As he enters his eighth season as Artistic Director and following multiple record-breaking years in 2016, 2018 and 2019, Aurélien Scannella has plans to yet again grow the State Ballet Company, West Australian Ballet.
“With our collectively strong Company that has almost 40 world-class dancers, we need to perform more than ever before to share the incredible emotional exchange that features in our art-from,” Scannella said at the launch of the company’s new season.
“Dancers are made to be on-stage, so in 2020 we’ll perform over 90 performances including a new season called STATE, and a five-city tour to China which is in the final planning stages.”
Speaking to the media ahead of the launch yesterday Scannella shared that since he joined the organisation he’d had two main goals, more dancers and more performances. Scannella said that he’d always been ambitious and had lots more goals to achieve in the future.
Outlining the company’s ambitious program for 2020 Scannella revealed we’ll be seeing the company taking to the stage a lot more next year with a program that’s sees six rather than four performance seasons.
West Australian Ballet’s season will start as it has for the past 27 years, with contemporary triple-bill Light and Shadow: Ballet at the Quarry in February as a part of Perth Festival. With works from two living choreographic legends and a co-production with innovative world-leaders Dutch National Ballet, this year’s Quarry season will rock Perth.
The headline work signifies the return of celebrated international choreographer Krzysztof Pastor, with In Light and Shadow set to make its Australian Premiere after critical acclaim with European and Asian ballet companies. The work which is set to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach begins with strong and intimate pas de deux acting as the shadow, to the alternate joyous ensemble end, in the light.
Returning to Perth after a long absence, legendary Australian Choreographer Graeme Murphy brings a 20 minute excerpt of his acclaimed work Air and Other Invisible Forces to the West Australian Ballet for the first time. The work, which Murphy describes as “A blank page containing a faint trace of dried tears could tell us everything about the content,” is inspired by the music Michael Askill and Giya Kancheli.
The complete the season, is an exciting new co-production from the mind of effervescent up-and-coming Choreographer Wubkje Kuindersma. Named by Dance Magazine as the ‘Top 25 to watch in 2019’, this fluid work aptly named Architecture of Hope has been created for eight dancers around life’s reliance on hope and the feeling of belonging.
The work makes its World Premiere in Perth before being performed by one of the world’s major exponents of dance, Dutch National Ballet. Scannella noted that the work utilises a score from popular composer Philip Glass.
Following the Ballet at the Quarry line-up, the Company will return to the historic West Australian Ballet Centre for a seven show run of Genesis in March. The annual creative showcase sees the dancers take charge of the choreography in this experimental multi-work season.
In May, Perth’s children will have their dreams come true with the Australian Premiere of The Sleeping Beauty. The
Classical cornerstone is set the music of Tchaikovsky played live by West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) under Conductor Judith Yan.
Choreographed by Javier Torres, the production remains close to Marius Petipa’s original version which debuted in 1890 Saint Petersburg. The iconic story features a bewitched Princess Aurora, a fight between powerful fairies and the adventures of Prince Désiré.
Anticipation will be key as the introduction of a new mainstage season at the State Theatre Centre of WA comes to life in June. STATE will be a modern multi-work season at the home of Contemporary dance, with the meaning not only in reference to our home state of WA, but also representative of the state of mind and feelings brought on when witnessing contemporary dance.
The showcase presented will feature the stunning 40 minute production of Graeme Murphy’s Air and Other Invisible Forces and features beautiful costumes by well-known Australian fashion designer Akira Isogawa.
The second work will be a restaging of award winning Choreographer Garry Stewart’s Reincarnation which was created for West Australian Ballet in collaboration with the State’s Contemporary Dance Company Co:3 Australia in 2018, who will again join us onstage for the work. The piece, which was lauded as “Robust, razor sharp choreography” by Dance Australia upon its premiere in 2018, will be amplified when presented in Heath Ledger Theatre.
The final work will be an Australian Premiere of an exciting 18 minute duet based on a mythological story. Galatea and Pygmalion tells the tale of sculptor Pygmalion, who asks Aphrodite to breathe life into his mesmerising sculpture.
The Neoclassical work was created by Hong Kong duo Justyne Li Sze Yeung and Wong Tan Ki, and will bring a liveliness to the State Theatre with its silky fluid movements.
In September, fear will reign again. West Australian Ballet’s multi award-winning Dracula makes a return to the His Majesty’s Theatre after a record-breaking, sell-out World Premiere season in 2018.
Heralded as “Technically brilliant” by The Australian and “A fantasy that ensnares the senses in every ay conceivable” by The West Australian, it is yet to be confirmed if Artistic Director Aurélien Scannella will return as the “Old Count Dracula”.
WASO will be lead by Perth Conductor Jessica Gethin as they play Wojciech Kilar’s entrancing score that featured in the movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).
Currently planned for October, the whole Company will undertake a five-city tour of Classical Cornerstone, Giselle, to the People’s Republic of China. With confirmed backing from the State Government, the tour is to be confirmed shortly following the finalisation of corporate sponsorship agreements. West Australian Ballet has the aim is to visit Guangzhou, Perth’s sister city Chengdu, Shanghai, Shandong and Beijing for a total of eight performances of the celebrated 178 year old ballet.
To complete the year in November, high-demand family Christmas favourite The Nutcracker will return, but in a dual season with a multi-work production; GALA.
The limited 12 performances of The Nutcracker sees the continuation of our family ballet tradition at Christmas as Clara enters the Land of the Sweets and journey’s through battles with the Rat King and dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
GALA will feature an exclusive seven performances of some of the Company’s most-loved works including; Radio & Juliet, Zip Zap Zoom, Takuto and excerpts from Le Corsaire, The Great Gatsby and many others. This tasting plate of acclaimed works will encourage patrons to dress up for a night of glamour a black-tie suggestion to add to the gala
experience.
Head to West Australian Ballet to book tickets.
OIP Staff
