THIS was a celebration indeed, not just of classical ballet and dance but of outgoing Artistic Director François Klaus’ fifteen productive years at the helm of the company. And it was a fantastic night from the first dance to the last drink at the huge after-party that raged on until nearly midnight.
It was a celebration not only of François’ huge choreographic talent, but also of his dancers and the wonderful costume designs of Noelene Hill,François inherited an impoverished company of ten dancers. Now it is a company with 26 dancers and a world-wide reputation for strength, quality, and variety.
François has created more than 100 ballets over the years, some reworking of the classics and others original ballets that were not always classical in style.
Three of the favourites that have had many repeat productions both here and overseas are Cloudland, Alice in Wonderland and The Little Mermaid. Add to this several one-act ballets created for the hugely popular Studio Series and you can see the extent of the influence of the man.
He and wife, Artistic Associate Robyn White, have also been responsible for establishing and developing the Junior Extension and Professional Year Programs. Many of the present company dancers came up through the ranks of these schools and on stage at the first of three performances, gave their own tribute to François by dancing beautifully, determined to do him proud.
The show itself programmed ten items, all classical, and six of them were created by François. The items were filled with fun, pathos, and sheer beauty.
The evening opened with the light hearted Kaiser Waltz from Johann Straus with Principals Rachael Walsh and Keian Langdon who set an elegant tone to the proceedings.
We saw the talents of Meng Ningning as the flirty Sylph and Hao Bin as James – fully decked out in Scottish kilt – in the Act Two Forest scene from La Sylphide. They came to the company last year from China and certainly work magic when they dance together.
After the elegance of the pas de deux from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet in which Rachael Walsh again showed her class as Juliet to Piran Scott’s Romeo, came François Klaus’s vibrant cafe scene from his Swan Lake.
I love this scene. It is so full of fun and energy with its internationally flavoured dances. Teri Crilly and Kathleen Doody, both experienced in the roles, were in full flirty flight in the Neapolitan and Spanish Dances along with partners Yu Hui and Alexander Koszarycz, and Meng Ningning and Hao Bin were once again partners for the Russian Dance. Add to this the fabulous costumes and the Company and Professional Year dancers and it a great spectacle to take the audience to interval.
There was more Swan Lake after interval and it was purely classical with an excerpt from Act Two following Petipa’s choreography and then by Mikhail Fokine’s interpretation of the Dying Swan.
Principals Clare Morehen and Hao Bin danced Odette and Siegfried so elegantly and of course we had the Cygnets danced by Tamara Hanton, Maughan Jemesen, Lina Kim and Gemma Pearce.
Meng Ningning was just superb as the Dying swan. Her technique is impeccable.
Gemma Pearce showed her traditional classical technique off well too as Medora in the Pas de Trois from Le Corsaire along with Yu Hui as the Slave and Nathan Scicluna and Conrad.Gemma is truly fulfilling her potential.
Then came favourites from The Nutcracker – the Dance of the Flowers with Tery Crilly as Clara and Nathan Scicluna as Drosselmeyer and the Act Two pas de deux which brought out another sparkling performance from Clare Morehen as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Piran Scott as the Prince.
The final piece was finale from another of François’ most popular creations The Little Mermaid, which gave Rachael Walsh another chance to dance a role created for her.
After the show the tributes flowed from the Board Chair Joan Sheldon, the Governor of Queensland Penelope Wensley and finally from Principal Dancer Rachael Walsh who joined the company a year after François took over.
It was an evening most will remember for a long time.
Eric Scott
http://www.absolutetheatre.com.au/
A Classical Celebration
Directed by François Klaus
Musical director Craig Allister Young
Queensland Ballet
Various choreographers
Lyric TheatreQueensland Performing Arts Centre
South Bank
Brisbane
