But back to The Sleeping Beauty: The much-anticipated version of Tchaikovsky’s major work is directed by McAllister himself and will see its world premiere in Melbourne next September. “It’s an iconic classic. People want to see it,” says the man affectionately referred to as ‘the boy from the backwater’ (McAllister has his origins in rural working man’s Perth, not a background expected to produce a world class choreographer). “It’s been on my mind a long time. I’ve come a long way and I feel like I know what I want to do with it. It’s my first full-length choreography. There was a beautiful ’80s production from The Australian Ballet,” McAllister recalls. “But we hadn’t really nailed it yet. We needed to do something new. The Sleeping Beauty can become one of those dances which is always about the steps; with our 2015 production we’re moving it along a bit, moving it forward for modern audiences. The dramatic elements are now more to the front and the centre of the dance. Our show is about telling the story, about the drama in the dance so it’s about the story as much as it’s about the choreography.”
Along with story and dance McAllister says that in his The Sleeping Beauty design is one of the most important elements of the performance. “The Sleeping Beauty is always staged in an opulent ‘big’ way; The Sleeping Beauty is always known for its outrageous and lavish designs – Diaghalev’s production for the Ballets Russes in the 1920s sent the company broke. Our production is shorter than the original but I certainly didn’t want to lose the opulence of the piece. It’s filled with the magical majesty of the dance. Gabriella Tylesova is our designer and we’re on the same wave-length. I sent her images, wrote the whole synopsis, she did her own research, now it’s even better than I thought it would be. I’m over the moon with Gabriella’s design, with what she’s done. That’s going to have a huge impact on this production. It’s all set in the 1700s, 1900s, the whole baroque period, it’s really appealing and engaging. We have a lot of fun with set and costumes. There are a lot of beautiful images.”
The media launch of ‘A Year of Beauty’ at the NGV was a beautiful event in itself with the vision of Principal Artist Lara Jones lying asleep on a couch festooned with fresh spring roses. An exquisite mini-performance had her awakened by Prince Florian (Daniel Gaudiello) and danced into spring with a kiss of immense promise, a moment made even more romantic when we heard that Gaudiello is Jones’ husband in real life.
The Sleeping Beauty is famously very demanding on its principal ballerina. “This is an incredibly difficult dance for ballerinas; it’s physically one of the most demanding of roles,” McAllister says. “Lana Jones has an incredible attack, an incredible dynamic technique. She’s currently blossoming into the whole ballerina image, she’s become what one expects from a ballerina, and she’s the right one for this dance at this moment.” Jones herself says it’s a great honour to be asked by McAllister to dance Aurora. “David McAllister really knows his ballet. He’s an extraordinarily gifted choreographer. He’s got his own vision for this piece,” she tells us. What makes The Sleeping Beauty so difficult for a dancer? “There’s a lot of dancing, a lot of balancing on one leg and moves like that. There are suspenseful moments where the audience can see if you’re not up to it. It’s a bit scary; I could even say it’s frightening…I have performed it before. Now that I’ve got more experience, I have more to bring to the role.” So what does she think brings to the part? “Aurora is only 16. I bring a fragility and innocence to the character.” Does Jones attribute her success to natural talent or sheer hard work? “You have to have natural talent to get this far in ballet. That’s the nature of it,” she answers. “I often get asked to do the difficult parts. And of course it’s sheer hard work. I try to be the best dancer I can. I learn from watching other dancers, watching the other principals in the company.” Even though the actual concert is a year away, preparing for it is almost dominating Jones’ life. “I am just going to stay in the bubble til then!”
Such is McAllister’s popularity with those in the know, fundraising has attracted benefactors keen to contribute to the creation of The Sleeping Beauty purely so he can do it, according to the company’s Director of Philanthropy Kenneth Watkins. “People who love David have taken the opportunity to be engaged,” says Watkins. “They say ‘Oh yes, for David!’ It’s an opportunity to celebrate him and his work – he’s come up from being the boy next door, the Perth boy from the back blocks!”
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
