Superstar English choreographer Christopher Wheeldon (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) brings the life and work of beloved Irish writer Oscar Wilde to stage in a world premiere for the Australian Ballet.
Christopher Wheeldon likes to imagine what his life might have been like if his younger self had seen something like his new ballet on stage.
"In some ways for me, the normalisation of queerness, which if you're a queer person, it's normal, it's who we are. But representing that in a high art way is very exciting."The English choreographer first encountered Wilde — one of the greatest British writers in history — while studying his works at school.
"Oscar was a maverick, he was not afraid to be himself. He certainly flew too close to the sun and sadly, that was his ruin," says Wheeldon. Wheeldon jumped at the opportunity to work once more with the Melbourne-based company, who have produced a number of his ballets.Premiering Oscar in Australia, Wheeldon knew he was standing in the shadow of Sydney Theatre Company's stunningly original one-woman ""I was quite intimidated … It's really great storytelling. It feels so relevant and so contemporary. 'Oh, help! Here I go,'" he says.
Wheeldon draws a parallel between the sacrifice of the Nightingale, who gives her life to produce a red rose for a young man to win over the woman he loves, and the sacrifice Wilde made for his love of" went to prison for two years, served hard labour, and didn't die that much longer after coming out of jail, and all for loving a man," says Wheeldon.
" it's a little bit slow going and it takes pioneering companies like Australian Ballet to be excited to take a story like Oscar and put it on the stage."
Oscar Wilde The Australian Ballet Christopher Wheeldon David Hallberg Australian Ballet Oscar Wilde Ballet Regent Theatre Oscar Ballet Regent Theatre Melbourne
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