This year’s Australian Dance Awards were bigger and better than ever before. Ausdance took the opportunity to celebrate dance in a variety of ways in Melbourne, the Award’s new home. All the events took place at the Arts Centre. Starting with an Industry Symposium on Saturday, titled How Melbourne Learned to Dance, the event then culminated into Sunday showcases, the official Awards ceremony, and a very enjoyable after party.

All day Sunday there were many different performances, with professional dancers performing alongside dance schools and community groups in the Black Box Theatre. The public were able to pop in and out throughout the day and see anything from ballet, tap, and ballroom to cultural dance from many nations.  There were performances from cultural groups such as classical Indian, Bollywood, Aboriginal and African, highlighting how wonderfully multicultural we are.  A special performance from Jason Coleman, most recently known for his role as a judge on Channel 10’s SYTYCD was a nice surprise. Coleman put together a special routine with Caleb Bartolo, who won a scholarship through SYTYCD to do a two-week intensive with Sydney Dance Company. The pair made a great team, with Bartolo showing off his technical ability and Coleman highlighting his love of dance.  Coleman has still got it!  It was great that both of them took the time to be involved in the event and bring something different to the stage. The variety of performances really showed the huge amount of young dance talent that Australia has to offer. 

Two performances were presented in the Art’s Centre’s ANZ Pavilion. There was a series of traditional dances as well as new collaborations between cultural groups and professional choreographers.  The Rangana & Udumara Dance Troupe performed a Sri Lankan dance. The dance was traditionally used to welcome the King to the public. The costumes for this dance were spectacular. The troupe also worked together with Fiona Cameron to choreograph Youth Unlimited, in which students from the VCA performed. There was a Hopak, the Ukraine’s signature dance, performed by the Verchovyna Ukrainian Dance Ensemble. It was full of energy and tricks and was a very enjoyable performance.

A dance group called fuSIAN performed. The goal of the troupe is to serve the community through projects that are created to motivate and inspire youth from different Pacific Islander backgrounds. FuSIAN’s leader Nikki Ashby collaborated with Ukrainian dancer Melanie Moravski to create H Pak, bringing the Ukrainian dance styles together with Hip Hop. Ashby’s team also performed a variety of dance styles from traditional Tongan dance to krumping.

At the main event, the official awards ceremony, the audience were treated to an array of performances, as many contributions to the Australian Dance industry were recognised.  The MC for the evening was Michael Veitch. He had to contend with a few running order issues and technical errors, but managed to crack both good and bad jokes to keep us entertained. The use of screens for the announcement of awards and display of photos and excerpts of work had improved from last year’s ceremony, but I think there is still a need for quicker transitions and better quality screening.

The performances displayed at the ceremony continued to celebrate the many faces of dance in Australia.  We were treated to a taste of Billy Elliot. Our Billy for the evening was Rarmian Newton. He is a talented young performer and he maintained his ‘cool’ despite a couple of wobbles here and there. Chunky Move performed I want to Dance Better at Parties, I was hoping to see something a little newer from the company’s great repertoire, but the dancers performed with as much zeal as if it were their first performance.  Steven Heathcote and Paul Mecurio brought us a special segment, where they reminded us of why we dance and what it ignites inside us. I was expecting a documentary, but it was a spoken presentation, but never the less it provoked thoughts about why I really love dance. 

The Australian Ballet performed an excerpt from La Bayadere Pas D’Action; part of the company’s Melbourne season of Ballet Imperial. The excerpt showcased the company’s high technical standards and the virtuoso choreography of Petipa.  Solon Ulbrich presented a heart felt tribute to Tanja Liedtke. Her life was lived to the full but was taken too soon. This was a difficult moment for me, having known her and briefly worked with her early in her career as she was developing her gift as a choreographer. It must have been a difficult moment for Ulbrich, Liedtke’s partner, but I honour the fact that he presented the tribute with strength.

The Mabo Dance Company performed Koiki, which was part of The Dreaming Festival, telling the story of Eddie Mabo’s life. It was dynamic and captured my attention. Dance North’s Underground was my favourite performance of the evening. I am looking forward to Dance North touring the work later this year. It was set in a subway during peak hour and was thoroughly entertaining.

Monumental by independent artist Ros Warby was artistic but a little disappointing for me. The program stated that  the work ‘draws from the iconic symbols of classical ballet, the swan and the soldier, bringing focus to our own sense of strength and dissolution, amidst the often irreconcilable tragedies and the sustaining power of beauty in the world today.’ This sounded very fasincating, but the work in fact seemed to go nowhere and communicate no strong message.  I kept waiting for something to happen. I am surprised to hear that the work has won so many awards, but we all have different tastes and obviously it has appealed to some.

Straight from So You Think You Can Dance Jack Chambers and Rhys Bobridge performed their duo choreographed by Adam Williams to the Chicago overture. Both danced even more strongly than on the show, displaying their obvious growth as dancers and performers. In my opinion, Jack is still the stronger dancer! The show was closed by Wickidforce, Australia’s leading B Boy crew. They were thoroughly entertaining. Their pure energy and tricks defied gravity. WickidForce was a wonderful end to the show.

Now onto the winners....

The 2008 Australian Dance Award Winners

LIFE TIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Paul Hammond
Paul’s wife made a very moving acceptance speech on his behalf. You could see that he was overjoyed with being awarded the honour. Paul has served the Australian Ballet as an archivist for the last 15 years. In January 2008 his was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his lifetime commitment to the dance industry.

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE EDUCATION
Helen Cameron
For her dedication to raising the standards of dance education in Australia.

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHOREOGRAPHY
Garry Stewart
For Honour Bound. The work was recognised for its reflection on important, current social and political issues.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A COMPANY
Lucy Guerin Inc
For Structure and Sadness
For her outstanding commitment and technique in emotionally
and physically demanding choreography.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE DANCER
Lucinda Dunn
For her performances in After the Rain and Don Quixote.