Culture
Dance
★★★½
Arts
The tea meeting that’s so strange and grotesque, it almost defies description
Our round-up of what to see on Melbourne’s stages leads with Yumi Umiumare’s sprawling solo performance Buried Teabowl-Okuni.
- by Andrew Fuhrmann, Cameron Woodhead, Tony Way and Jessica Nicholas
Latest
Dance always felt out of reach but Leisa Prowd took a leap of faith
She grew up dancing in her bedroom, pacing out the choreography the world didn’t seem to want her to perform. Then she seized her moment.
- by Nick Miller
Mania, pornography and dog barking: Inside the mind of Mette Ingvartsen
In one of two Rising festival shows, the daring Danish choreographer will not only dance but convulse, gurn, laugh grotesquely and bark like a dog.
- by Stephanie Bunbury
★★★★ ½
Review
An American in Paris is a stage musical that utterly delights
This is a timeless love story with glorious music and Robbie Fairchild as lead character Gerry who practically floats on stage.
- by Jill Sykes
★★★★½
Performing arts
Skills on show but it was a relief when it was over
This dance work fails to deliver on it promise.
- by Jill Sykes
‘A beautiful monster’: The experimental ballet that’s ruffling some feathers
Artistic director David Hallberg is returning to the stage and unleashing a piece that’s nothing like the Australian Ballet has done before.
- by Millie Muroi
★★★½
Performing arts
Leap is a bold and furiously fast crowd pleaser
The original dance show is the creation of Amy Campbell, the former resident director of Hamilton, the musical.
- by Jill Sykes
The ballet unlike any you’ve seen before – and why it’ll set a new standard
Kunstkamer was already the most talked-about event on the Australian dance calendar before David Hallberg decided to put his dance shoes back on.
- by John Bailey
The Australian Ballet announces a brand new, ‘classic’ Swan Lake
One of the greatest ballets of all time is entering a new era at the Australian Ballet. But director David Hallberg had to make a choice: does the swan die?
- by Nick Miller
★★★★★
Arts
This extraordinary show sees uncanny acrobatic prowess meet dance
On, a new show from Circa, is a stylish, flawlessly executed physical essay on the human need for connection.
- by Andrew Fuhrmann, Cameron Woodhead and Jessica Nicholas
Tapping the zeitgeist: the dance that’s making an online comeback
Tap dancing, and particularly its Irish cousin, are having a moment on social media. It warms the heart of Aussie Chris Horsey, who’s loved tap all his life.
- by Catherine Lambert