Remi's Adelaide connection

Petra Starke

20May08

REMI Wortmeyer has come leaps and bounds since his first demi plié at a Seaview Downs ballet class in 1986.

The 25-year-old Glenelg-born dancer, who now lives in Melbourne, has danced in everything from The Nutcracker to Romeo and Juliet and The Sleeping Beauty as a soloist with The Australian Ballet.

This week Wortmeyer returns home for the company's season of French Connections, which opens on Friday (May 23).

``I love coming back to Adelaide,'' he says.

``It's always fantastic to see my family and friends  it's my home after all.''

The show is a triple bill that pays homage to the legendary Ballets Russes, a Russian ballet company of the early 1900s.

The program includes George Balanchine's technically demanding Ballet Imperial, Jerome Robbins seductively languid Afternoon of a Faun and Symphonie Fantastique by Polish choreographer Krzysztof Pastor.

``There are beautiful scores from Tchaikovsky, Debussy and Berlioz, lots of romance, drama and tutus,'' Wortmeyer says.

 ``I love the choreography of Balanchine, so to perform in his Ballet Imperial is a real joy for me. And Symphonie Fantastique was created on me by Polish choreographer Krzysztof Pastor. So it's an extremely rewarding work for me to perform, and I'm so excited that my home town audience gets to see it for the first time.''

French Connections - Festival Theatre, May 23 to 27. Bookings: BASS.