Jewels

The Australian Ballet at the Royal Opera House

*****

After an absence of 35 years, the Australian Ballet is making a welcome return to the Royal Opera House stage with a short season of George Balanchine’s three-act ballet, Jewels. Now under the leadership of artistic director David Hallberg, the company has grown in strength since its creation 60 years ago and performs classical works alongside more contemporary pieces.

Hallberg took over in 2019 – his last performances as a dancer were with the Royal Ballet before the pandemic and injury cut short his career. In this brief tour he has promised audiences “an unbelievable feast of choreography” and Jewels is one of the cornerstones of the Australian Ballet’s repertoire.

Created in 1967, Jewels uses music by three composers with beautiful costumes by Balanchine’s long-time collaborator, Barbara Karinska. Inspired by looking in the windows of Van Cleef & Arpels on Fifth Avenue in New York, Balanchine choreographed three very different works using precious stones as a linking theme.

The triptych begins with Emeralds, a romantic, swirling piece with music by Faure. The women, clad in romantic-length tutus (as opposed to classical tutus seen in the last act) have a serene, lyrical quality to their dancing, coupled with a playfulness in some of the variations.

The middle section – Rubies – is a sassy work with the dancers in sexy, deep red costumes, accented with gemstones. In typical Balanchine fashion, legs are hyper-extended, hips thrust out and feet are sometimes flexed rather than pointed. Set to music by Stravinsky, it is fun and a complete contrast to the previous work. On opening night the audience gasped as the curtain rose – Peter Harvey’s set design is gorgeous – and the dancers zipped through the speedy variations with ease, bringing a touch of Broadway to the hallowed Covent Garden stage.

The performance concludes with Diamonds, Balanchine’s homage to his classical Russian schooling. It is a display piece for the full company to show off its talents – and there is a lot of talent to enjoy. Ako Kondo and Brett Chynoweth tested each other to the limit in the Rubies pas de deux, while Benedicte Bemet and Joseph Caley (who only joined the company from the UK last year) garnered cheers for their Diamonds pas de deux.

This Sunday afternoon sees the company perform a 60th anniversary gala which will include several works designed to show off the versatility of its dancers. They are only here for a short while, so catch them if you can. Let us hope they do not wait another 35 years before coming back to perform here.

The Australian Ballet is at the Royal Opera House until 6 August.