Sally Smart
The Violet Ballet

The Violet Ballet extends on Smart’s distinctive practice, examining the extraordinary legacy of Diaghilev’s visually arresting Chout, performed by the Ballets Russes in 1921. Smart responds to this hybrid fairytale with recreations of the original costume and set designs, using embroidered and patchworked textiles. She also considers aspects of its macabre story (seven buffoons who murder their wives believing a promise of magical resurrection) together with Indonesian Wayang to create a fascinating study of the legacies of colonialism and orientalism.

2 March – 27 April 2019
Adelaide Festival
18m 00s

Camera: Eugene Perepletchikov, James Wright
Editor: Sally Smart, James Wright
Sound: J. David Franzke
Format: RED Helium