This season, The Australian Ballet are offering time-poor and ballet-curious punters the chance to sample affordable, snack-sized portions of ballet in their lunch break.
Instead of committing to their full programs in April (Swan Lake, Symphony in C and Vitesse) you can try just one slice.
In May, in conjunction with their contemporary dance triple bill Vitesse, the Australian Ballet are offering a lunch-time performance of one of the contemporary masterpieces from that line-up: William Forsythe's 'In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated'.
One of the most influential choreographers in Europe, where he directed Ballet Frankfurt for two decades from 1984, Forsythe's style blows apart conceptions of classical ballet. 'In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated' is considered by many to be his defining work.
Created in 1987 for Paris Opera Ballet – and starring nascent superstar Sylvie Guillem – the 45-minute work deconstructs the skills and forms of traditional ballet in a number of exhilarating and often athletic sequences, set to the crackling, pulsing electronic score by Thomas Willems.
See the dancers of The Australian Ballet performing 'In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated' in your lunch break on May 4 – or book to see the triple bill Vitesse (Apr 26-May 16), which also includes works by Jiří Kylián and Christopher Wheeldon.