WAO Playlist Curated by Margrete Helgeby Chaney
This week, our Rehearsal Choreographer Margrete Helgeby Chaney curates a playlist alive with exuberance, movement and memory, featuring musical moments from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci to Supertramp’s Dreamer.
You may recognise Margrete from her work on our 2020 production of Così fan tutte, and from her long career as a dancer in companies within Australia and abroad. Seize your chance to see her stunning work brought to life on stage – book tickets to The Barber of Seville now!
Stream and read about Margrete’s playlist below!
Dreamer – Supertramp
Turn it up loud. Preferably in the middle of nowhere with the car windows down and you singing at the top of your voice!
The Girl from Ipanema – Stan Getz, João Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto
Can’t listen to this without thinking about my son when he was very young...he called this track “Puff n’ Dill”. Neither of us knows why but we do love it!
Nimrod from Enigma Variations – Edward Elgar
WASO returned to the stage with Asher Fisch this year with an evening of Rachmaninov, Elgar and a world premier by Olivia Davies. Asher’s tempo for Nimrod was perfect; not too languorous. It’s a work that is very special for Mike and me.
Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049 – Johann Sebastian Bach
For me this music is forever “Axioma 7”, choreographed by Ohad Naharin, who came to stage on us when I was in Rambert Dance Company. 22 dancers, 22 chairs and clothes being shed; it was a recipe for many (mainly chair related) mishaps and much laughter!
Soave sia il vento – Così fan tutte
This will always be synonymous with our return to His Majesty’s Theatre after COVID lockdowns last year...Prudence, Ashlyn and James at our first dress run on stage and the auditorium filled with those beautiful sounds. What a gift it was to drink that glorious moment in.
Vesti la giubba – Pagliacci
Dennis O’Neill in 2003 and now Paul O’Neill in 2021 in Andrew Sinclair’s gritty production. What more can I say? I can’t wait to be part of the team for this again.
Spiegel im Spiegel – Arvo Pärt
Stefan Karlsson and I flew to Stockholm to work with Cullberg Ballet’s Mats Eks in preparation of bringing his duet “solo for two” back for Perth audiences. (I’ll never forget my 3-year-old son running around the studio stark naked being “Spidy” (Spiderman) while we worked!)
Carmen bedroom pas de deux – ch. Roland Petit
I’m a very proud supporter of “Pointe; dancing on a knife’s edge”, a documentary being made here by Dawn Jackson. They still need funding for the final edit; the film shines a light on the traumatic journey of Floeur Alder after she was randomly and violently stabbed in the neck with a knife in Perth. The road to reclaim her life through dance - but not, as she had dreamed of, in the footsteps as her famous parents Alan Alder and Lucette Aldous - has been a long one and the film says a lot about trauma, healing through the arts and resilience. Watching the sizzle reel the other day reminded me of my performances of a work that carries a huge amount of significance for the whole family, having been taught the Carmen bedroom pas deux by Lucette herself when I was at WAAPA.
Eye in the Sky – The Alan Parsons Project
After you’ve played Supertramp this is your next roadtrip-worthy vocal warmup!
Fields of Gold – Sting
When Mike and I were down south recently this came on the radio. The fields around us were still golden and moving gently in the afternoon breeze. We are so incredibly lucky to live where we do.
