Exhibition a window into Royal Ballet Company
Made on the Body: Choreography from The Royal Ballet has opened in the Tony Gould Gallery, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) and runs through until 9 September in anticipation and celebration of the 2017 QPAC International Series season from The Royal Ballet.
This free exhibition will open a window onto one of the great ballet companies of the world and will focus on the act and art of choreography and how it has shaped The Royal Ballet since it was founded by Dame Ninette de Valois as the Vic-Wells Ballet in 1931.
Made on the Body: Choreography from The Royal Ballet aims to reveal the rich legacies and the new artistry embodied in the making of choreographic works that are the lifeblood of The Royal Ballet.
At its heart, this exhibition recognises ballet as a living, breathing, art-form, tracing the history of the Company through to recent contemporary works including Woolf Works by Royal Ballet Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor and The Winters’s Tale Royal Ballet Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon. Still photography by Rick Guest will be displayed alongside film, archive and visuals offering gallery visitors an informative experience.
QPAC Museum’s Exhibitions Manager and curator of Made on the Body: Choreography from The Royal Ballet, Maria Cleary, said this exhibition is very much a creative collaboration between the QPAC and The Royal Ballet.
“Listening to The Royal Ballet’s Director, Kevin O’Hare, speak about the company was informative and inspiring. O’Hare described choreography as ‘defining the company’, and spoke of the way in which new works bring ‘fresh air’ to tradition. He spoke about The Royal Ballet being synonymous with the highest level of classical ballet, but also being creative – pushing the art form forward but respecting tradition.
“These ideas shaped my thinking about the exhibition, and its setting, and it became clear to me that The Royal Ballet’s choreography/choreographers would be central to Made on the Body”, said Maria.
The exhibition opens in the Tony Gould Gallery just over a month before The Royal Ballet company touchdown in Brisbane.
The company will bring two performance works never before seen outside of Covent Garden, London, Woolf Works and The Winter’s Tale, exclusively to Brisbane from 29 June to 9 July 2017. Tickets are on sale now via qpac.com.au or call 136 246.
The Tony Gould Gallery is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm during exhibition seasons.