Canberra to Host Australian Dance Night of Nights

This August Canberra will host the Australian Dance Awards for the very first time, as part of the Centenary of Canberra. The Awards celebrate the best in Australian dance, with performances from leading companies, presentations and awards, highlighting the richness of the art form and the vibrancy of the Australian dance industry.

Commencing with a ‘red carpet’ VIP event in the theatre foyer the Awards will extend into formal presentations with performances that showcase some of the best Australian dancers and dance companies.

“The Australian Dance Awards give dance professionals and enthusiasts alike an opportunity to focus on all the wonderful dance that has happened over the course of one year from around the country,” says 2013 Australian Dance Awards Artistic Director Ruth Osborne.

“The presentation evening of the Dance Awards is always as exciting night where the dance community gather to honour the nominees and winners in each category.  As the ADA’s move from state to state each year it is a great opportunity to highlight the local dance activity while bringing in nationally significant performers and presenters.”

The awards are presented in eleven categories including the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. Other awards include the Hall of Fame, presented by special guests David McAllister and Robyn Archer, and the Ausdance Peggy van Praagh Choreographic Fellowship.

Canberra has always produced incredible dance and dancers and the Awards will proudly acknowledge this by celebrating the amazing number of dancers who have made their mark in the world and the role of dance teachers and dance companies in the history of dance in Canberra.

“In Canberra’s Centenary year it is the perfect time to visit, catch up with colleagues and support this fantastic art form,” Ruth Osborne adds.

The Australian Dance Awards 2013 are presented by Harlequin Floors with Ausdance ACT for the Ausdance network and dance lovers across Australia. Dance Informa is the proud media sponsor of the Awards.

Tickets are now on sale. Visit www.canberratheatrecentre.com.au to buy tickets or call Canberra Theatre Centre Ticketing on 02 6275 2700.

Australian Dance Awards
Monday August 5, 7.30pm
The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre

Photo: Sam Young-Wright by Lorna Sim.

By Grace Edwards.

Scottish-born Artistic Director Andy Howitt is set to make his mark on Melbourne’s dance scene. He is taking over as incoming CEO and Director of Ausdance Victoria, the state branch of Australia’s peak national dance body.

Howitt leaves behind his most recent post as Artistic Director of Citymoves Dance Agency in Aberdeen, Scotland. Prior to this, he was the Artistic Director at YDance (Scottish Youth Dance) for twelve years. He has also worked as Dance Director for TAG Theatre Company.

Howitt’s professional dance career began at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, where he originally trained in teaching and advanced performance. He went on to work extensively as a choreographer and performed with numerous companies including the Scottish Opera, Lloyd Newson’s DV8 Physical Theatre, Transitions Dance Company (Trinity/Laban), the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Dance Theatre, Dannsa for BBC Alba and Dance House (BBC2).

Adding to his wealth of experience, the Ausdance Victoria directorship marks a new phase in Howitt’s career. So how does he hope Ausdance will help dancers and dance lovers under his leadership? Dance Informa’s Grace Edwards spoke to him to find out.

Andy, congratulations on your appointment as CEO and Director of Ausdance Victoria. Why do you think it’s important for dancers to have a body like Ausdance?

For me, what’s really interesting concerning Ausdance is that it’s unique. It’s national but it’s also very local, and I really like that approach to work. I’m very interested in the whole concept of national against local, working to develop the local community but then giving that kind of development a national profile.

Ausdance Victoria

What is your perception of Ausdance’s target community?

I think all dance organisations are hitting a critical time across the globe. It’s got to do with this whole concern everyone has with asking each other — are you a business? Are you here to develop new ideas? Are you here to achieve?

It’s a tricky situation, isn’t it? When a company relies so much on what it is, rather than developing with what it can be.

Yes, perhaps as a result of focusing on survival?

Yes, though I think sometimes the art relies too heavily on what it is — “It’s a fantastic feature company,” “It’s a wonderful orchestra” — rather than actually developing new areas and new things to push the boundaries.

So, how do you see Ausdance helping in that regard?

I hope that Ausdance becomes a real ambassador and challenger for dance in Victoria. I’ve always been a big believer that dance is a changing and a developing art form that goes into other areas you wouldn’t expect it to, and finding gaps in the corners. I’m always interested in trying to expand, reignite or redevelop groups in ways that you don’t expect.

What’s been your experience of Australian dancers so far?

I’ve seen quite a lot of Australian dance over a period here in Scotland, and I actually came out in 2000 to Adelaide. I worked with five or six different choreographers from Australia and the same number of Scottish choreographers at the Australian Dance Theatre’s studios over three or four weeks. Then they came out to Scotland and worked for three or four weeks. We made work on each other and we developed work.

I’m actually still in contact with many of those people and I’m most looking forward to making new connections with new people.

One of Ausdance’s criticisms has been its focuses on ballet and contemporary dance at the expense of other areas of the industry. Do you hope to address that in some way?

Yes. I think we have a huge hang up on what ‘style’ is, for instance, what is good style or what is a new style? I don’t care what dance style we talk about, what I do care about is how well it’s taught and if what a particular group wants is what the group gets.

If the group wants ballroom, give them the best ballroom they can get! Just don’t give them bad ballroom. If a group wants contemporary that’s really different and unique, give them that. But the teacher or choreographer who’s working with that group has to be the best. I’m very hardline on that.

So what’s your opinion of the standard of Australian dancers?

I think we all want to monitor how good or how bad we are or what level we are at. I’ve never had that as my core value [laughs]. My core value has always been — where can we get to? How can we achieve? How can we develop? What can we, as a group, make amazing?

I’ve never had an assumption of what’s good or bad, it’s just never been something that’s been a part of my mentality. After all, you’ve got to say that dance development in Scotland is very, very far down the line in terms of other issues we have here, and sometimes it just takes too much time asking those questions. Sometimes you’re best just to ‘be’, and to be ‘doing’, if you know what I mean.

Staying on the topic of core values, what do you feel Ausdance Victoria’s main focus will be as you prepare to take on its leadership?

One of the big challenges, in my mind, is how to be accessible. How do we make or develop work or ideas which remain tangible across the whole of Victoria? My challenge will be how to get into the smaller areas or communities there.

I want to allow everyone to get the opportunity to experience dance and see the wonder of dance that we experience everyday of our lives.

That’s quite a big mission, isn’t it?

Definitely. But as you said, nothing’s unachievable!

Yes, that’s right [laughs].

For more information about Ausdance in your state, visit Ausdance.org.au

By Jo McDonald.

Emerging South Australian dance theatre and education company, One Point 618 will present a world premiere production, Involuntary, at Adelaide’s Space Theatre from May 1^st to 5^th. Directed and choreographed by renowned dance artist Katrina Lazaroff, Involuntary looks at how society is preoccupied by the pressures of life, consumerism and regulation. In the lead up to opening night, Dance Informa spoke with Lazaroff about her new work and her plans for the future.

What was the inspiration or motivation for Involuntary?

Well, just as with my last work, Pomona Road, I began with a stimulus that in the end didn’t continue through the work. I was watching my mother-in-law watch football.  Her body was reacting unconsciously to her experience and she was throwing herself around the room.  I thought it was hilarious and I could really make a work about this.  Also, when my daughter Zoe was very young she made lots of involuntary movements that were sporadic, crazy movements.  It was these two things that inspired me to make a work called Involuntary.

I’ve had three development stages for Involuntary:

The first was a workshop scenario, when I set aside an hour after teaching class at Ausdance each week and invited people to work with me and test out ideas.

The second development was a showing in Ausdance’s Choreolab.  By then I released I needed extra substance for the work if I wanted to attract grant funding.  I needed to make a societal connection.  The bureaucracy involved in applying for grants was so frustrating.  That’s when I started thinking about how much we have to do in society to be a part of society – things we don’t really believe in, the rigmarole, the red tape.  We do this involuntarily so we can operate in society.  We go along with the rapid pace of technological advancements, which may not always be our choice.

In the third development I looked at the influence of media and subliminal advertising.  I didn’t want the piece to be just about technology.  I wanted it to be about the actions, often unconscious, that we do each day to survive in society.  After the third development, I realised I wanted to look at a lot of things we were unconscious about. The things we just do, rather than the things we choose.  I wanted to look at how we react to having to talk to computers and phone prompts, when all we want is to talk to a real person.

Involuntary by Katrina Lazaroff

My original idea was abstract and humorous.  And though I’ve thought more seriously about societal issues, I don’t mean to be dark about it.  It’s a satire.  I want to get people to think.

What is it that drives you to create work with a social connection?

I need to make work that says something, that speaks to people, that is more than just my own personal aesthetic or artistic concept.  I want to make work that a broad range of people connect to.  I want to bring people to the arts, to show that performing arts is a broad medium to share thoughts and feelings.

Involuntary is very socially relevant.  Everyone can relate to it and their own involvement in society.  People laugh when I mention I’m making a satire about that.  My last work, Pomona Road, was a story about a family.  Involuntary comes from a very different place.  It has a cold, contemporary side to it, but it’s about what we go through as people.  I want to create work about what everyone experiences.

What has been the most satisfying part of making Involuntary?

The dancers I’m working with are just amazing.  It’s been quite a process to cast the work properly.  I feel I have the right group and artistic team around me.  They are so wonderful and open to my ideas.  It is just so exciting.  I really want to go to work and share everything with the team.

I feel like I have something important to say and I feel happy about that.  I’m glad I’m making social comment.

What has been the most challenging part?

Trying to work out the right team.  Initially I saw it as a really technical dance work, but it has become a more theatrical work where I need people interested in theatrical aspects, rather than technicians.

I didn’t attract the funding I’d applied for, which meant the dancers I worked with through the three development phases kept changing.  I worked with young graduates, and then really technical dancers.  In the end, I realised what I needed was dancers who were open to speaking and using their voices, as well as with technical skills.

I’ve learnt I need to work with people that I’ve have worked with for some time, like Tim Rodgers and Veronica Shum.  It’s like coming home.  They understand me and I don’t have to start from ground zero again.  A lot of young dancers across the country wonder why choreographers use the same dancers all the time.  But it is about trust in making work that means something to you, and knowing the dancers get where you’re coming from.

How have you grown as a choreographer with Involuntary?

I think I’m getting better at refining ideas, including movement, thematic and conceptual ideas.  I can sift through things and decide quickly if an idea will work or not.  I’m better at trusting my instincts.  I’m trusting in my movement making ability again.  I was a performer for so long, then had a child, and along the way lost some of my trust in my instincts.  Self doubt is going away, and so I can hone into the process and practice.

What’s next for Katrina Lazaroff?

I plan to tour the three works – Involuntary, Pomona Road, and Skip, and create a new work.

The working title of my next work is Prison.  It will be a dance theatre piece that invites different mediums.  I started looking at people in confined spaces.  I’ve always been fascinated with small spaces and people’s rituals in small spaces. I’ll look at people’s behaviour in prison – it’s incredible how people survive in confined spaces.  The work won’t mimic prison as such, but will look at the prison of our own minds, and the way we imprison ourselves through the way our minds operate, and how we don’t allow ourselves to be free much of the time.

Essentially, I want to focus on getting my work out nationally and regionally.  I want to share it.

Published by Dance Informa dance magazine – everything dance in Australia – dance auditions, dance events and dance news.

Lennox Theatre, Parramatta Riverside Theatres
March 28 2012

By Linda Badger.

SuperModern: Our obsession with small shiny things, life in the fast lane, what’s in, what’s not, the constant hum of options, gadgets, social media, and multi-tasking that fills our world – the latest and greatest.

What a fantastic debut for a full length work for choreographer Anton.  Anton has been working as a dance artist, director, teacher and choreographer in the industry for the past 16 years.  His work SuperModern: Dance of Distraction premiered at the Parramatta Riverside Theatres on March 28.  Working with some of the best independent artists in the industry, this collaboration is the culmination of a development period that has been fuelling his creative practice for the past five years.

Dancers Kristina Chan, Timothy Ohl, Robbie Curtis and Sophia Ndaba, along with composers of the original score (Jai Payne, Nick Wales, Timothy Constable), and a fantastic creative team, brought together a work with so many layers that was refreshingly pure in its presentation.  The work did not rely on sensory overload, or elaborate sets, technology, costumes or props to communicate, it was the brilliance of the creative minds that brought it together.  The choreography was allowed to communicate for itself.  It is interesting that so much choreography today pushes the limits of what the human body can do. You can walk away wowed at amazing technical feats, but a true artist who is walking a carefully crafted, well-worn path in their journey will leave you with so much more, not purely a superficial layer.  Having watched both Kristina Chan and Timothy Ohl over the past few years it is so rewarding to see them sit really well in their ‘skin’ as dance artists, not just great technicians or performers (of which both are).  They have a maturity that the best training cannot produce – it has to be developed over time and with much dedication.  Robbie Curtis and Sophia Ndaba both performed excellently and it will be exciting to see where their journey takes them in the future.

Humorously presented for the most part, the work was very metaphorical, and each audience member would have had a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ experience with the work.  So many thoughts were presented, and with so many layers to those thoughts.  The work could be interpreted in so many ways, depending on what your relationship is to technology, your hectic or not so hectic schedule and what drives you. SuperModern could be watched multiple times with the observer always getting something fresh.   To me the show seemed to say that we are puppets of our own making. We are slaves to our own created technology. Are we controlling it or is it controlling us? Technology is laughing at us and playing games as we try to be a part of something that becomes increasingly a point of exclusion – the social media trap.  Constantly trying to fit in, go one better, presenting ourselves in all manner of ways, we lose our identity.  It’s such a great distraction from reality, to the point where even our own train of thought seems disjointed at times.

Use of “precise body articulation” as described by Anton, was a huge component. There was such detail to the choreography at times and then in some moments a real simplicity. At times the movement almost created a sense of illusion – where does the machine end and human begin?  Where does the idea of this invisible but tangible thing we call technology begin and human control get lost?  Anton uses the words “corporeal hyperbole” to describe it.  Yes, that is a great way to describe it.  What was so fascinating in his choreography is that the sense of watching an optical illusion at times was very strong, purely through the choreography, not through any technological trickery or effect – quite ironic considering the subject matter.

All production elements of the work were entirely complementary, including the input of lighting designer/production manager/co-costume designer Guy Harding, whose vast experience with dance and theatre is ever expanding and always impressive.

SuperModern could be enjoyed by the seasoned dance audience to those new to the world of dance and theatre.  The beauty of it was that it was so connective and relatable.  I send out a huge congratulations to all who worked on this project, including all the organisations who supported the work from its inception, particularly Ausdance and Critical Path. This work is not one to be missed!

Published by Dance Informa dance magazine – everything dance in Australia – dance auditions, dance news, dance events, dance reviews and resources for dance teachers.

April 8 to 14 2012

Ausdance NSW will present the Australian Youth Dance Festival 2012, hosted at NAISDA, Australia’s National Indigenous Dance Training Institution, situated at Mt Penang Parklands, near Gosford, NSW.  The Festival will be presented during the NSW Easter school holiday period from Sunday 8 April to Saturday 14 April.

Dance to Discover is an exciting week-long dance intensive workshop which provides a unique opportunity for young people to have access to some of the finest dance experiences available in Australia. The AYDF is unique in its structure, and the way in which it allows young people to engage in creative exchange with professional dancers and choreographers, and their peers.  The AYDF takes place in a supportive, non-competitive environment that encourages participation and learning.  The AYDF program includes dance workshops in a wide variety of styles, choreographic activities and performances led by significant Australian professional dance artists.

Choreographic sessions throughout the week will culminate in the creation of a new site-specific dance work, Shades of Us, at Mt Penang Gardens with all participants. The Artistic Director for this work is Rowan Marchingo (NSW), whose national and international professional experience includes performing, choreographing and directing productions that range from large scale site-specific aerial works to intimate works of theatre. The team of choreographers and tutors includes; Philip Channells – Artistic Director Restless Dance Theatre, Vicki Van Hout (NSW), Kay Armstrong – Artistic Director youMove Company (NSW), Lee Pemberton – Artistic Director Fling Physical Theatre and Ingrid Kleinig – Legs on The Wall, with others to be announced.

“The Australian Youth Dance Festival is a fantastic opportunity for young people to engage with professional choreographers over five days of intensive training, creative development and performance. One of the principal aims of the festival is to broaden the experience and knowledge of dance and choreographic practice for young dancers”, says Rowan Marchingo.

For more details and to register visit www.ausdancensw.com.au/Aydf2012RegistrationsOpen/

By Paul Ransom.

Australia’s peak dance body might not always get your next project funded but Ausdance is busy dancing for your supper; and according to national director Julie Dyson, it’s all about sustainability.

What if there was a service organisation dedicated to dance? Suppose they lobbied government, inaugurated national dance awards and drove research into safe dance practice. What if they were working to ensure a viable, sustainable industry? Suppose they were the champions of dance.

Well, that would be Ausdance, wouldn’t it?

Yet for all that, and a nationwide membership base of two thousand, one question looms large. What can you do for me?

It’s a question that Ausdance’s national director Julie Dyson has heard many times before. “There are serious questions about service organisations; are we competing with artists for the money and all of that. I completely get that,” Dyson states. “But from our point of view we provide infrastructure without which we’d all be much poorer. Who’s going to go and lobby the minister, negotiate the partnerships or publish the books if we don’t?”

As Australia’s peak dance organisation, Ausdance is effectively the industry’s lobbyist and, as Dyson explains, their brief is to sell the sector rather than individuals. “It’s about ongoing advocacy for dance,” she says. “Most people are interested in their own particular aspect of our work. So if you’re an artist or an educator, you want to know what we’re doing for you or your particular area, but what we have to try and do is to marry a lot of those interests so that the whole ecology of dance is represented.”

However, the local dance community (and indeed the entire arts sector in this country) is necessarily fixated on the question of funding. Work that doesn’t involve the signing of cheques or wins that happen in the background often get overlooked. “Our brush is very broad and sometimes that leads to people not quite understanding what we do focus on,” admits the Ausdance chief.

As an example, she cites the inclusion of dance in the national curriculum and its obvious flow-on benefits for dance educators, not to mention the building of a broader based dance culture and, ultimately, more bums on seats. “And it’s largely the work of Ausdance that got it there,” Julie Dyson argues.

To the cash strapped company or table waiting artist, talk of the longer term health of the sector can seem a little removed. From her office in Canberra, Dyson is keen to suggest that playing the game in the rarefied air of the national capital is critical to people’s real world practice. “Understanding how Canberra works is really a big part of our job. We try and stay near to ground and knowing what the political climate is.”

A beat later, she reiterates, “I would never claim that we could help anyone get more money for this project or that. We’re more about getting money for the whole sector.”

To this end, she believes that people in the dance community need not merely to work together but to be more active. “Sometimes you’ll get a company saying ‘where are you up to?’ but actually, ‘where are you up to?’ We’ve all got to be in this.”

For Ausdance projects like the national dance collection (an ever growing archive of film, flyers and other memorabilia), the soon to be published Shaping The Landscape (with thirty five artist contributors) and even the much beloved national dance awards are all part of pooling knowledge, creating networks and celebrating the creative strength of the community.

“Between us we’ve all got a lot of intelligence and I think what Ausdance does is facilitate the sharing of that information,” Julie Dyson expands. With cultural policies and their attendant funding mixes almost always coming for one review or another, the work is ongoing. “We’re all about the sector being connected, viable, sustainable, properly funded and having a profile.”

The challenge for Ausdance going forward is perhaps one of perception, as its national director duly acknowledges. “We need to raise our profile and talk a little bit more about what we’ve achieved. We’re a bit under the radar. The fact that people are still saying, ‘well, what do they do?’ is an indication of that.”

Meanwhile, in their Canberra HQ and their various state offices, Ausdance staff focus on the long term, doing the often un-sexy work of writing submission papers, organising forums, and updating their website. However, visions of highly paid bureaucrats swanning about in airport lounges are, according to Julie Dyson, a tad unfair. “Well, there are only four people in our office, so it’s hardly a bureaucracy,” she jokes.

As for a call-to-action, well, that one’s obvious. “It’s important for the dance community to be proactive,” Dyson declares. “If you have a problem with Ausdance, pick up the phone.”

After all, it takes two to tango. 

Support the organisation that supports the Australian dance industry – Ausdance.
For more information about Ausdance and membership visit www.ausdance.org.au

And the winners are…

The winners of this year’s Australian Dance Awards were announced on Sunday July 24 in a ceremony at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.

The annual Australian Dance Awards recognise and reward professional Australian dance artists who have made an outstanding contribution to dance in the previous year. The Awards are presented in an evening of performance and celebration that showcases some of Australia’s outstanding dancers and dance works.

Ruth Osborne with two awards! Mark Greenmantle Photography

Ten Awards were given, as well as the special induction of Keith Bain OAM into the Hall of Fame. An outstanding teacher and performer, Keith danced with the Bodenwieser Ballet, founded the Australasian Teachers of Contemporary Dance (CDA), the Society of Dance Artists (SODA), the Dancer’s Picnic (forerunner to the Australian Dance Awards), and is a founding member of Ausdance. Keith is a recipient of two Australian Dance Awards: for Services to Dance Education (2003) and for Lifetime Achievement (1999).  Keith established, and was for many years, head of movement studies at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA).

The 2011 Australian Dance Awards were held in Queensland for the first time in its 14 year history in Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s (QPAC) Playhouse. Featured performances included those from Queensland Ballet, Expressions Dance Company, Dancenorth, Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts (ACPA), Sydney Dance Company and Sue Peacock with Stefan Karlsson from Western Australia. 

Initiated in 1986 by Keith Bain as a Dancers’ Picnic, the Awards have grown to become the major event in the national dance calendar bringing prestige to nominees and winners alike.

The winners of a 2011 Australian Dance Awards:

Lifetime Achievement
Robina Beard OAM  
Robina Beard was awarded an OAM earlier this year for her services to the arts, particularly through dance, and she has had a long-standing relationship with the Australian Dance Awards, Ausdance and the Cecchetti Society. Robina has excelled in many different roles throughout her life as a dancer, performer, director, choreographer, teacher and advisor. She has been passionately committed to raising the standards of both performance and teaching in this country and has a long-standing commitment to developing and supporting Indigenous dance. She has worked extensively on television in musical, dramatic and comedy series, and was well known for her long-running series of commercials as “Madge” the manicurist for Palmolive dishwashing liquid.

Services to Dance
Ruth Osborne, Artistic Director – QL2 Dance in Canberra

Services to Dance Education
Valda Craig, one of Australia’s leading dance educators and advocates for over 40 years

Outstanding Achievement in Youth or Community Dance
QL2 Dance for Hard Yards

Outstanding Achievement in Choreography
Rafael Bonachela for 6 Breaths [Sydney Dance Company]

Outstanding Performance by a Company
Expressions Dance Company for Where the Heart Is

Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance
Narelle Benjamin for In Glass

Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer
Amy Hollingsworth for Irony of Fate [Sydney Dance Company]

Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer
Daniel Gaudiello for Coppelia [The Australian Ballet]

Outstanding Performance in a Stage Musical
Alinta Chidzey for West Side Story

Dance Informa was the proud Major Media Sponsor for the 2011 Australian Dance Awards.

Top photo: Queensland Ballet Hungarian Overture. Photo by Mark Greenmantle

Ausdance in association with QPAC presents the AUSTRALIAN DANCE AWARDS 

Spend the evening with Australia’s best dance artists!

Dance lovers take note and mark your diaries now!
For the first time Queensland is to host the annual Australian Dance Awards recognising and honouring outstanding contributions to dance on Sunday 24 July at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC).

Celebrate the amazing achievements in Australian dance in 2010/2011 with the presentation of 12 awards, handed out by well-known personalities. The awards are presented alongside a performance program featuring some of the country’s leading dance artists and companies.

Executive Director of Ausdance Queensland, the state’s peak body for dance, Ann McLean, said she is delighted that the Awards will be held in Queensland for the first time and encourages dance lovers to join the celebrations at QPAC.

“The Australian Dance Awards is the one night of the year when dance creators, performers, educators and enthusiasts gather to acknowledge and honour their peers. It is also a not-to-be-missed opportunity for dance lovers to sample some of the best works of the past twelve months. The Awards are a wonderful opportunity to showcase the diversity and richness of dance in Australia today,” said McLean.

The Awards cover nine categories including “Outstanding Service to Dance” and ”Outstanding Achievement by a Company” as well as “Lifetime Achievement” and “Hall of Fame” awards.  

From its humble beginnings in 1986 as a Dancer’s Picnic organised by Keith Bain, the Australian Dance Awards is now celebrating its 14 ^th year and has grown to become the major event on the national dance calendar, bringing prestige to nominees and winners alike.

Don’t miss this fabulous event showcasing and celebrating the best in the nation’s dance in QPAC’s Playhouse on Sunday 24 July from 7.00pm.
To book your tickets and for more information go to www.qpac.com.au or call 136 246.
Visit australiandanceawards.net.au for more info.

The Nominees for the 2011 Australian Dance Awards will be announced soon so look out for the news in an upcoming edition of Dance Informa.
Dance Informa is a proud sponsor of the event.

The 2011 Australian Dance Awards are supported by Arts Queensland and QPAC.

“What a night of nights! This year’s Awards was a celebration of all things dance by a growing and excited Australian dance industry.”
Dance Informa

“We have won other awards before but these are very prestigious, it’s great for the company.”
Stephen Page, Artistic Director Bangarra Dance Theatre

Image: Photographer/Dancer, Marisa Cuzzolaro

Melbourne, March 19–20 2011

In association with Dance Massive, the National Dance Forum – a project of the Australia Council and Ausdance National – will gather together an exciting, nation-wide mix of dancers, choreographers, curators, critics and collaborators in a lively discussion over two days in March, at Arts House North Melbourne Town Hall.

It is the first national forum of its kind for many years, and its overarching aim is to provide an opportunity for the dance sector to reflect on the state of dance practice in Australia now, and to chart a course for the future. The full forum program and list of speakers is now online at nationaldanceforum.net.au/program 

Facilitator: Kristy Edmunds
Keynotes:
Raymond Blanco in conversation with Lee Christofis
Kate Champion in conversation with Chrissy Sharp
Pichet Klunchun (Thailand) in conversation with Tang Fu Kuen (Singapore).

Full event registration is $85 for individuals. For organisations the registration is $330 for the first person and $110 for each additional person. One day registrations are available for individuals $45. Numbers are limited, so register early to ensure a place.

Registration and further information is available at www.nationaldanceforum.net.au 

Who should attend?
Dance artists
Tertiary students
Academics
Curators, programmers and festival directors
Producers, company managers, arts workers and funders

The National Dance Forum is a project of Ausdance National and the Australia Council for the Arts, in association with Dance Massive. Pichet Klunchun is a Kenneth Myer Asian Theatre Series Artist in Residence at the Arts Centre Melbourne. Further support provided by Arts House and the City of Melbourne, Arts Queensland, Arts SA and the Department of Culture and the Arts WA.