The Australian Ballet: 60th Anniversary Celebration review: An assured and versatile display

Staged at London’s Royal Opera House, this company celebration highlighted contemporary work with dynamic results

Marcus Morelli in Harlequinade (Tristram Kenton)

Marking 60 years of the Australian Ballet, this gala performance focuses very much on the here and now. In a speech, new director David Hallberg acknowledged the company’s historic links with Britain’s Royal Ballet – but this programme stresses more recent work. It’s a snapshot of a versatile, confident company.

There’s a strong New York influence, reflecting Hallberg’s time as a star of American Ballet Theatre. An excerpt from Harlequinade, by in-demand choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, made a quirky start to the show. Ratmansky revisits a late work by Marius Petipa, original choreographer of The Sleeping Beauty. It’s a mix of witty steps and Edwardian frou-frou, with garlands of dancing and a corps de ballet in petal hats. Marcus Morelli has bright timing as the scampering hero, while Sharni Spencer is assured in the ballerina role.

Created for New York City Ballet, Justin Peck’s Everywhere We Go sets a large cast moving in crisp lines to music by Sufjan Stevens. Janie Taylor’s striped costumes give it a nautical look, and there’s a sea-breezy freshness to Peck’s interactions. Women soar in group lifts, held up by other women as well as men; individuals literally jump out of the group dances.

White-clad dancers ripple through Pam Tanowitz’s Watermark, arms raised in airy patterns. In one introspective solo, Adam Elmes dances like a man wrestling with an idea: walks and wriggles turning into classical steps and back again.

Group numbers show an easy chemistry between dancers. Johan Inger’s I New Then sets nine dancers loping and circling to Van Morrison. A circle of light looms over Little Atlas, a trio by Alice Topp, which sets Dimity Azoury, Jarryd Madden and Jake Mangakahia winding through taut, athletic shapes.

There are distinctive duets alongside these bigger works, making a nicely balanced programme. Amy Harris and Nathan Brook brought a lovely serenity to the duet from Kenneth MacMillan’s Concerto, with phrasing that floats into space. Ako Kondo and Chengwu Guo dance Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky pas de deux with punchy attack.

The Don Quixote pas de deux is standard gala fare, so it’s good to see it with more context. An excerpt from Rudolf Nureyev’s production includes Spanish character dances, performed with colour and presence in heeled shoes and Velasquez-inspired costumes. Then it’s on to the showstopping tricks. Benedicte Bemet is alert as the heroine, including a smart recovery from a mistimed fouetté. Joseph Caley has a wonderful time in his solos, bringing whirling turns to a slow, luxurious stop. It’s a bouncy finale for an assured show.

‘The Australian Ballet: 60th Anniversary Celebration’ took place on 6 August at the Royal Opera House