Aussies’ ‘Pirates!’ at the Alex

Harold Collins knows exactly how far the Queensland Ballet has come--geographically and stylistically.

Collins, the company’s artistic director, remembers those first humble regional tours in the early 1960s, back when he was the male lead dancer. Now, 36 years later, Australia’s oldest professional dance troupe embarks on its first-ever U.S. tour with a performance of “Pirates! The Ballet” at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Friday.

The Queensland Ballet was founded in 1960 by Paris-born dancer-choreographer Charles Lisner. After dancing in Australia and England, Lisner moved to Brisbane in 1953 and opened a ballet academy. Lisner once referred to the Queensland of the 1950s as “virtually a cultural desert.”

That first group was “a rag-bag group of dancers,” said Collins. They traveled through New South Wales and Queensland--a state twice the size of Texas--in a 10-ton tractor-trailer they called “the Monster.” They would drive to outback towns so remote that during a 15-hour trip they would pass one car. If the Monster broke down, they’d be stuck for hours. Performances would take place in venues where flashlights were kept ready in case of a blackout.

“But it was all worth it for us,” Collins said. “And looking back on it, [without those experiences] the company would not have evolved into the interesting company that it is.”

From the beginning, the mission of the Queensland Ballet has been to foster a uniquely Australian style. To that end, Lisner, who died in 1988, commissioned work by Australian composers, choreographers and designers. He also created 33 ballets of his own before stepping down as artistic director in 1974.

Unlike the more traditional Australian Ballet in Melbourne, the Queensland Ballet employs no corps. They have only 19 dancers, all soloists. Roles rotate among members so that prized parts are shared and injuries minimized.

Lisner’s vision seems to have been realized, in part. On other international tours, Collins said, no one has confused the Aussies with their European counterparts. Their style is more open, not conservative or stiff.

“Certainly in Europe, it’s been that sense of athletic power and real vigor that always impresses people,” Collins said. “It’s interesting, you see, because classical ballet is classical ballet. We all do the same steps. But Americans have developed their own way of dancing classically, and Australians have developed their own way of dancing as well.”

Dione Ware, who has been with Queensland for seven years and dances the role of Mabel in “Pirates!” concurred. “They’re known for being earthier dancers,” she said. “They have more of a feel for the space and use broad, wide movements, rather than keeping things underneath themselves.”

But ballet everywhere has become increasingly internationalized--no less so in Australia, said Lee Christofis, the Melbourne dance critic for the newspaper The Australian. The country doesn’t have one distinctive choreographer, he said, and most of the dancers have trained or performed in Europe.

Queensland dancers, in particular, tend to be young, retiring in their early 30s. “They’re all really dynamic,” said Christofis, “and not too constrained by the classical tradition, especially at Queensland. I think that’s because they don’t do the big 18th century productions.” A small troupe like Queensland doesn’t have the personnel to launch a production, say, of “Swan Lake,” so they tend to do more contemporary pieces.

Indeed, in their home country the Queensland Ballet is known for creating new works in the classical style: of the five productions mounted each season, at least one is brand new. Their large repertoire of original works includes “Carmen,” “The Taming of the Shrew,” “Camelot” and one based on “Alice in Wonderland.” So there were a lot of options when selecting works to perform on the seven-week, 33-city tour of the United States.

When weighing the options, Collins said, the company decided “there is no use taking ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to America. There are 16 ‘Romeo and Juliets’ in the United States. Our thinking was that we should take something not in the repertoire in the United States.”

They settled on Collins’ “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”; Jacqui Carroll’s “Scheherazade”; and “Pirates!” choreographed by American Daryl Gray to Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance.”

First staged in Brisbane in 1991, “Pirates!” is a classical work with some not-so-classical touches, like tap, hip-hop and funk steps. Originally it was performed only to Sir Arthur Sullivan’s music, said Gray, but some people missed the witty lyrics of Sir William Gilbert. This time, songs such as the famous “Modern Major General” are sung by a four-person ensemble.

“They’re brought on the stage like they’re audience members,” said Gray. “They’re like real Gilbert and Sullivan fans and they start singing along and getting involved in the action.”

Like the musical that inspired it, “Pirates!” is a comic romp. The choreography is informed by Gray’s experience in musical theater and his interest in silent film. On the set, “Penzance” is spelled out on a hill like the Hollywood sign. The pirates are swashbuckling Errol Flynn types--though a bit more bumbling. The Keystone Kops make an appearance in Act II. It is the only known ballet version of “Pirates of Penzance.”

“There have been very few comedy ballets created,” said Collins. “People come to the ballet and think, ‘Oh, this is so serious.’ But with this particular work, beside the romance, there’s a huge amount of comedy.”

DETAILS

* WHAT: “Pirates! The Ballet.”

* WHERE: The Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale.

* WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday.

* HOW MUCH: $22.50-29.50.

* CALL: (800) 233-3123.