It’s 35 years since the Australian Ballet last performed at London’s Royal Opera House, a long absence, and interesting that the piece they’ve chosen to bring isn’t something unique to the company, or a tribute to their British roots (the company was founded 60 years ago by Londoner Peggy van Praagh) but Jewels by George Balanchine, the choreographer who epitomises American ballet.
Such is the international business of dance. The Australian company’s director since 2021 is David Hallberg, a former star dancer of American Ballet Theatre and the first American principal at the Bolshoi. Conquering Balanchine is a marker of a company’s technical achievements. It inevitably invites comparisons to the New York City Ballet dancers, who have this style drilled into them from childhood, but great choreography stands up to differing interpretations.
