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WHO remembers when the prescient indigenous elder Matilda House welcomed then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to the new National Portrait Gallery as the ‘horrible’ Kevin Rudd? ( she meant “honourable”). 

Ngunnawal elder Aunty Aunt Sheay did much the same thing this morning, only more gently, when she welcomed the creative director of the Centenary Robyn Archer as the “corrective director”.

Still, it was all taken in good part, as representatives from both the ACT and Federal governments joined representatives of the Australian Ballet, including all the dancers, in a morning tea celebration at Parliament House for the ballet’s new work “Monument.”
Sheay revealed that she had  a special connection with Parliament House architects, Mitchell Giurgola and Thorpe, having been a domestic leader for them and thus able to see the very earliest plans while doing a domestic duties. They had even given her  the keys so that she could look after the premise in their absence.

Federal member for  Canberra Gai Brotman was next to the podium with yet another revelation – when she was a young teenager, she had studied with the  formidable ballet pioneer Mme Borovansky.

Brotman revealed that the Federal Government had contributed more than $5 million to the Centenary celebrations, with the  idea of celebrating Australian cultural diversity. She said “Monument” had given a ‘national slant’ to the Centenary, referring  the arts policy of her colleague and  “seat buddy,” Simon Crean, a policy “to which he was passionately committed.”

The starstruck Brotman said it was “a privilege to meet so many ballet legends.”

ACT Member for Ginninderra, Chris Bourke, claimed no dance expertise except in what he called “the Ginninderra two-step,” but praised the new dance work for having “an indigenous flavour about it.” In his view the work was the more remarkable because “a monument doesn’t move.”

Not for the first time, Archer described herself as “like the figurehead out the front” of the Centenary ship. To her, one of the main considerations had been what the original architect Giurgola would thin,  but last night he said, “it has  been one of the most exciting moments of my life to see the building move…it’s not just visual, it’s human.”

Left, choreographer Garry Stewart, right, artistic director of the Australian Ballet, David McAllister

It was left to choreographer Garry Stewart to get the last laugh. The whole project, he said would be “something to tell our grandchildren— if we ever had any.”

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Minister for Sport and Recreation Andrew Barr

The contribution means funding for a $1m grant to the Brumbies for training facilities at their Griffith headquarters will instead be transferred to this project, says Barr.

“This precinct…will provide a hub for community and elite sport, for students at a university level and for local school children who can learn about sport and fitness from leading professionals in the field,” he says.

“[It] will cement UC’s reputation as one of the country’s leading tertiary institutions for sport and related studies, helping the university to grow and attract students to the ACT.”

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Warehouse Circus performers

ACT Minister for Education and training Joy Burch today  joined Warehouse Circus to launch the new ‘Circus Space’ at University of Canberra High School Kaleen.

A first for the ACT, circus is now integrated with drama studies as part of the school’s ‘performance pathways’ program.  Circus is also taught for students with special needs.

The program will start by running with year seven drama classes, as well as special needs classes at the school.

Ms Burch commented, “Educational and social benefits to be gained through the Circus Warehouse program include enhanced self-confidence, team co-operation, and the acceptance and application of the process of structured learning.”

The new venture  is a collaboration between the school and Warehouse Circus Inc, a not-for-profit community organisation that, while founded in the Belconnen area in 1990, has now based itself in Chifley on the north side.

As the school programs gear up, the circus is considerably assisted by its new trainer, Susanna Defraia, formerly of Cirque du Soleil.

Trainer Susanna Defraia

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High profile speaker Richard Gill

AS if the  Canberra Theatre Centre didn’t have enough on its plate this week, the arrival of the Australian Ballet, from Sunday it’s embarking on the 27^th annual conference of The Australian Performing Arts Centres Association—APACA.

As you’ve already guessed, the event will be officially opened by creative director of Canberra 100, Robyn Archer.

As well, a bevy of high profile speakers like  Richard Gill, Diane Ragsdale, Tony Grybowski, Katie Dawson, Brant Pope, Dave Brown and former Canberran Stephen Champion to name a few will be taking the podium to address the theme, “Fear No Art.

According to APACA’s executive director, Rick Heath, “the conference will examine exactly what it is that the performing arts contributes to liveable communities and what we, or others, might fear in the absence of that.”

APACA president Tim Munro says, “like the city of Canberra itself, APACA conferences are an incubator of great ideas and progressive discussions and where better to have a conference titled ‘Fear No Art’ than during Canberra’s centenary celebrations surrounded by some of the nation’s most significant cultural assets.”

Naturally the Canberra Theatre Centre’s director Bruce Carmichael is talking up the camera locations are this year’s event. “It makes the conference very accessible to local venue managers and arts practitioners. The information exchange at these conferences is phenomenal,” he says.

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Two of the teenagers were also charged over a robbery at a Wanniassa service station yesterday, where an employee was threatened with a knife.

Around 1am police attended the Mawson 7 Eleven Service Station following a report of an aggravated robbery at the store.

Police searched the area and found four teenagers matching the description of the offenders at the Woden Bus Interchange.

A 12-year-old Southside boy, 14-year-old Southside boy, 15-year-old Northside girl and a 14-year-old Northside boy were arrested.

Police will allege the three male teenagers are also responsible for the aggravated robbery which occurred in Wanniassa yesterday morning.

The two 14-year-old boys were charged with two counts of aggravated robbery and will face the ACT Children’s Court later today.

The 15-year-old girl was charged with one count of aggravated robbery and will face the ACT Children’s Court later today.

The 12-year-old boy was released into the custody of his parents and will be summonsed to court at a later date.

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Balanchine’s “The Four Temperaments”, danced to the music of Paul Hindemith, is a plotless abstract ballet about perfection. The dancers, dressed in simple black and white leotards perform intricate variations against a clear blue backdrop. It’s exposing, with no room for error and little opportunity for emotion. The dancers were up to the challenge, dancing with absolute precision in a brilliant display of sheer technique. 

The exquisite pas de deux from Christopher Wheeldon’s “After The Rain” is also about perfection, but dripping with emotion, and the audience held its collective breath as Lana Jones and Adam Bull appeared to float through its intricacies to the gentle strains of Arvo Part’s “Spiegel im Spiegel”.

These two odes to perfection proved appropriate preludes to the main offering, “Monument” commissioned as a Centenary of Canberra project to celebrate the perfection of Canberra’s iconic parliamentary building.

With a driving electronic score by Huey Benjamin providing the heartbeat, choreographer Garry Stewart has integrated elements of hip-hop, popping and classical ballet technique to create a busy, enthralling ballet which brilliantly and remarkably captures the essence and excitement of the building.

The dancers, in crisp-white, figure-hugging costumes, move briskly around the stage in squares, rectangles, triangles and circles defined by Jon Buswell’s lighting, performing combinations of stabbing, angular arm and body movements. Behind them 3D animations of the actual architectural drawings give the impression that the dancers are moving in an out of the building as it awakens and comes to life.

Eventually a couple, Lana Jones and Andrew Killian, emerge from the ensemble to perform a long pas de deux which draws this remarkable ballet to a contemplative conclusion with both standing silhouetted on the empty stage.

Regardless of your familiarity with Parliament House, “Monument” is a remarkable achievement destined to heighten interest in the object of its inspiration wherever it is performed.

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