West Australian Ballet reveals Season 2017
West Australian Ballet recently announced it’s programming for Season 2017. Artistic Director Aurélien Scannella’s line-up oozes international flare, tales of enchantment and illusion – and of course – refined beauty.
“In this, my fourth year as artistic director, I have created yet another year of excellence, beauty and the high standard our audiences have come to expect and I invite you to follow me on this artistic adventure,” Scannella stated.
Beginning the year with the summer staple and Perth International Arts Festival favourite is Takuto: Ballet At The Quarry, featuring work by a choreographer familiar to the Quarry Amphitheatre – Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. Alongside her Australian premiere of In Transit are two other Australian premieres by Canadian born Eric Gauthier. Ballet 101 is a short, sharp and entertaining solo while the program’s namesake, Takuto, is a powerful work featuring traditional Japanese drumming. Also in the program is a world premiere by WAB’s very own budding talent Christopher Hill. The Clearest Light will feature musical compositions by the choreographer himself.
In March, the dancers will inspire all with Genesis. Fast becoming a sell-out event, West Australian Ballet once again invites its dancers to demonstrate their exceptional skill and creative flair in an exciting mini-season of short works at the company’s Maylands home. Brief bursts of dance delights, Genesis gives audiences the rare-opportunity to get up close and personal with the dancers in an intimate ballet experience.
The first production to transform His Majesty’s Theatre’s stage in 2017 will be the return of WAB’s sumptuous Don Quixote. Premiered in 2010, this seminal ballet classic is choreographed by Australia’s “Grande Dame” of ballet – Lucette Aldous, after the original by Marius Petipa. Following the adventures of the delusional Don Quixote and his sidekick Sancho Panza, this vibrant and vivacious production will delight all with its charismatic Spanish flair and score to match.
September will find His Majesty’s Theatre transported to the cool, calm, collected and most importantly, stylish jazz days of New York’s Long Island in the 1920s with David Nixon OBE’s The Great Gatsby. The epitome of elegance and grace – this stage adaption of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel features music by Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA-winning composer Sir Richard Rodney Bennett CBE.
And – with a little help from some fairy dust – West Australian Ballet’s year will come to a close with the family favourite Peter Pan. First performed by the company in 2013 with a sell-out season, this show tells the much-loved traditional tale of the Darling children and their fantastic journey through Neverland with the ticking crocodile, mermaids, Tiger Lily and the Lost Boys.
As WAB’s chair, Dr Robert Edwardes said, “2017 will surely delight and wow audiences of all ages with beloved ballets to new innovative creations.”
In addition to the main-stage performance seasons, WAB will present a wide suite of public offerings, including Monday Vernissage, Open Fridays, Great Leaps and philanthropy events, education and outreach programs, and adult ballet classes for first timers as well as experienced balletomanes.
To learn more about Season 2017 and its ticket packages, head to waballet.com.au.
Image courtesy of WAB.