Inspired by 'Paquita' and 'La Sylphide'

Writing and ballet. You might think they are poles apart as an art form. But, I've just watched a full dress rehearsal by the Australian Ballet and I was struck by the similarity of objectives.

We in the audience were privy to an insider view of the behind-the-scenes work of David McAllister prior to the opening night of a fantastic double bill - ‘Paquita’, choreographer Petipa's dazzling challenge to the capacities of all dancers, and the classic ballet ‘La Sylphide’. In his fabulous work as Artistic Director, David is as focused on the elements of story-telling as any writer ever is.

Settings, lighting and costumes? They’re perfect. No boring language either - there’s colour and movement, light and shade. One minute the pace is frenetic, the next it’s languid. The stage is totally busy, then it’s totally quiet and empty, creating dramatic tension for the next ‘chapter’ opening as someone explodes from the wings into view. Our emotions are engaged too - moments of laugh-out-loud humour interchange with gasps of appreciation at stupendous balletic feats.  Grand jetés galore, mind-bogglingly endless pirouettes and a disciplined corps de ballet are reminiscent of the glory days of Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. Back then I learned ballet too, for eight years, and those two superstars featured in my ballet scrapbook, but today's dancers are arguably even better.

And just as any editor does, David spent considerable time tweaking the final result, moving a word (dancer) to a better place, going slower at a certain point. Several dancers were made to practise twirling and correctly placing a blanket a dozen times to help create the desired illusion for the audience.

That excellent group of musicians, Orchestra Victoria, was in the pits and Guest Conductor Philip Ellis took much the same approach as David, demanding the best from the players via a few re-runs of parts of the score. Thank you, Martin, my violinist neighbour, for my free ticket to that very special rehearsal.

All writers need inspiration and those few hours have re-charged my batteries. They've been depleted of late by the onerous final drafting and editing work for ‘A Fragrant Memory’, my forthcoming book about the botanical artist Margaret Flockton. The book is shaping up well now, and the manuscript has become much tighter since I gave three public talks about her life. Explaining, teaching, is a sure-fire way of focusing on an underlying storyline.