ballet and dance

Giveaway: Pina in 3D

August 12, 2011 ⋅ 26 comments

Hey dance fans! Pina in 3D is a 3D film about the German dance pioneer Pina Bausch by the director Wim Wenders. The film takes the audience on a sensual, visually stunning journey of discovery, drawing us deeply into the unique and inspiring art of Bausch. It must be pretty spectacular seeing dance in a [...]

HOT: Elegy, The Australian Ballet, The Arts Centre State Theatre, 100 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne

June 10, 2011 ⋅ One comment

The Australian Ballet‘s latest production for its Melbourne-only winter season is a double bill entitled Elegy ‘A meditation on Bach, beauty and the great beyond’. The company’s resident choreographer (and former company dancer) Stephen Baynes has devised two works inspired by Faure’s Requiem and various Bach pieces. Both show a similar aesthetic style – clean [...]

Giveaway: Equinox, a mystical circus adventure

February 7, 2011 ⋅ 23 comments

What better way to start the working week than by giving away more stuff! This is a giveaway for theatre/circus-loving folk – I’d be going too except that baby is ready to pop any time now! Equinox is a new show by Melbourne’s Retina Productions featuring National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) alumni which is [...]

HOT: Hairspray the Musical, Princess Theatre, Spring St, Melbourne

January 20, 2011 ⋅ 2 comments

I really enjoy going to see musicals but even with ample opportunity to see award-winning musical Hairspray both in Australia and overseas, for some reason I thought it was going to be too corny, too kitsch, for me to enjoy. How wrong I was. I LOVED Hairspray. I can even safely say that it’s the [...]

HOT: Preston Zly and the Red Shoes, Preston Zly Studio, Rear 219 Smith St, Fitzroy

July 18, 2010 ⋅ One comment

I first saw the movie The Red Shoes as a child, fascinated by the beauty of the ballet, the fabulous costumes and the ultra-glamorous London-Paris-Monte Carlo life it depicted in scratchy 1940s Technicolour. So I was very excited to see that one of the free events being held as part of State of Design 2010, [...]

HOT Chat: Alister Smith of Short + Sweet Dance Festival

June 6, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

For dance fans in Melbourne, June once again brings the Short + Sweet DANCE festival to Chapel off Chapel. You may be familiar with the Short + Sweet organisation through the 10 minute plays that they started putting on around the country around 8 years ago. The not-for-profit entity is committed to proving performance opportunities [...]

NOT: Burning Daylight, Marrugeku, Meat Market, Arts House, 5 Blackwood St North Melbourne

November 21, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Burning Daylight is a contemporary dance and theatre production about the remote north-western coastal town of Broome by the indigenous and multicultural troupe Marrugeku. It was a reasonably entertaining production but on balance I have given it a NOT based on a single criteria – would I recommend it to a friend? And the answer, [...]

HOT: Mao’s Last Dancer Page to Picture, Cinema Nova, 350 Lygon St, Carlton

October 12, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

I have no idea why Mao’s Last Dancer has only received middle-of-the-road reviews. I was on the brink of tears for most of the film, until the end when the dam burst into an ugly-screwed-up-face fit of uncontrolled bawling. RM admitted even he was getting teary. So, five stars for emotional effect. The rich, lush [...]

HOT: Who’s That Chik?, Arts Centre, 100 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne

September 30, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

Candy Bowers wanted all the critics to introduce their reviews by saying that Who’s That Chik? features ‘a girl in skin tight dance pants’. So if you’re expecting crisp white linen suits and the perfect diction of God of Carnage, you’re in the wrong theatre. Candy B’s self-written, autobiographical show is billed as ’a hip hop [...]

NOT: La Boheme, Kino Cinemas, 45 Collins St, Melbourne

September 19, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

It really seems like every time I head to the cinemas for my dose of opera and ballet it is raining. Which just makes it a perfect match. This rainy Saturday afternoon it was the production of La Boheme from Teatro Real Madrid. As much as I love the Puccini opera I have to admit [...]