Sydney Theatre presents Australian Dance Theatre

G

by Garry Stewart

16 to 18 May 2013. Opening Night: Thursday 16 May 2013 at 8.00pm, Sydney Theatre, 22 Hickson Road Walsh Bay

Australian Dance Theatre returns to Sydney Theatre with G, a 60-minute high-octane deconstruction of the classic ballet Giselle, featuring Artistic Director Garry Stewart’s characteristic witty, provocative and physically demanding choreography. The Sydney season from 16 to 18 May 2013 heralds an extensive national tour of a work which has already delighted audiences throughout Europe.
G fuses the technical prowess of the haunting classical ballet about a lovelorn young girl who joins the spirit world to dance out her grief, with the explosive athleticism of Stewart’s 11-strong company. A haunting electronic score by Luke Smiles drives the work forward at an extraordinary pace, while a hovering panorama of LED screens serves to reconfigure the original ballet and its themes of sex, death, hysteria and gender.
The UK’s Guardian described the show as “jaw droppingly physical” noting that the cast are required “to do terrifying things: crash-land out of flying jetés on to their knees, wrench their limbs into grotesque distortions”. France’s Le Monde declared that “the work explodes with greater and greater intensity, as if launched from the wings by a cannon”. At its Adelaide premiere in 2009, The Advertiser considered it ‘…the most thrilling Australian dance work you could hope to see.’
Under Garry Stewart, Australian Dance Theatre has built an international reputation for its distinctive style. The dancers train in a number of physical disciplines from ballet and contemporary dance techniques through to gymnastics, ashtanga yoga, breakdance and martial arts. The result is a fusion of forms which constitutes a truly unique choreographic palette.
G marks a welcome return to Sydney Theatre for Stewart, following ADT’s electrifying Be Your Self in June 2012 and his powerful The Centre and its Opposite, a highlight of West Australian Ballet’s Neon Lights, at Sydney Theatre in October 2012.
May 2013 is a particularly fruitful time for the choreographer. Monument, his new work celebrating the design of Parliament House, is performed by The Australian Ballet as part of a program called Symmetries for the Centenary of Canberra celebrations with performances from 23 to 25 May.
Conceived & Directed by Garry Stewart. Choreography: Garry Stewart & the ADT dancers. Assistant Choreographer: Larissa McGowan. Set Designer: Garry Stewart. Lighting Designer Geoff Cobham. Composer: Luke Smiles/motion laboratories. Costume Designers: Gaelle Mellis and Daniel Jaber. Dramaturgical Consultant: Anne Thompson
Dancers: Jessica Hesketh, Amber Haines, Kyle Page, Scott Ewen, Daniel Jaber, Kimball Wong, Matte Roffe, Samantha Hines, Zoë Dunwoodie, Adam Blanch, Nathalie Allen
Box Office: 9250 1999. www.sydneytheatre.org.au Tickets: $30 – $59 (transaction fees apply)
For further information regarding the Sydney season: Tim McKeough (9250 1703 or tmckeough@sydneytheatre.com.au). For information regarding ADT and the national tour of G: Gabrielle Leonello 08 8121 7717 or gabrielle@littlelion.com.au

G has been co-commissioned by The Joyce Theater’s Stephen and Cathy Weinroth Fund for New Work (New York), Southbank Centre (London) and Merrigong Theatre Co. at Illawarra Performing Arts Centre (Wollongong) and coproduced by Theatre de la Ville (Paris).
Australian Dance Theatre is supported by the Government of South Australia through Arts SA and the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. The 2013 Australian tour is supported by the Australian Government’s national performing arts touring program, Playing Australia.
Tour Details:
5 June: Laycock Street Theatre
GOSFORD NSW www.laycockstreettheatre.com
7-8 June: Illawarra Performing Arts Centre
WOLLONGONG NSW www.merrigong.com.au
13-14 June: Canberra Theatre Centre
CANBERRA, ACT www.canberratheatrecentre.com.au
18 June: Albury Entertainment Centre
ALBURY, NSW www.alburycity.nsw.gov.au
21 June: Civic Theatre
WAGGA WAGGA, NSW www.wagga.nsw.gov.au/civic-theatre
26 June: Bunbury Entertainment Centre
BUNBURY, WA www.bunburyentertainment.com/
29 June: Mandurah Performing Arts Centre
MANDURAH, WA www.manpac.com.au
4-7 July: State Theatre Centre
PERTH, WA www.statetheatrecentrewa.com.au