Events Reviews Articles Video

Find articles | Chantal Nguyen

Chantal Nguyen

Chantal has a background in ballet and contemporary dance, and was the first Australian to complete the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in Higher Level Dance. She has completed violin studies, and plays regularly in Sydney ensembles. She also dabbles in folk songs and subversive musical parody.

Author:Chantal Nguyen

Put content in English at top

Showing 50 of 50 articles

Loading image...

Behind the scenes: Opera Australia’s vast, digital Ring cycle

By Chantal Nguyen, 06 October 2023

“Go digital!” was the brief to director Chen Shi-Zheng, who has employed cutting-edge visualisation technology and motion-tracking for the 15-hour Wagner cycle in Brisbane.

Loading image...

Behind the scenes: Opera Australia’s vast, digital Ring cycle

By Chantal Nguyen

Loading image...

Trans-Pacific space-age Wagner: Chen Shi-Zheng’s hybrid Ring cycle

By Chantal Nguyen, 07 July 2023

The first director of Asian descent to stage Der Ring des Nibelungen in its entirety talks about his refusal to follow existing formulas in this new production for Opera Australia.

Loading image...

Trans-Pacific space-age Wagner: Chen Shi-Zheng’s hybrid Ring cycle

By Chantal Nguyen

Loading image...

Heart of darkness: Opera Australia's gothic Don Giovanni returns

By Chantal Nguyen, 05 January 2023

Andrei Kymach and Yuri Kissin deliver standout Australian debuts in a revival of Sir David McVicar's dark, unshrinking Don Giovanni.

****1

Loading image...

Heart of darkness: Opera Australia's gothic Don Giovanni returns

By Chantal Nguyen

Loading image...

Fair Verona comes to Sydney: the Australian Ballet's heartrending Romeo and Juliet

By Chantal Nguyen, 01 December 2022

The Australian Ballet do full justice to Shakespeare's epic tale of star-crossed lovers. Featuring a restaging of John Cranko's famous ballet, the first in almost twenty years, both the ensemble and leads shine in bringing Verona to life.

****1

Loading image...

Fair Verona comes to Sydney: the AB's heartrending Romeo and Juliet

By Chantal Nguyen

Loading image...

Hallberg showcases new talent in Australian Ballet's Instruments of Dance

By Chantal Nguyen, 10 November 2022

Australian Ballet's latest triple bill features fresh young talent and new names to watch in creations by Wayne McGregor, Alice Topp and Justin Peck.

****1

Loading image...

New talent showcased in Australian Ballet's Instruments of Dance

By Chantal Nguyen

Loading image...

Elijah Moshinsky's chocolate box Traviata is back Opera Australia

By Chantal Nguyen, 22 October 2022

Gorgeous sets and costumes aren't quite enough to make this La traviata revival sparkle.

***11

Loading image...

Elijah Moshinsky's chocolate box Traviata is back Opera Australia

By Chantal Nguyen

Loading image...

Girl power: Pinchgut's “Women of the Pietà”

By Chantal Nguyen, 10 September 2022

Celebrated soprano Miriam Allan headlines this energetic program of music written for the female orphan musicians of Venice's famous Ospedale.

****1

Loading image...

Girl power: Pinchgut's “Women of the Pietà”

By Chantal Nguyen

Loading image...

Pavel Kolesnikov: Glenn Gould’s curse and collaborating with Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker

By Chantal Nguyen, 02 September 2022

Pavel Kolesnikov never intended to play Bach's Goldberg Variations – such is the shadow cast by Glenn Gould – but then choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker proposed something unusual.

Loading image...

Glenn Gould’s curse and collaborating with Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker

By Chantal Nguyen

Loading image...

Send in the clowns: Alexei Ratmansky revives Harlequinade for the Australian Ballet

By Chantal Nguyen, 18 June 2022

A lovingly reproduced historical reconstruction, but is it enough to connect with modern Australian audiences?

***11

Loading image...

Send in the clowns: Alexei Ratmansky revives Harlequinade

By Chantal Nguyen

Loading image...

Kunstkamer: The Australian Ballet's “beautiful monster” is dance perfection

By Chantal Nguyen, 03 May 2022

The Australian Ballet's impressively-danced Kunstkamer is a work of astonishing scale, originality, and warmth, choreographed by Paul Lighfoot, Sol León, Marco Goecke and Crystal Pite.

*****

Loading image...

The Australian Ballet's “beautiful monster” is dance perfection

By Chantal Nguyen

Loading image...

Slick but disjointed Anna Karenina premieres in Sydney

By Chantal Nguyen, 05 April 2022

Yuri Possokhov's Anna Karenina aims to be a dark psychological drama, but its uneven character development and unengaging choreography fail to satisfy.

***11

Loading image...

Slick but disjointed Anna Karenina premieres in Sydney

By Chantal Nguyen

Loading image...

Sunlight on stage: Opera Australia's Marriage of Figaro returns

By Chantal Nguyen, 29 January 2022

Three outstanding debuts and a warm and funny ensemble shine in David McVicar's naturalistic Marriage of Figaro.

****1

Loading image...

Sunlight on stage: Opera Australia's Marriage of Figaro returns

By Chantal Nguyen

Loading image...

Legacy and innovation in Bangarra's Wudjang: Not the Past

By Chantal Nguyen, 19 January 2022

Stephen Page's swansong as Bangarra's Artistic Director is an ambitious exploration of genre-transcending storytelling.

****1

Loading image...

Legacy and innovation in Bangarra's Wudjang: Not the Past

By Chantal Nguyen

Loading image...

Go Gaga for Ohad Naharin's Decadance in Sydney

By Chantal Nguyen, 07 January 2022

Sydney Dance Company excels in Decadance, a rare chance for Australian audiences to see work by Ohad Naharin, founder of the Gaga method.

****1

Loading image...

Go Gaga for Ohad Naharin's Decadance in Sydney

By Chantal Nguyen

Loading image...

The after party you can't miss: Pinchgut's Platée

By Chantal Nguyen, 01 December 2021

In arguably its best production to date, theatre luminary Neil Armfield combines with Pinchgut and Erin Helyard for the first time to deliver this electrifying production of Rameau's comic masterpiece, Platée.

*****

Loading image...

The after party you can't miss: Pinchgut's Platée

By Chantal Nguyen

Loading image...

Australian Ballet is back with a bang in its Celebration Gala!

By Chantal Nguyen, 25 November 2021

After two years of pandemic disruptions, the Australian Ballet celebrates its return to the stage with this gala of impressively-chosen showstopper pas de deux.

****1

Loading image...

Australian Ballet is back with a bang in its Celebration Gala!

By Chantal Nguyen

Gifts of gold: Bangarra's SandSong

By Chantal Nguyen, 11 June 2021

Bangarra's first full-length work in three years is a treasure trove of cultural and historical insights about Australia's vast and mysterious Kimberley region. Not to be missed.

****1

Gifts of gold: Bangarra's SandSong

By Chantal Nguyen

Harbourfront spectacular: La traviata's dazzling return to Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour

By Chantal Nguyen, 26 March 2021

Fireworks, party boats, Violetta swooping from a giant chandelier: soprano Stacey Alleaume triumphs in this magnificent restaging of Francesca Zambello's spectacular waterfront La traviata.

****1

La traviata's dazzling return to Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour

By Chantal Nguyen

Fascist Tosca revived by Opera Australia

By Chantal Nguyen, 02 March 2021

John Bell's reworking brings Tosca to 1943 Nazi-ruled Rome, featuring gorgeous sets and Carmen Giannatassio's striking Opera Australia debut in the title role.

****1

Fascist Tosca revived by Opera Australia

By Chantal Nguyen

Sydney Dance Company seizes the moment with Impermanence

By Chantal Nguyen, 17 February 2021

SDC delivers this long-awaited world premiere by Rafael Bonachela, featuring a Bryce Dessner score performed to perfection by the Australian String Quartet.

****1

Sydney Dance Company seizes the moment with Impermanence

By Chantal Nguyen

Making an entrance: Opera Australia returns with glitzy Art Deco Merry Widow

By Chantal Nguyen, 05 January 2021

After almost a year off stage, Opera Australia returns with this visually stunning, 1920s-inspired production of the perennial operetta favourite.

****1

Making an entrance: Opera Australia returns with glitzy Merry Widow

By Chantal Nguyen

Back with New Breed: Sydney Dance Company's fresh dance voices

By Chantal Nguyen, 26 November 2020

A significantly diverse showcase of new choreographic talent, featuring work by company dancers Jesse Scales and Chloe Leong, and Indigenous-Australian choreographer Joel Bray, and Indian-Australian choreographer Raghav Handa.

****1

Back with New Breed: Sydney Dance Company's fresh dance voices

By Chantal Nguyen

Kang Wang makes a striking Opera Australia debut in La bohème

By Chantal Nguyen, 02 January 2020

Gale Edwards' popular revival, set in the 1930s Weimar Republic, brings visual delight and showcases Australian-Chinese tenor Kang Wang as Rodolfo.

****1

Kang Wang makes a striking Opera Australia debut in La bohème

By Chantal Nguyen

No Greek tragedy: the Australian Ballet has fun in Sylvia

By Chantal Nguyen, 13 November 2019

The Australian Ballet is impressive in this light, entertaining story ballet: a winner of an evening.

****1

No Greek tragedy: the Australian Ballet has fun in Sylvia

By Chantal Nguyen

“Smart, crisp, polished”: Sydney Dance Company turns 50

By Chantal Nguyen, 02 November 2019

A celebrity lineup of SDC alumni, experimental audience participation, and the usual virtuosic dancing make for a fun anniversary night.

****1

“Smart, crisp, polished”: Sydney Dance Company turns 50

By Chantal Nguyen

McVicar's The Marriage of Figaro lights up the Opera Australia stage

By Chantal Nguyen, 18 October 2019

A beautiful 17th-century setting does nothing to dim the freshness and relevance of Sir David McVicar's production for Opera Australia.

****1

McVicar's The Marriage of Figaro lights up the Opera Australia stage

By Chantal Nguyen

Star dancers choosing questionable dances? Natalia Osipova's Pure Dance in Sydney

By Chantal Nguyen, 27 August 2019

Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg's combined star power transcend this mixed bag of contemporary and classical dance.

****1

Star dancers choosing questionable dances?

By Chantal Nguyen

More grit, less glitter required for Opera Australia's West Side Story

By Chantal Nguyen, 20 August 2019

A youthful cast can't save this two-dimensional West Side Story.

***11

More grit, less glitter required for Opera Australia's West Side Story

By Chantal Nguyen

Of art and genius: exceptional world premiere of Whiteley in Sydney

By Chantal Nguyen, 15 July 2019

Opera Australia delivers a sensational new Elena Kats-Chernin opera about the immensely gifted and troubled Australian painter, Brett Whiteley.

****1

Of art and genius: exceptional world premiere of Whiteley in Sydney

By Chantal Nguyen

A blockbuster Spartacus from the Bolshoi in Brisbane

By Chantal Nguyen, 04 July 2019

The Bolshoi delivers a big, bold, and explosive Spartacus in the way that only the Bolshoi can.

*****

A blockbuster Spartacus from the Bolshoi in Brisbane

By Chantal Nguyen

Not all Balanchine's Jewels sparkle in Brisbane

By Chantal Nguyen, 03 July 2019

The Bolshoi are beautiful but uncertain dancers of Balanchine in Brisbane.

***11

Not all Balanchine's Jewels sparkle in Brisbane

By Chantal Nguyen

History, presence, and history in the making: Bangarra's 30 years of sixty five thousand

By Chantal Nguyen, 14 June 2019

Bangarra celebrates its 30th anniversary, with the momentous return of Jiří Kylián's Stamping Ground to its Indigenous roots.

****1

History in the making: Bangarra's 30 years of sixty five thousand

By Chantal Nguyen

A beloved Australian Ballet classic: Maina Gielgud's Giselle returns

By Chantal Nguyen, 01 May 2019

Ako Kondo dances a gorgeous Giselle in this restaging of a much-loved production.

****1

A beloved Australian Ballet classic: Maina Gielgud's Giselle

By Chantal Nguyen

Verve: The Australian Ballet’s resident choreographers

By Chantal Nguyen, 09 April 2019

The company's annual contemporary trible bill marks the much-anticipated Opera House main-season debut of Alice Topp's Aurum, and reprises work by Stephen Baynes and Tim Harbour.

***11

Verve: The Australian Ballet’s resident choreographers

By Chantal Nguyen

Sydney Dance Company launches its 50th year: Bonachela / Nankivell / Lane

By Chantal Nguyen, 26 March 2019

The much-loved Sydney cultural institution leaps into its 50th year with this impressive, energising triple bill.

****1

Sydney Dance Company launches its 50th year

By Chantal Nguyen

West Side Story: A Manhattan Juke-Box on Sydney Harbour

By Chantal Nguyen, 23 March 2019

For the first time, a musical comes to the outdoor stage of the annual Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour.

****1

West Side Story: A Manhattan Juke-Box on Sydney Harbour

By Chantal Nguyen

Opera Australia revives spectacular storybook Turandot

By Chantal Nguyen, 15 January 2019

Amber Wagner delivers a thrilling performance in Opera Australia's revival of Graeme Murphy's Turandot – a spectacular feast for both the ears and eyes.

****1

Opera Australia revives spectacular storybook Turandot

By Chantal Nguyen

Emerging choreographers with Sydney Dance Company's New Breed

By Chantal Nguyen, 30 November 2018

The 2018 installment of Sydney Dance Company's annual showcase for new choreographers, New Breed, brings four diverse and experimental works to the stage.

***11

Emerging choreographers with Sydney Dance Company's New Breed

By Chantal Nguyen

La Scala's Don Quixote brings festive joy to Brisbane

By Chantal Nguyen, 17 November 2018

Vivacious dancing and abundant joie de vivre in La Scala Ballet's Don Quixote

****1

La Scala's Don Quixote brings festive joy to Brisbane

By Chantal Nguyen

Augmented reality with Queensland Ballet's Bespoke Evening

By Chantal Nguyen, 15 November 2018

An augmented reality app, film, photos, and a diverse live triple bill feature in Queensland Ballet's latest celebration of emerging and experimental choreographers and artists.

****1

Augmented reality with Queensland Ballet's Bespoke Evening

By Chantal Nguyen

La Scala’s gorgeous Giselle captivates Brisbane

By Chantal Nguyen, 14 November 2018

La Scala Ballet delights with a beautifully-danced Giselle for the company's first Australian visit.

****1

La Scala’s gorgeous Giselle captivates Brisbane

By Chantal Nguyen

Stark raving: Sydney Dance Company clubs out with Forever & Ever

By Chantal Nguyen, 20 October 2018

Sydney Dance Company's contrasting double bill revisits Rafael Bonachela's elegantly reflective Frame of Mind and premieres Antony Hamilton's bemusing and rave-inspired Forever & Ever.

****1

Stark raving: SDC clubs out with Forever & Ever

By Chantal Nguyen

The art of storytelling: Dalisa Pigram’s Gudirr Gudirr

By Chantal Nguyen, 27 June 2018

This solo performance is a touching, tender, and powerfully-told story of Australian Indigenous identity in northwest Australia's Kimberley region.

***11

The art of storytelling: Dalisa Pigram’s Gudirr Gudirr

By Chantal Nguyen

The darkness between the stars: Bangarra’s Dark Emu puts a poem of dance to our perceptions of history and land

By Chantal Nguyen, 16 June 2018

Dark Emu is a beautifully choreographed dance response to Bruce Pascoe's award-winning book. In combining current debate with millenia-old living tradition, it is both topical and profoundly poetic.

****1

Bangarra: The darkness between the stars

By Chantal Nguyen

The Lady in Red: Queensland Ballet’s Firebird and Carmen

By Chantal Nguyen, 26 May 2018

A youthfully fresh corps and Victor Estévez hold together this uneven double bill, with Acosta’s troubled Carmen demonstrating the challenges of adapting opera to ballet.

***11

The Lady in Red: Queensland Ballet’s Firebird and Carmen

By Chantal Nguyen

Ignition and internal combustion: Sydney Dance Company's ab [intra] driven by searing intensity

By Chantal Nguyen, 19 May 2018

The world premiere of Rafael Bonachela's first full-length work in six years, *ab [intra]* features astounding partnering and lives up to its claim of representing the energy of the creative dance process.

****1

Ignition and internal combustion from Sydney Dance Company

By Chantal Nguyen

An utterly charming night with the Australian Ballet’s Merry Widow

By Chantal Nguyen, 28 April 2018

The Australian Ballet shines in a gloriously romantic and sumptuous staging of The Merry Widow.

****1

An utterly charming night with The Merry Widow

By Chantal Nguyen

Fifty years on: The Australian Ballet celebrates the great Graeme Murphy

By Chantal Nguyen, 09 April 2018

In a selection of modern and balletic works spanning several decades, the Australian Ballet pays tribute to one of Australia's best-loved choreographers.

***11

TAB celebrates the great Graeme Murphy

By Chantal Nguyen

No sex, no drugs? Michael Clark's Simple Rock’n’roll Song has its Australian première

By Chantal Nguyen, 30 January 2018

The former wild child brings his acclaimed, and surprisingly pared back, triptych of modern dance to Sydney.

***11

Michael Clark's Rock’n’roll Song has its Australian première

By Chantal Nguyen

Wonderland Down Under: Australian Ballet sparkles in Alice’s Adventures 

By Chantal Nguyen, 08 December 2017

Alice is the Australian Ballet’s biggest production yet, calling for all-stops-out artistic wizardry to reconjure the wit and whimsy of Lewis Carroll’s beloved classic.

*****

Wonderland Down Under in Sydney

By Chantal Nguyen