★★★★☆What better way to end the Australian Ballet’s triumphant return to the Royal Opera House after 35 years than with a gala marking the company’s 60th birthday? And not your usual gala either. David Hallberg, the artistic director of the Australian Ballet, avoided most of the usual fare (not a swan in sight!) in favour of a packed and unusual programme that showcased the versatility and vigour of his dancers in works old and new.
The highlights? The company going for broke in an excerpt from Justin Peck’s intoxicating Everywhere We Go (2014), a rich dance cornucopia that combines sleek romantic couplings with the adrenaline rush of 25 dancers let loose in Peck’s dazzling refreshment of the classical language. The score by Sufjan Stevens
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