Études / Circle Electric

Using the full force of The Australian Ballet' dancers, Circle Electric starts as a microscopic investigation of the intricate and the intimate, ultimately expanding to encompass a telescopic view of humanity.

In her first full-length commission for The Australian Ballet, Stephanie Lake looks at a fundamental paradox of our existence – how we can be both utterly insignificant and profoundly important at the same time. Working with her largest cast to date, Lake reunites with the design team from her hit piece Manifesto, and creates rhythms and patterns to composer Robin Fox’s unique score – which blends live orchestra with his signature electro-acoustic sound worlds.

Zoom out far enough and we appear as nothing more than scuttling ants existing on a tiny planet in an immense cosmos of billions of galaxies. But zoom in and each individual life is unique and idiosyncratic. Despite our relative minuteness and the brevity of our time on Earth, we are all important.

Ballet begins not on the stage, or in front of an audience of thousands, but in the classroom. Long before bows can be taken and bouquets of roses accepted, each dancer must master the technique passed down over centuries by ballet’s founders.

Harald Lander’s Études represents the years of training, hours of work and stoic dedication required by classical ballet dancers to achieve their full potential.

Illustrating the process of development from the five foundational positions to the grand virtuosity of a professional ballet dancer, Études begins in the classroom, letting audiences into the actuality of the ballet dancer’s daily routine. Études, meaning ‘studies’, indicates the ongoing learning experience every artist undergoes to reach the pinnacle of their artistic excellence.

Choreographed by Harald Lander to the music of Carl Czerny arranged by Knudåge Riisager, Études was created in 1948 at the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen for The Royal Danish Ballet. In 1986, The Australian Ballet performed Études for the first time and it has remained in our repertoire ever since.

It is said that every journey begins with a single step, just as every great ballet, and every great ballet dancer, begins with first position at the barre.