The Australian Ballet and Bangarra Dance Theatre in Flora

The Australian Ballet and Bangarra Dance Theatre in Frances Rings’ Flora

Daniel Mateo with The Australian Ballet and Bangarra Dance Theatre in Flora

The Australian Ballet and Bangarra Dance Theatre in Frances Rings’ Flora

By Katie Lawrence, 08 April 2026

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“a take-no-prisoners, tectonic plate of a dancer whose barrelling head rolls a tsunami down her body,”

Reviewed at Sydney Opera House: Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney on 7 April 2026

Flora (Frances Rings, Bangarra Dance Theatre, The Australian Ballet)

The Australian Ballet

Elizabeth Gadsby, Set Designer

Grace Lillian Lee, Costume Designer

Karen Norris, Lighting Designer

Opera Australia Orchestra

Bangarra Dance Theatre

The Australian Ballet does Romeo and Juliet: precision over passion

Katie Lawrence, 24th April

This revival of Romeo and Juliet combines vivid staging and technical leads, but the lover's careful partnership lacks the volatility that makes young love convincing and tragedy believable.

***11

The Australian Ballet in Melbourne: three prismatic worlds

Ruth Ridgway, 4th October

In its triple bill Prism, The Australian Ballet gives the audience three different dance and sound worlds as well as showcasing fleet, athletic and precise dancing.

****1

The Australian Ballet in Adelaide: a dazzling Beauty

Ruth Ridgway, 22nd July

With Tchaikovsky’s music, glittering visual spectacle and wonderful dancers, The Australian Ballet's The Sleeping Beauty is a thrilling night at the ballet.

****1

Genius and madness: The Australian Ballet revives Nijinsky

Katie Lawrence, 4th April

Neumeier's Nijinsky explores the professional and personal life of the legendary dancer with intense choreography and powerful performances.

****1

The Australian Ballet sparkles in Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker

Katie Lawrence, 9th December

Brimming with festive season joy, the Australian Ballet gives an exuberant performance of a Peter Wright classic: The Nutcracker.

****1

Fewer words, more heart: Wheeldon underwhelms in TAB’s Oscar

Katie Lawrence, 8th November

The Australian Ballet’s first commissioned full-length work in 20 years, based on the life of Oscar Wilde, fails to fully take flight.

***11

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Katie Lawrence

Katie Lawrence has a background in ballet, jazz, and contemporary, and spent much of her adolescence in the dressing room of dance eisteddfods. She is still mildly triggered by the smell of hairspray. She is now a regular in Sydney's dance audience crowd and can often be found at Sydney Dance Company and Tanya Pearson adult classes.

The Australian Ballet and Bangarra Dance Theatre in Flora: roots, rupture and renewal