• Artist of the Australian Ballet in Suite en Blanc.  Photo courtesy of the Australian Ballet.
    Artist of the Australian Ballet in Suite en Blanc. Photo courtesy of the Australian Ballet.
  • Ako Kondo in Suite en Blanc.  Photo courtesy of the Australian Ballet.
    Ako Kondo in Suite en Blanc. Photo courtesy of the Australian Ballet.
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The Australian Ballet: "Imperial Suite"
Lyric Theatre, QPAC, 27 February

"Imperial Suite" is a program of two abstract ballets, Ballet Imperial and Suite en Blanc. While both were choreographed in the early 1940s and celebrated the female dancer, they also each celebrated a different style of classicism, thereby posing distinctly different challenges from the dramatic Manon, the Australian Ballet’s other ballet in its Brisbane season.

George Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial, conceived as a tribute to the tradition and beauty of Russia’s Imperial Theatres, can also be seen by extension, as a tribute to Petipa and importantly Tchaikovsky. A pianist himself, Balanchine’s aspiration for any ballet was to be able to “see the music and hear the dance” and in Ballet Imperial, the lyricism and driving rhythm of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, along with the contrasting dialogue between piano and orchestra is reflected in the fluid urgency of much of the movement.

This was the second of only two performances in Brisbane, and in it Leanne Stojmenov and Kevin Jackson were both gracious and regal as the principal couple; Stojmenov particularly embodying the majestic complexity of the choreography with crystal clear lines and articulation.

The second ballerina Amy Harris also sparkled, although her faltering on a series of en dehors turns was a distraction, while soloists Ako Kondo and Laura Tong oozed poise in the second quite melodramatic andante movement, as conga lines of dancers weaved with languid fluidity between them – a visually compelling sequence.

From the ballet’s very first courtly opening moments, the corps of male and female dancers epitomised the requisite elegant simplicity. And while the fast footwork and multitude of quick posé arabesques was a challenge to symmetry, it was largely met with stylish and musical uniformity.

Visually this ballet oozes class – Hugh Coleman’s set design an elegant frame for the evolving, symmetrical patterning of dancers in different shades of glittering Faberge blue – costumes also designed by Coleman.

Serge Lifar conceived Suite en Blanc as a celebration of French ballet, using excerpts from the ballet Namouna, by another nineteenth century composer, Edouard Lalo. It has been in the repertory of the AB since its premiere in Sydney in 1981.
 
Suite en Blanc opens and closes with a splendid vision of dancers in white, architecturally arranged on a black set, over two levels. Its series of linked yet separate and diverse divertissements pay homage to the original ballet in their names, (for example Sieste, Flute, Cigarette), and also to nineteenth century modernism’s fascination with all things oriental, seen particularly in Lifar’s favourite frieze-like movement motif reminiscent of ancient Greek art, which appears often, particularly in the elegant struts on and off stage.

Although the Pas de Deux couple also usually perform the Mazurka and Variation de la Flute, in this performance the variations were spread across the artists. La Sieste with Vivienne Wong, Rina Nemoto and Dimity Azoury, (the only dancers in romantic tutus), was light, delicate and beautifully in unison. Dana Stephensen was effervescent in the Pas de Cinq, while Laura Tong in Variation de la Cigarette was sultry and sensuous with beautiful control in the very showy finale of entrechat six into relêvé en attitude.
 
Principal dancer Chengwu Guo dazzled in the Mazurka with turns controlled like pulled toffee and glorious ballon, all performed with jaunty panache.

The Pas de Deux was an elegant and gracious affair with Robyn Hendricks and Brett Simon, and in the Variation de la Flute, Juliet Burnett was assured and in control – her series of thrusting developé passé, seamless.  

Underpinning both Ballet Imperial and Suite en Blanc was the Queensland Symphony Orchestra led by Nicolette Fraillon; and with the talented pianist Hoang Pham in the Tchaikovsky Concerto, again they were definitely equal partners with the dance.   

– DENISE RICHARDSON

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