Image: Firebird Artists of the Australian Ballet.
Photo: Jeff Busby
Sydney audiences are to be treated to this tribute to the 50-year career of one of Australia’s great creative artists, choreographer Graeme Murphy, arguably one of the leading choreographers of his generation.
Over the years, we have seen Murphy’s take on The Nutcracker, which was set in a Melbourne heatwave, the opposite of Tchaikovsky’s familiar snowy world, and he interpreted Swan Lake as a ménage à trois.
This production will present excerpts from his dazzling works, including The Silver Rose and Shéhérazade, as well as the sizzling Firebird in its entirety.
Murphy says, “When you’re doing the classics, we are trying, to a large degree, to uphold a tradition of how it’s done and how it should be done, but of course, as an audience, we want to see that tradition lifted to another level. That’s when you’ve got to say, give the artists space, push them in the direction, make sure that they understand the essence of who they are and why they are doing it, and then give them the freedom to experiment.”
Senior Artist Jarryd Madden is excited about the production: “The amazing thing with Graeme is he always does something different every time he goes into a production. Whenever you see one of his pieces, even if you’ve never seen a ballet before, you can really connect to it. He tells these stories that are really raw and emotional, and no matter what you’re looking at you’ll feel something.”
With Murphy, we can “expect the unexpected” and that will be a thrill for our collective senses in this compilation tribute to Australia’s most innovative choreographer.
Apr 6-23. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, Sydney. $140-$236+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.australianballet.com.au
By Irina Dunn
