Feb 16, 2023

Advertisement I do love a night out at the ballet – especially one performed in the gorgeous Quarry Amphitheatre. With a glorious canopy of stars above, a delicious picnic at your feet and a balmy summer breeze blowing, it is hard to imagine a better place to experience an array of beautiful bodies in motion. They complete a pretty picture. However, even though I studied ballet and contemporary dance in my much younger days, when I could shimmy in a leotard and pull off a fouette or three en pointe, and having watched my fair share of terpsichorean talents grand jete across the stage, I find contemporary ballet can be jarring and utterly perplexing. Much like art hanging in galleries, it’s wide open to interpretation. It’s telling a story, but even after pouring over the explanatory notes from the choreographers I often don’t get it. Glenda Garcia Gomez and Oscar Valdés in Alice Topp’s Open Heart Story. Credit:Bradbury Photography In other words, your capacity for enjoying WA Ballet’s 30th anniversary editon of their popular Ballet at the Quarry series for Perth Festival, In Cognito, depends on your willingness to suspend the search for meaning. You just have to let it roll over you, like the stars above and the balmy breeze. The first of the four works in program is the world premiere of Open Heart Story from Australian Ballet’s resident choreographer Alice Topp, who says her piece is her impression of the life-giving muscle we often forget about until it fails us. “Inspired by a collection of true stories of friends who fought, and lost, their own heart battles, Open Heart Story is an emotional dissection of the remarkable organ in our chest, beating, pumping and at times, damaged,” writes Topp in the accompanying notes. “The piece takes an inquisitive look at the heart, at the things that catch our breath to the words we never said, weaving a picture of the racing, pulsing, aching maker-of-pace that keeps us moving and receptive to all.” Unfortunately, the heart’s of Topp’s team’s hearts were beating a little too fast as they seem to be suffering from opening-night nerves as the performance of some of the 12 dancers lacked the polish you expect of an event of this calibre, with the show disrupted by fumbles and stumbles. Advertisement The second piece, Verses, marked the return to the Quarry Amphitheatre of Polish choreographer Robert Bondara. A short pas de deux originally created for Polish National Ballet dancers, Verses is about loss, sorrow and longing and loneliness. It was beautifully executed by soloists Kiki Saito and Juan Carlos Osma. Alexa Tuzil and Ludovico Di Ubaldo performing in WA Ballet’s opening night of Persona (Fratres). Credit:Bradbury Photography Bondara’s second offering, Persona [Fratres], is an intriguing and superbly performed pas de trois performed by Alexa Tuzil, Jack Whiter and Ludovico Di Ubaldo that explores themes of captivity within sociocultural norms. It’s a full-length work looking at how people put on masks, trying to play different roles, adapting to the attitudes and behaviours expected of them. It’s a phenomenon psychiatrist Carl Jung called the persona, notes Bondara. The stronger it is, the greater the chasm between the way someone behaves around other people and when they are alone. The night ended with leading American choreographer Helen Pickett’s IN Cognito transforming the stage into a villa adorned with bright decor reminiscent of the 60s and 70s. Oscar Valdés and West Australian Ballet dancers in Helen Pickett’s IN Cognito. Credit:Bradbury Photography Performed by an ensemble of nine to music by Johann Johannsson and Mikael Karlsson, they create a small community on stage, replete with dancing on furniture. It was done with expression and precision. It had a hint of Austin Powers, with its groovy sets and cheeky oh-behave choreography. It is bold and fun. My cultured British pal had no bloody idea what it was all about, but it hardly mattered. We loved being immersed in the wonderful and unusual vortex of contemporary dance. Incognito: Ballet at the Quarry is on until March 11. The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here . Save