for people of all ages and levels of experience. The company works in collaboration with venues and local schools to determine the demand and to cater for each community accordingly.”

MBC will offer masterclasses through local dance schools to senior students and teachers while touring. It will also offer its popular Fairy Ballet Classes to young children again. Children may come dressed as a fairy, a princess, a prince or ballerina. They take class with a real MBC ballerina and learn basic classical ballet positions, locomotion work, mime and improvisation.

“The company also gives workshops for children with no formal dance training. In 2011, the company travelled to some remote towns in Western Australia where we presented several highly successful dance workshops to over 300 local school children. In 2014, we plan to conduct similar workshops in several Queensland centres, including Blackwater, Emerald and Mount Isa,” Hoy said.

For more information on Melbourne Ballet Company, visit www.melbourneballetcompany.com.au.

Melbourne Ballet Company 2014 Tour

June

10th – Venue 1, Blackwater Civic Centre, QLD, 7:30 p.m., Infinite Space

11th – Venue 1, Blackwater Civic Centre, QLD, 7:30 p.m., Infinite Space

13th – Byron Theatre, Byron Bay, NSW, 7 p.m., Infinite Space

15th – Byron Theatre, Byron Bay, NSW, 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., Infinite Space

28th – Jetty Memorial Theatre, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Infinite Space

July

4th – Manning Entertainment Centre, Taree, NSW, 7:30 p.m., On Air – Le Sacre du Printemps

5th – Manning Entertainment Centre, Taree, NSW, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., On Air – Le Sacre du Printemps

12th – Bathurst Memorial and Entertainment Centre, NSW, 7:30 p.m., Infinite Space

15th – Laycock Street Community Theatre, Gosford, NSW, 8 p.m., On Air – Le Sacre du Printemps

16th – Laycock Street Community Theatre, Gosford, NSW, 8 p.m., On Air – Le Sacre du Printemps

19th – Griffith Regional Theatre, NSW, 7:30 p.m., On Air – Le Sacre du Printemps

25th – Riverlink Theatre, Shepparton, VIC, 7:30 p.m., On Air – Le Sacre du Printemps

August

2nd – Burrinja Cultural Centre, VIC, 7:00 p.m., Infinite Space

6th – Latrobe PAC, VIC, 7:30 p.m., Horizon Variation

29th – Hawthorn PAC, Melbourne, VIC, 7:30 p.m., Infinite Space and Horizon Variation

September

11th – Castlemaine Theatre, VIC, 7:30 p.m., Motion Transcend

Photos courtesy of Melbourne Ballet Company.