Hi Readers
It has been another year of ballet and I wanted to share with you some of my favourite dancers and dance pieces that have moved and inspired me.
Juliet and I connected over Ballet without Borders and her own work in 2015 where she fulfilled a lifelong dream to bring the magic of ballet to the underprivileged in Indonesia, realised through the Ballet Goes to Ciliwung workshop with the assistance of Ballet.Id Foundation and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, she returned there in 2016. Her hope is to continue to promote the accessibility of ballet to all Indonesians, regardless of socioeconomic background.
We were hoping to meet in Melbourne but Juliet was offered a position with Ballet Vlaanderen in Belgium. But I am hopeful that we can still meet in the near future.
She is a beautiful dancer and watching her for me is like watching a beautiful flower open up.
One of my favourites. Not just in the way that she moves but her style and the ‘cool’ that she brings from her off work days onto the stage. I wish that she would come to Australia so that I could see her live. Her energy and also expressiveness are amazing.
Coming out of gruelling training in Russia she was told that she would never make it due to her short neck. She is now principal with the San Francisco Ballet.
Favourite works seen this year
Letting Blood - a video work by Juliet Burnett, Nicholas Robert Thayer and Gabrielle Adamidis for MONA and Dark MOFO festival, Hobart
When I was there for the Dark MOFO festival I stumbled into this room and this was playing. Its mesmerising. Really wonderful acting (and dancing of course) from Juliet.
Le Palais de Cristal (The Crystal Palace) by George Balanchine In February 1947, George Balanchine—performed by the Paris Opera (recorded not live!)
The music, the costumes, the choreography. This is one of my favourite ballet pieces of all time. I get goose bumps listening to the music.
Stay tuned for the last post of the year which will have my speech for the Genee RAD Conference.
Best,
Katia