A world and several centuries away from the ultra-contemporary Kunstkamer staged just a fortnight ago, The Australian Ballet’s latest show, Harlequinade, catapults us back into the classics. With only light choreographic revisions, this ballet comique is a disciplined restaging of its Saint Petersburg premiere in 1900. It’s a potpourri of colour and motion that leans heavily on pantomime to thread its story of hijinks and humour.

Callum Linane and Brett Chynoweth in Harlequinade, The Australian Ballet, 2022. Photo © Jeff Busby

Originally created for the Imperial Ballet, Marius Petipa’s take on the commedia dell’arte enjoyed a few years of critical success before falling into virtual reserve for the better part of the last century. Now, in a co-production with American Ballet Theatre, choreographer Alexei Ratmansky has dusted off Petipa’s notations to methodically reconstruct the original. Where gaps in the documentation exist – mostly the dance sequences between scenes – Ratmansky has offered his own supplementary vision.

Like all of the commedia, the plot is uncomplicated, driven by its exaggerated characters more so than anything outside of them. At its heart is Harlequinade, a penniless but jovial servant whose bid...