The Australian Ballet’s contemporary offering for 2017 is a triple bill called Faster that aims to showcase the “intoxicating physical power of ballet”. Indeed, the physicality of the dancers takes centre stage as we see them tackle intricate, challenging and often quick choreography across the three pieces.

^{Dana Stephensen, Brooke Lockett and Jill Ogai in Faster. Photograph © Jeff Busby}

It’s a pleasure to watch skilled technicians hard at work. Each choreographer pushes the dancers to new limits in very different ways. And while these differences are problematic for the programme as a whole, Faster offers enough reasons to appreciate the sophistication and allure of contemporary ballet and those who perform it.

The triple bill takes it title from the first work, Faster, choreographed by David Bintley for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Inspired by the Olympic motto “Faster, Higher, Stronger”, the work seeks to reflect the athleticism of sport and the passion it can evoke. Basketball, fencing, synchronised swimming and a handful of other sports are represented on stage, at times very literally, together with more abstract explorations of defeat, injury and sacrifice.

Driving the piece is Australian composer Matthew...