<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Peggy van Praagh's production of the 19th-century classic, Giselle, and the new Graeme Murphy-Kristian Fredrikson ballet, Tivoli, will be the centrepieces of next year's Australian Ballet repertoire, the last planned by the outgoing artistic director, Ross Stretton.<P>Honouring the artists of the old vaudeville circuit, Tivoli is a collaboration of the Australian Ballet and the Sydney<BR>Dance Company. <P>The Sydney season begins with Giselle in March; Personal Best (Stephen Baynes), Etudes (Harold Landar) and Other Dances (Jerome Robbins) in April; Tivoli in June. Carmina Burana (Natalie Weir) and Requiem (Stephen Baynes), which premieres in Adelaide in May, is in Sydney in November; and Coppelia in December.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <A HREF="http://www.smh.com.au:80/news/0010/11/text/features17.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.smh.com.au:80/news/0010/11/text/features17.html</A> <P>(maggie: our mutual friend might be intereted in this news about Tivoli, from what i heard about her recent research?)

'Australian Ballet - The future of dance is in safe hands.' By NEIL JILLETT. <P>A review of the state of AB, looking at numbers and procedures rather than dance quality. Except that some of the new recruits from the AB School look very good. I have to say that I found this rather disturbing:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>After Stretton had been the AB's boss for only a few months, complaints that he was brusque and aloof caused the board, acting with unusual firmness (an insider told me at the time), to advise him to show dancers more consideration. The situation apparently improved, but in recent months there have again been rumors of unhappiness among the dancers, although it has not shown in stage performances.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <P><A HREF="http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/2000/12/17/FFX41D3QQGC.html" TARGET=_blank><B>Neil Jillett's article</B></A><BR>

THE Australian Ballet has cancelled its tour to London this year for financial reasons. What a shame. <P> <A HREF="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/common/story_page/0,4511,1696110%255E2902,00.ht" TARGET=_blank>http://www.heraldsun.com.au/common/story_page/0,4511,1696110%255E2902,00.ht</A> <BR>ml<BR>

See the "Tivoli" thread for more on this world premiere.

Valerie Lawson opines on the legacy of Ross Stretton:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Man in the middle, somewhat elevated</B><P>Valerie Lawson, Sydney Morning Herald<P>Creativity, energy and passion (the CEP factor) was the AB's slogan in the Stretton years and, like many slogans, it looks and sounds slick but is hard to define and tricky to prove correct. I am not sure what "creativity" really meant. All theatrical enterprise is creative. Perhaps "creative" meant innovative, and in that sense Stretton did deliver with a fresh repertoire of one-act works, with emphasis on contemporary European choreographers.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.smh.com.au/news/0106/15/features/features8.html" TARGET=_blank><B>More</B></A>