Cimone Grayson went along to Rock The Ballet last night. Here are her thoughts… We will have one other review of Rock The Ballet coming soon.
It seems that the majority of my nights for the past however long have been all about MasterChef. Much to my surprise I have really immersed myself in the show, enjoying the weekly eliminations and group challenges and am always happy sharing my thoughts on who should win this illustrious foodie competition! Last night however I replaced my Uggies and comfortable trackies for something slightly nicer and dressed for a night at the ballet. Rasta Thomas’ Rock the Ballet has been touring Australia and I wanted to see if those spectacular television commercials were really a reflection of a great show or just some marvelous editing.
‘Rock the Ballet’ was a good night out, not the most awe inspiring work I’ve ever seen but a great concept and a nice use of a Wednesday night.
The cast consisted of 6 beautiful dancing boys and 1 unnecessary girl who really added little value to the show but I understand that Rasta Thomas’ wife (Adrienne Canterna-Thomas) and show’s choreographer originally played that role so I can understand why they chose to have a female dancer in the company. Don’t get me wrong, she was lovely to watch but she just added no value from what I could tell, sometimes her dancing was slightly manic and lost that fluidity but generally speaking she didn’t detract too much for the boys so I suppose it was nice they had someone to partner and lift on occasion.
The first number was good, it showed you what you wanted to see; beautifully executed ballet set to contemporary music, the rest of the first half was a little bit ‘samey’ but all wonderfully performed by the most fantastic technicians of ballet that it was all still immensely enjoyable to watch.
The second half is where the show picked up and with a very strong opening number it started with a bang. With routines danced to tracks by Michael Jackson, Prince, Queen, Coldplay and U2 there were plenty of familiar songs that kept the audience engaged. It felt like a megamix at every turn since each routine was exciting and fast paced and you felt the delight of a final routine when every new song started to play. They threw in the odd trick for good measure which certainly kept the attention of every audience member and had them whooping and cheering throughout. With a 90% female crowd there was little disappointment when the boys eventually took their shirts off and it really was just such a pleasure to watch men dance with such distinct capability and I love to watch the muscles in the body work and you could definitely see defined muscle groups and beautiful extensions in each of the male performers.
It was a very low budget touring production, not a bad thing as you were there to see the dancing so this really didn’t matter too much. They had somewhat distracting (at times) visuals on the back screen that changed for every number, they looked like screen savers and sometimes the dim lighting obscured the dancers movements. The music was all well known songs although they were all covered tracks, that really didn’t make much difference either as the crowd quite simply enjoyed hearing songs they knew and clapped along enthusiastically.
I know I’m bored in a show when it feels like I’ve been driving on a long stretch of road; you slip into a dream like state and before you know it the dance routine you were watching has progressed without you realizing how. There were only a few moments like that for me in ‘Rock the Ballet’, all in the first half, the second half was snappy and raced along until they were taking their final bows.
It was the kind of show that if you knew little about ballet I am certain you would have new found respect, for those well versed in the fine art of ballet would surely take their hats off to a well put together show that allowed the audience members to enjoy every cent they paid for their tickets. As everyone filed out of the State Theatre there was that air of inspiration that you quite often feel after a great night of dancing. The cast was busy from start to finish, the audience had received value for money and the general night had been a good one. ‘Rock the Ballet’ was just the thing to lift my midweek winter evening and I urge people to scratch together the $90 and pop along to see it but be quick, their final Sydney performance happens on Sunday 20th June so time is of the essence.
By Cimone Grayson from Graysonmanagement
For more information about Rock The Ballet check out their website www.rocktheballet.com.au
Loved your review, spot on re: the female dancer although the highlight for me was in the first half with the blow-up dolls!
I think your end date is wrong? Maybe July 20 is the final Sydney performance? Just went tonight and it’s the 22nd 🙂