The Australian Ballet to revive Coppelia at St Kilda's Palais Theatre
By Cheryl Hall
Posted Thu 22 Sep 2016 at 6:51am Thursday 22 Sep 2016 at 6:51am Thu 22 Sep 2016 at 6:51am
George Ogilvie and David McAllister will be bringing Coppelia to the stage. (ABC News: Cheryl Hall)
abc.net.au/news/australian-ballet-production-of-coppelia-for-palais-theatre/7869436
The Australian Ballet is bringing back one of its original performances at the historic Palais Theatre in St Kilda.
Coppelia was first performed in the company's 1962 inaugural season and then revived in a new production in 1979 by founding artistic director Peggy Van Praagh and former theatre director George Ogilvie.
Mr Ogilvie, now 85, visited the dress rehearsals today.
"It's amazing. After all its 38 years since we were here doing it for the first night, and it seems to come back fresh as ever," he said.
"It's wonderful really, it's one of those productions you never forget, you always remember. I remember every detail of it."
Current artistic director David McAllister said it felt like coming home.
"I feel like I'm surrounded by ghosts of dancers past," he said.
It's an extraordinary theatre and I started my career here as a dancer so it's very exciting to be back.
"It's one of those great classic ballets, it has the most beautiful score by Delibe and it's a feel good, happy, wonderfully comic, family ballet.
"It was Dame Peggy, it was George Ogilvie it was Kristian Fredrickson. It has this feeling of great pride in our repertoire. So all the dancers coming to this production for the first time feel like they are stepping into the history of the Australian ballet."
Mr Ogilvie said Coppelia was one of the great success stories of the Australian ballet.
"I truly believe it to be a great ballet, a great story ballet, there are not many of them left now," he said.
"This story is a fairytale and therefore a moral tale and has all the good and the bad mixed up together in an isolated village where dancing in fact is the rule — everyone dances in Coppelia."
It will run at the Palais Theatre from September 23 to October 1.
Posted 22 Sep 2016 22 Sep 2016 Thu 22 Sep 2016 at 6:51am
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