In The Upper Room was one of those ballets dancers loved or hated to perform.

It was gruelling, like running a marathon, and you could feel every kilometre each time you danced it. At the end you felt euphoric and exhausted, just like after a marathon. I loved the challenge and reward of it!

During each performance my heart would beat in time with the building excitement of the music, lifting us through every movement. The crescendo of the Philip Glass composition, the live orchestra and the audience clapping and whistling at the end… it was all very exhilarating.

The choreography of this ballet and the cast, from this performance 20 years ago at the Lincoln Center, were amazing.

The Cast:

Felicia Palanca, Rachael Read, Damien Welch, Mather Trent, Nicole Headman, Viki Attard and Adrian Burnett.

The Ballet:

In May 1986 Twyla Tharp Created – In The Upper Room

Tharp commissioned composer Philip Glass to create a new score. "The music hints at things, but I tried to leave a lot of space for the dance to happen,” states Glass, “In that way the dancers complete it, fill it in." The choreography fuses a broad spectrum of movement into one vigorous vocabulary; boxing, tap dance, yoga, ballet and full-out sprinting are intertwined. The dancers must push through the difficult steps, intricate timing and aerobic demands of the choreography.

The dancers appear and disappear through fog and lights designed by Jennifer Tipton. The costumes by Norma Kamali begin as black and white striped jumpsuits. As the piece progresses, the dancers shed layers of clothing, revealing bright red under-layers and sweaty skin.