Review: Chroma by The Australian Ballet in Sydney

I was invited to attend the media call/final dress rehearsal for Chroma by The Australian Ballet for the sole purpose to provide some Twitter/Instagram love (see kids, spending copious amounts of time on social media pays off!). Being touted as "Mozart meets the White Stripes, classical meets contemporary" the show delivered. Consisting of 3 distinct acts, it was the perfect tasting plate to witness ballet.

1. Chroma (2006)
2. Art to Sky (2014)
3. Petite Mort (1991) & Sechs Tanze (1986)

Chroma (2006)

The Australian premiere of Chroma is a fusion of music from Joby Talbot and Jack White from the White Stripes. Being a fan back in the High School days, my ears did pick up Blue Orchid and Hardest Button to Button but unfortunately, Seven Nation Army did not appear and have the opportunity to aurally delight me.

The set was simple, modern and striking however, this being my taster into ballet I was disappointed that the costumes were very simple, essentially a tank top and undies BUT did give us the opportunity to focus more on their movements and form rather than what they were wearing.

Art to Sky (2014)

This was the world premiere of Art to Sky inspired by Tchaikovsky's Mozartiana which in turn was inspired by Mozart (#AmadeusAmadeus).

It was beautiful.

This was the type of performance that you would 'expect' from ballet with the ballerinas being graceful and doing that "tippy-toe thing" which is more formally known as "en pointe" was pretty exciting. I was in awe the entire time.

Even though ballet does not seem to be the most masculine exercise out there, these guys are insanely fit and strong (muscles upon muscles) which makes sense as they seem to have no issue twirling the ballerinas as if they're practically weightless.

Petite Mort (1991) & Sechs Tanze (1986)

In my personal opinion, they saved the best for last.

It was the perfect fusion to show of the dancers' mad skills combined perfectly with comedy. This was the contemporary ballet at it's finest.

My favourite 'costume' being these gliding Baroque dresses...

There were a few unexpected moments, gorgeous costumes, unique props and a bit of fun which contrasts against the stereotypically 'serious' side of going to the ballet.

Overview

For those who aren't too familiar with dance/ballet, this show is perfect as the tasting plate as it features 3 distinct and different performances which is a great way to compare and discover for yourself which style you prefer. While I enjoyed every single act, the final act was too good to not be deemed the favourite.

Attending the final dress rehearsal which actually marked the first time the dancers & orchestra had performed simultaneously was really interesting to see what goes on 'behind the scenes.' The performances look seemingly easy during the performance but after, it was an interesting to see them out-of-breath and recovering from a strenuous performance.

There are only 10 performances of Chroma at the Sydney Opera House ending May 17, the show will then go to Melbourne in June.

To find tickets, click here.


The photos in this post were provided by the Australian Ballet, and were taken by Jess Bialek.

I received a media ticket for the purpose to Tweet/Instagram the performance. I was under no obligation to provide a review.
NOTE: Typically, taking photos is a big no-no however, I was given special permission for the night for the purpose of Tweeting/Instagramming. So don't ever take photos, the ushers are amazing at doing their job and swooping in like seagulls at the mere glimpse of a camera.