Australian Ballet captured on world stage

Lisa Tomasetti: Cygnets on 6th Avenue, photograph – inkjet pigment print, edition of 10, 80 x 80 cm (image size)

A series of photographs taken by an Australian artist on show at Collingwood’s James Makin Gallery this month, gives us an entirely new view of the Australian Ballet.   Removed from the controlled interior environment of the theatre our ballerinas energise the streets of some of the world’s capital cities.

Highly acclaimed Sydney-based photographic artist Lisa Tomasetti’s new exhibition presents photographs of the Australian Ballet taken in her role as tour photographer on the company’s tours to Tokyo, New York and Paris.

With her eye for the unconventional, Tomasetti’s images contrast the energy, grace and athleticism of the ballerinas with the solid, sometimes unwelcoming landscape of big city locations.  As the gallery notes suggest, the “juxtapositions contained in these works are manifold: the mundane reality of city living against the high gloss unreality of theatrical performance; the physicality of regular people, against the spectacular athletic prowess and sculpted forms of the ballerinas; and the oddness of the ballerinas’ stage costumes with their fine gauzy delicacy when seen against the dirty hues and unkempt appearance of the urban familiar.”

The exhibition, Behind the Scenes: The Australian Ballet on the International Stage will be officially opened by the Ballet’s artistic director, David McAllister and will run from 7 to 30 March at James Makin Gallery, 67 Cambridge Street, Collingwood. Tel: 9416 3966, www.jamesmakingallery.com