News Flash:
Jack Chambers and Rhys Bobridge from So You Think You Can Dance will perform a number choreographed by Adam Williams to the overture from Chicago.  Also appearing will be Melbourne’s legendary breaking crew WickidForce!

Ausdance Victoria is delighted to announce the release of the final allocation of tickets for the Australian Dance Awards.  Over one-thousand tickets have already been sold - with the first and second tiers having almost completed sold out.   The new tickets, which are on sale now, will be for the third tier of seating and available at a special price of $20.

With the Awards just weeks away, performances and performers are now confirmed. The Australian Ballet will perform an excerpt from their popular work, La Bayadère; Ros Warby, will perform a piece from her acclaimed solo work Monumental; The Mabo Dance Company led by Gail Mabo will perform from the work Koiki, inspired by her father Eddie Mabo; Chunky Move will perform from I Want To Dance Better At Parties; Townsville’s Dancenorth will showcase their gutsy style with Underground and young performers from Billy Elliot will perform one of their feel-good acts from the musical sensation.

An exciting list of presenters has been confirmed.  Possibly Australia’s two best known male dancers, Steven Heathcote, the brilliant principal for The Australian Ballet until 2007, and Paul Mercurio, well known to millions of Australians for his role in Strictly
Ballroom and on Channel Seven’s Dancing With The Stars, will together make a special presentation entitled ‘Why Dance?’.

Renowned choreographer and celebrity television judge Jason Coleman (see interview) and Kelly Aykers, one of the choreographers featured on the hit series So You Think You Can Dance, will present the award for ‘Services to Dance’. Other presenters include Dame Margaret Scott DBE; David McAllister AM, Artistic Director of the Australian Ballet; Kristy Edmunds, Artistic Director, Melbourne Festival; Marilyn Rowe OBE, Director of The Australian Ballet School; Caroline O’Connor and Magda Szubanski.

To compliment the Awards ceremony a full day of Public Programs is being held at the Arts Centre. One of many highlights will be a performance by 16 year old dance extraordinaire Caleb Bartolo, who was discovered in the audition process for SYTYCD and featured in the final show.  Caleb will perform with Jason Coleman in a piece that celebrates the feeling of dance performed by the old and the new.

A full timetable for the Open Stage is available on the Australian Dance Awards website now.

www.australiandanceawards.net.au

Read more..Dance Informa's Australian Dance Awards Special

Australian Dance Awards Industry Symposium
‘How Melbourne Learned to Dance’

Ausdance Victoria invites dancers, choreographers, teachers, students and history buffs to the Australian Dance Awards Industry Symposium: a new innovation introduced to entertain, educate and create discussion about the history of ballet and modern dance in Victoria.

Keynote speakers will include Lee Christofis, Curator of Dance at the National Library of Australia; Dianne Parrington, Former principal with Ballet Victoria and coordinator of dance teaching at Box Hill TAFE; choreographer, dancer and director, Shelley Lasica;, journalist and academic, Jordan Beth Vincent and choreographer, Beth Shelton. Colin Peasley OAM, the longest serving member of The Australian Ballet, will act as the Master of Ceremonies.

In Australian dance history, many of the most significant artists, companies and movements arose in Melbourne. The symposium, focusing on the 1930s to the 1980’s, will look at the personalities and companies, and their swathes of influence, and discuss how our history continues to impact on dance in Melbourne today.

Presentations based on interviews especially conducted by the keynote speakers will be complemented by photographs and films. Sourced from archives and individual collections, many of these materials have never been presented together before.  They will include programs and images from the Borovansky Ballet, the Australian Dance Theatre and Ballet Victoria.

“It’s been amazing to speak to the people that have contributed to the development of dance in Melbourne over the years. It really helps us to paint a picture about what it was like to be a dancer in any given decade,” said co-presenter, Jordan Beth Vincent.

People attending the Symposium are encouraged to bring their own photographs and programs
along – creating a lively and participatory atmosphere and the opportunity to reveal the personal stories behind them. The Symposium will be held in association with the Australian Dance Awards for this year and the next two years, with the broad themes ‘local’, ‘national’ and ‘international’.

The Australian Dance Awards Industry Program is supported by Arts Victoria and the Arts Centre.
Symposium spaces are limited so registration is essential.

Australian Dance Awards Industry Symposium
How Melbourne Learned to Dance
Date: Saturday June 14th, 10.00am till 4.00pm
Venue: The Arts Centre, Black Box
Contact: To register visit www.australiandanceawards.net.au/industryprogram.html

Read more..Dance Informa's Australian Dance Awards Special