posted January 13, 2002 10:10            

Royal Tour
Fiona McFarlane, State of the Arts

As if the international tour schedule didn't already look bright enough for Australia, the England's Royal Ballet are making their way Down Under for a national tour in 2002. State of the Arts spoke to Anthony Russell-Roberts, the Ballet's Administrative Director and problem-solver extraordinaire.

The Ballet's 2002 Australian tour is a landmark event: 14 years since the Ballet last toured Australia, and first tour for Ross Stretton, formerly Artistic Director of the Australian Ballet, who took up his new post at the Royal Ballet early in 2001. Swan Lake is on the program for the Australian tour, along with Giselle and a Triple Bill of rarely seen masterworks by British choreographers. The whole company will tour, including every one of the Ballet's principal dancers and Principal Guest Artist - and international star - Sylvie Guillem.

posted March 23, 2002 01:01            

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CURLED up on a sofa in grey knitted leggings and black web-like top with her hair scraped back, Darcey Bussell resembles a small, delicate spider. A tired one. It is 10 months since the dramatic early arrival of her daughter Phoebe by emergency caesarean – after Bussell developed pre-eclampsia and nearly died – and four months since her return to full-time work as Britain's most celebrated ballerina.

Bussell, 33 next month, has lost the soft roundness to her face that she acquired during pregnancy and kept for several months after, but most obvious of all is the plunge in her weight. "I'm a bit knackered at the moment," says Bussell with some understatement, acknowledging that she is under her normal 51kg for her 1.7m height. "It's only because I've been very busy. I just have to watch it. My husband keeps me in check – he'll say, 'You're working very hard now, you've got to eat more,' and cooks for me. You can tell when the [Royal Ballet] company is very busy – everybody just shrivels away."

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posted April 30, 2002 10:53            

The new stars of Britain's Royal Ballet have a fierce determination and talent, writes Valerie Lawson.

More than 60 years ago, Australia was entranced by a new phenomenon, the "baby ballerinas". The three little stars were the marketable face of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, giving a focus and appealing publicity angle to the travelling troupe.

posted May 09, 2002 20:22            

From the ROH website.

TOUR DATES AND CASTING

BRISBANE
Swan Lake Lyric Theatre

31 May
Bussell, Gael Lambiotte

1 (mat), 3 June
Tapper, Lambiotte

1 June
Benjamin, Kobborg

2 (mat), 4 June
Yoshida, Putrov

SYDNEY
Swan Lake , Capital Theatre

7, 11 June
Bussell, Cope

8(mat), 10 June
Benjamin, Tewsley

8 June
Rojo, Gael Lambiotte

9 (mat), 13 June
Yoshida, Putrov

12 June
Cojocaru, Kobborg

Giselle

15 (mat) June
Cojocaru, Kobborg

15, 17 June
Guillem, Cope

16 (mat) June
Rojo, Tewsley

16 June
Yoshida, Putrov

18 June
Bussell, Gael Lambiotte

Triple Bill
Tryst
20, 21, 22 June
Bussell, Cope

The Leaves are Fading
20, 21, 22 June
Cojocaru, Kobborg

Marguerite & Armand
20, 22 (mat) 22 June
Guillem, Murru

Tryst
22 (mat), 23 (mat) June
To Be Announced

The Leaves are Fading
22 (mat), 23 (mat) June
To Be Announced

Marguerite & Armand
21, 23 (mat) June
Guillem, TBA

MELBOURNE
Swan Lake, State Theatre

27 June
Bussell, Cope

28 June, 1 July
Cojocaru, Kobborg

29 (mat) June
Yoshida, Putrov

29 June
Rojo, Gael Lambiotte

30 (mat) June
Benjamin, Tewsley

Triple Bill
Tryst
3, 4 July
Bussell, Cope

The Leaves are Fading
3, 4 July
Cojocaru, Kobborg

Marguerite & Armand
3, 4 July
Guillem, TBA

Tryst
5 July
To Be Announced

The Leaves are Fading
5 July
To Be Announced

Marguerite & Armand
5 July
Guillem, Murru

Giselle
6 (mat) July
Cojocaru, Kobborg

6 July
Guillem, Cope

7 (mat) July
Bussell, Gael Lambiotte

7 July
Benjamin, Tewsley

posted May 27, 2002 01:49            

Gael Lambiotte from Boston Ballet (I think) is replacing Inaki Urlezaga in all his performances of Swan Lake with Tamara Rojo and Giselle with Darcey Bussell. I've highlighted his name in bold in the casting details above.

posted May 28, 2002 22:50            

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The world's most famous ballerina, seen by many as the natural successor to the late Dame Margot Fonteyn, is late for work. She arrives an hour after our scheduled interview time, breathless with the rush and sounding exhausted.

"I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting," she gasps. "I had a show last night and I found it hard getting up this morning. Phoebe woke me up at 6.30am."

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posted May 28, 2002 22:52            

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On the eve of the Royal Ballet's tour of Australia, the company has scored a major hit with Tryst, the only work commissioned by its artistic director, Ross Stretton, in his first year.

The ballet, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, is coming to Australia in the tour which starts in Brisbane at the end of next week.

"Everything about Tryst is a triumph," wrote The Times' critic Debra Craine, while The Guardian gave it a maximum rating of five stars.

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posted June 04, 2002 08:07            

I've highlighted the changes so far in bold in the clast list above.

So Jamie Tapper finally got to dance Odile-Odette - another debut missed! It would be a shame if Brisbane got to see her twice while we in London are left to keep waiting and waiting!

posted June 05, 2002 22:50            

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The Royal Ballet's reputation precedes its arrival for this Australian tour and expectations are high. Local assumptions about quality of dancing and choreography reflect a knowledge of the company's traditions and role in developing British choreographers for the ballet, most notably Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan.

It is the production of Swan Lake by one of Britain's finest dancers and previous director of the Royal Ballet Anthony Dowell, that is currently whetting the appetite of Brisbane audiences.

This 1987 production is yet another evolutionary development of a ballet that has its origins in the late 19th century. This classic is just that, a classic, no revolution occurring on stage in our centuries, as Dowell's version was meticulously based on research into the Marius Petipa-Lev Ivanov version of 1895.

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More

posted June 08, 2002 01:59            

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Ballet star rallies for a tall order
June 7 2002

Jonathan Cope, the most senior male dancer with England's Royal Ballet, went to his first daily class in Australia last week and promptly collapsed behind the piano.

It wasn't jet lag but a virus that put him out of contention for the company's opening night in Brisbane last Friday.

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posted June 08, 2002 02:01            

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Boiling point
June 8, 2002

Sylvie Guillem has a towering reputation. "Her style knows no limits, her dancing is perfection itself," says The Guardian. "With Guillem, it's as if everyone else is acting and she's the original article," states the Independent on Sunday. "It's a privilege - perhaps the greatest single aesthetic revelation of my life - to have been able to [see her develop] from an Olympian technician into the ultimate expressive artist," says the London Daily Telegraph's reviewer. And at 37, Guillem is at the peak of her powers, recognised as the greatest ballet dancer in the world.

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posted June 11, 2002 01:33            

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Swan Lake, Royal Ballet
June 10 2002

Wonderful dancing. Technical precision. Truly beautiful costumes and sets. Tchaikovsky's score played well, if a little heartily. How could I possibly be disappointed in the opening night of the Royal Ballet's Swan Lake?

The very high quality of these aspects emphasised the overall emptiness of the production theatrically. Where was the sweep of drama? The heart that turns poignancy into tragedy? Genuine vitality and performing focus instead of those face-breaking smiles that disappear as soon as their wearer steps out of the spotlight?

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posted June 11, 2002 01:37            

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Knocked out by a 'Swan' with zing
Swan Lake - The Royal Ballet
By MICHELLE POTTER

Swan Lake, The Royal Ballet, Capitol Theatre, Sydney, June 7-23, State Theatre, Melbourne, June 27-July 7.

THE ROYAL Ballet's Swan Lake is a knockout. Fresh, energetic and compelling, it simply zings along. There are several reasons why this Swan Lake is an Ashes-winning production and, yes, there have been exhortations to the Royal Ballet to bring home the Ashes from its Australian tour!First and foremost there's the dancing. It's sensational across the board from the principals to the corps de ballet. And it's more than just good technical dancing. All the Royal's dancers move with such expression in the body, especially in the upper body. They understand too that dance is a physical art not a visual one, and every movement, small or large, fills space and reaches out to engage the audience.

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More

posted June 14, 2002 10:22            

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Dancing queen
By Stephanie Bunbury
June 10 2002

Obviously, Sylvie Guillem is preceded by a towering reputation; she is more than probably the greatest ballet dancer in the world right now. "Her style knows no limits; her dancing is perfection itself,'' says The Guardian. "With Guillem, it's as if everyone else is acting and she's the original article,'' according to the Independent on Sunday. ``It's a privilege - perhaps the greatest single aesthetic revelation of my life - to have been able to (see her develop) from an Olympian technician into the ultimate expressive artist,'' says The Telegraph. And at 37, she is at the peak of her powers.

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posted June 14, 2002 10:27            

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The Melbourne performances of French prima ballerina Sylvie Guillem will go ahead, despite illness cancelling her first two Sydney performances with the Royal Ballet.

Royal Ballet artistic director (and former AB artistic director) Ross Stretton said yesterday from Sydney that he did not think Guillem's illness would affect the company's Melbourne season, which opens on June 27.

``From what we understand, everything is as normal,'' he said.

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posted June 17, 2002 06:02            

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Reviewed by Jill Sykes
June 17 2002

GISELLE
Capitol Theatre, June 15

Poor Darcey Bussell. Not only was she replacing Sylvie Guillem in the title role of Giselle on the Royal Ballet's opening night for this program, but she followed a matinee starring Alina Cojocaru in one of those electrifying performances that reassure you how great ballet can be.

Bussell's Giselle is a beautiful example of her seamless dancing as a sweet, luminously vivacious peasant girl in Act I, and a wistful spirit in Act II. She is partnered sympathetically by the tall and technically accomplished Jonathan Cope.

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posted June 17, 2002 10:00            

"Tears pouring down my cheeks..."she says.

posted June 21, 2002 09:30            

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When love, death and emotion take centre stage
By Valerie Lawson
June 20 2002

"On stage, I will cry," says the French femme fatale of ballet, "I will die, I will hate, I do everything there."

But backstage, Sylvie Guillem is far from the temperamental prima ballerina of her reputation. With a body like steel and mental discipline to match, "I only cancel my performances if I am 'alf dead."

Instead, the French star looked very much alive as she prepared for tonight's performance in her signature piece, Marguerite and Armand, in which she dances the role of the dying courtesan Marguerite Gautier.

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posted June 21, 2002 09:36            

Twelve-year-old Loredana Sachelaru says she is about to experience a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity".

The Bentleigh East student is one of only two Australian Ballet students selected to appear with The Royal Ballet in its Melbourne tour, which begins next week at the State Theatre.

posted June 23, 2002 22:15            

ROYAL BALLET TRIPLE BILL
Capitol Theatre, June 20

Sylvie Guillem was the star of stars in the Royal Ballet's final Sydney program, a triple bill of works by choreographers associated with Britain through birth or work they made there.

Guillem, partnered by Massimo Murru, appeared in Frederick Ashton's Marguerite and Armand, a concise and eloquent retelling of the Lady of the Camellias to music by Franz Liszt and designs by Cecil Beaton.