Dancers from the Queensland Ballet took us on an enthralling journey on Friday night, displaying their skills and charms in three dances, choreographed by Australian choreographers, and accompanied live by the Camerata, the Queensland Chamber Orchestra.

The night began with the premiere of Jack Lister’s “Gemini” by twenty-two dancers. They captured our attention immediately and held us spellbound as they shared the geography of the human body and the patterns it can make, singly and together. The band of lighting (by Alexander Berlage) played with the dancer/s to provide a focus unusual in classical ballet. The dancers’ forms were reflected in a mirror-like black stage. The earth dominated, with little room for sky-high ambitions. It was as if we had been taken down into the mines of Moria in their infancy and, from above, were entertained by elves long accustomed to its depths. The magic was gutsy, physical, and yet strangely ethereal. Louis Frere-Harvey’s music beautifully reflected the tension. I’d like to see this again.

Natalie Weir’s “4 Seasons” was created as a landmark collaboration between the Australasian Dance Collective (previously “Expressions Dance Company”) and the Singapore Ballet (previously “Singapore Dance Theatre”) in 2013. The music is familiar to the audience. It brings us back from our journey with “Gemini” into a more familiar world. The twenty dancers, and their costumes, lead us through the Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter of life, to find ourselves on familiar ground. Yet it wasn’t the “same-old, same-old”. The Camerata drew on Max Richter’s reimagined score of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”. Brendan Joyce carried the dancers and audience throughout with his exquisite violin. It felt indulgent to watch.

Greg Horsman drew on the rhythms of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” in his 2022 dance “Rhapsody in Motion”, which premiered three years ago at the Thomas Dixon Centre in West End. A humorous ballet in three movements for twenty-four dancers. Who knew that ballet dancers also move the furniture around, but with so much more grace? After they got settled, they shared with us the skills they so routinely developed throughout their careers.

The Triple Bill shows us the capabilities and ambitions of the Queensland Ballet.

At the Playhouse, QPAC until 5th July 2025. Book here: https://www.queenslandballet.com.au/performances/2025/triple-bill

Kerry McGovern