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French Connections
Australian Ballet
Festival Theatre
Fri 23 May
Season closed
 Svelte and entrancing, that's the two words - three words - I'd use to describe the Australian Ballet's performance in the quixotically named 'French Connections'. Quixotic, to get that point out of the way first, because the common thread to the three pieces performed in the programme is the Ballet Russe, the groundbreaking ensemble who brought their choreography to Adelaide back in 1936. Even so, the connection of the Ballet Russe to France is a strong one, as noted so eloquently by David McAllister in his note from the Artistic Director.
In describing the performances as svelte I note the very few blemishes in tonight's performance are best described as nit-picking. Nearly everything was in its place, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (under the baton of conductor Nicolette Fraillon) were musical champions, and the dancers all seemed to want to impress us, and gave the strong impression they all wanted to be on stage. For the AB, it wasn't always so; I've seen performances where the corps needed a stiff dose of military parade ground drill to get them into shape. Not tonight. The lighting and design was both clean and crisp, adding to the stirring spectacle.
As a sidenote, 'French Connections' surprised me in being the most 'conventional' set of performances from the AB I've seen in a while, also, and I have no truck with that. They were, as I believe I've made clear, svelte.
Following the performance the only real topic of conversation in the audience was which of the three pieces was the most entrancing. Was it 'Symphonie Fantastique' (choreography by Krzysztof Pastor), the somewhat longwinded opening piece which seemed to return to familiar themes every five minutes or so, the delightful and short 'Afternoon Of A Faun' (choreography by Jerome Robbins), or the stunning 'Ballet Imperial' (choreography by George Balanchine), the concluding piece which really brought a close to the evening?
It seemed the audience was somewhat taken aback by how good this performance actually was. For mine, 'Ballet Imperial' was as good as it gets. Based on solid and classic dance movement, this ballet, first performed in 1941 by the American Ballet Caravan, was a delight to watch. It's worth noting - and bravo to the company for this step - that all the soloists for tonight's performance were plucked from the corps de ballet, save Robert Curran's role in this piece. Bravo.
Alex Wheaton
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