Elegy is a 20th century classical double bill, Requiem and Beyond Bach.
It is a meditation on the fundamental question that we all ponder:

What awaits us after this mortal life is over?

The Australian Ballet’s Resident Choreographer Stephen Baynes has created a masterpiece that is truly poetry in motion. The audience is guided through the space between mortal earth and eternal heaven; it is the space where the clouds gather and souls transcend.  This is a ballet that requires the dancers to achieve an affect of extraordinary lightness – they must defy the forces of gravity. Enhancing our perception of levitation, 26 singers from Victorian Opera perform on stage with the dancers. The music for Beyond Bach is logically Johann Sebastian Bach, while the music for Requiem is Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem Op 48.

Requiem exudes a profound serenity. Such profound serenity comes when we relinquish control and accept the existence of a greater order, one that is ultimately beyond our understanding. According to Mr. Baynes, Gabriel Fauré saw death as “a welcome release” and his gentle and comforting Requiem is without the apocalyptic imagery characteristic of other requiem masses.

Beyond Bach utilizes the genius of JS Bach’s orchestral suite to depict the stylized dancing of the 17th Century French court. Mr. Baynes sets out to express the common challenge found between Bach’s music and classical ballet. Both must express emotion through a very formal discipline. Bach is internalized completely and the purity of the choreography reflects the musical masterpiece, which itself has “an eternal form to it”, says Baynes.“It’s the height of classicism, which is what we’re all about. It distils beauty and form and structure in the classical sense”.

Lana Jones’ solo represents “youth and radiance…Like a flower opening up towards the sun.” The music, with its soulful beauty, clearly inspires her movement, as if her body is “singing along.” Ms. Jones’ dancing is uniquely tranquil.

By Elizabeth Katharine James