Culture in Sydney

Compared to New York, there's little original culture in Sydney, but that's true for most places. I have found myself attending a number of dance performances - all a little different from the others. I need to do a few months of catch-up in this post:
Sydney Dance Company: Graeme Murphy's Berlin, October 2007 at the Theatre Royal
Australian Ballet, November 2007 at the Opera House (Opera Theatre)
Sacred Monsters: Sylvie Guillem and Akram Khan, March 2008 at the Opera House (Concert Hall)
Sydney Dance Company: Meryl Tankard's Inuk2, 11 April 2008 at the Theatre Royal
Australian Ballet: A Jerome Robbins Celebration, 2 May 2008 at the Opera House (Opera Theatre)

Last night's ballet was fantastic. There were four pieces - two large group numbers, a duet, and a solo accompanied by a cellist. Though grounded in classical ballet, it was certainly modern. I particularly liked The Cage and A Suite of Dances. I also enjoyed going to Opera Bar both before and after the performance.

Jerome Robbins also reminded me of how much I disliked Meryl Tankard's Inuk2. The words "chaotic movement" describe the piece fairly well, I think. There are two dancers in the Sydney Dance Company that I really enjoyed watching when I saw them perform Berlin in October. The girl was great again, but the guy didn't get much more than a quick duet to show off. The piece was weird, involved fighting and screaming, and was generally uncomfortable to watch. Hopefully the next two visiting choreographers for the Sydney Dance Company's season will be better.

Sylvie Guillem< and Akram Khan were pretty amazing. She can bend in the most amazing ways! When asked her opinion of whether I should go to this performance, Eran wrote "Sylvie Guillem is a freak of nature. You should def see her" and Parisa went nuts on the phone. I agreed: freak of nature and definitely worth seeing.

Next week: Chess the Musical.