Russian revolution

Andrew Killian is having a remarkable year. Appointed soloist of The Australian Ballet in 2006, he’s also in the running for the Young Dancer of the Year title, and has spent the past year touring nationally and internationally.

Now, he’s about to take his place in Revolutions, a performance of three works by celebrated Russian composer Mikhail Fokine starting at the Opera House on Wednesday 8 November.

Interestingly, the last time The Australian Ballet performed one of Fokine’s works, Sch?razade, was also a big year for Killian -“ it was the year he was born.

I’ve never danced any of this work before, Killian says, of the three works: Sch?razade (which premiered in Paris in 1910), Les Sylphides (first seen in St Petersburg in 1907) and Le Spectre De La Rose (which was first performed in Monte Carlo in 1911).

I’d seen bits and pieces on video, but dancing it is new to all of us. But because it’s fresh to us, we can still put it on stage and it feels new -“ it doesn’t feel dated in any way.

Sch?razade is based on the famous story from A Thousand And One Nights, in which the King Shahryar sets a trap to test his wives’ fidelity. The story features both orgies and massacres, which, Killian says, are presented on stage.

It is a sexy show, he says.

The choreography was groundbreaking for its time, and it still holds up. And it’s a bit gory in that there’s a lot of murder in the end. Basically it’s sex for one half and death for the next.

Revolutions -“ Three Masterworks by Mikhail Fokine runs at the Sydney Opera House from Wednesday 8 November until Monday 27 November. Book on 9250 7777