Jan-Feb-Mar 2023

Dance Australia

Australia's most respected Dance magazine

Dance Australia1 min read
Dance Australia
Editor Karen van Ulzen dance@yaffa.com.au Contributors Belle Beasley Susan Bendall Sally Clark Michelle Dursun Geraldine Higginson Alana Kildea Irina Kuzminsky Matthew Lawrence Isabelle Leclezio Margaret Mercer Denise Richardson Rhys Ryan Emma San
Dance Australia2 min read
Words From The Choreographers.
IT is always fascinating to hear choreographers speak in their own words about their methods: what inspires them, how their pieces evolve, from the initial, nascent idea to the nitty-gritty in the studio. Here are some choice quotes from interviews i
Dance Australia1 min read
The Succession Of ‘KING’
WHEN Shaun Parker and Company premiered KING in Sydney back in 2019, it received rave reviews. An “inspired collaboration” between Bulgarian singer/songwriter Ivo Divchez and Parker’s complex choreography, this is a “well thought out and cleverly dev
Dance Australia1 min read
John Cranko book
FIFTY years after his tragically early death, a new biography has been published on the choreographer John Cranko (1927-73), whose ballets still enchant audiences today. The book is written by Ashley Killar, whose admiration for the master choreograp
Dance Australia2 min read
Dance For Climate Hope
WESTERN Australian choreographer Annette Carmichael has brought together a team of 25 artists working across dance, sound and design to create a vast and ambitious dance work called The Stars Descend. The work is performed in five instalments, in fiv
Dance Australia1 min read
Chunky Move residency
CHUNKY Move, Melbourne’s contemporary company, has chosen Melanie Lane as its Choreographer in Residence for 2023/24. The Choreographer in Residence initiative invests $120,000 in the recipient’s practice over the two years including a direct contr
Dance Australia1 min read
Marrugeku Receives Award
MARRUGEKU Dance Company has been awarded a prestigious 2022 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award, one of the richest and most covetted awards in the performing arts in Australia. Marrugeku won the group award of $90,000. Co-directed by Dalisa Pigram and
Dance Australia1 min read
Winging Upwards
PICTURED (with Oscar Valdes) is the West Australian Ballet’s Kiki Saito, who was recently promoted to the rank of soloist. Saito had the role of Odette created on her in Krzysztof Pastor’s unique version of Swan Lake, which was premiered by the WAB
Dance Australia10 min read
The (zoom-free) Year Ahead
The Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and artistic director David Hallberg has chosen to use the occasion to revive two landmark works. One is Don Quixote, a milestone for so many reasons. It was cr
Dance Australia3 min read
Festival Dance Picks
IN the first half of the year, already the main time for arts festivals, a new dance festival is being launched in Melbourne. Called FRAME, a Biennial of Dance, it will run from March 1 to 31 with the full program to be announced early February. The
Dance Australia3 min read
Dancing The Cosmos
L AURA Boynes, an award-winning independent dance artist based in Western Australia, is one of 12 Australian artists commissioned to create original work for this year’s Perth Festival. She will present Equations of a Falling Body, which explores the
Dance Australia6 min read
No Ordinary Evening
DESPITE his standing among the most celebrated senior choreographers of Europe, Christian Spuck is yet to make an indelible mark on Australian stages. In fact, he could be mistaken for a newcomer by an Australian dance audience. While it is possible
Dance Australia4 min read
Meet Bangarra’s New Leader
WHEN Frances Rings was appointed as the new artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theatre, it seemed the most predestined of steps. She has been associated with the company almost since it was founded. Outgoing artistic director Stephen Page gave her h
Dance Australia6 min read
The Extraordinary Crystal Pite
CRYSTAL Pite is one of the world’s most acclaimed and sought-after choreographers but Australia has only really caught glimpses of her extraordinary talent. Most recently, audiences saw a sample in the Australian Ballet’s Kunstkamer – the highlight,
Dance Australia6 min read
In For The Long Haul
SCORING a role in a long-running musical is a dream for many “triple threat” commercial dancers. But like any job, the reality is that getting the gig is just the start. The hard work continues, with demands and challenges the dancer might not have e
Dance Australia9 min read
Critics’ Choice: Highlights Of 2022
THOUGH this is a national survey, each critic has nominated according to what they were able to see, usually in their own city. Together, their choices provide an interesting overview of the state of the art in Australia. 2022 in Tasmania/lutrawita h
Dance Australia6 min read
Is There A Better Way To Approach Syllabus?
RECENTLY, a post on Facebook by an Australian teacher undertaking a teacher’s course at the Royal Ballet School (RBS) caught my attention. I immediately wanted to know more about this course called the Affiliate Teaching and Assessment Programme (ATA
Dance Australia3 min read
Responses
It is a sign of good health that new initiatives stimulate discussion, debate and re-evaluation of the core values in any sector, but particularly in dance and education. The RBS offering is an affirmation of the same values that the RAD and many oth
Dance Australia5 min read
Safe-stretch To Suppleness
THEY say the heat of the summer months, combined with the relaxing nature of holidays, makes the end of the year break the best time to work on your flexibility. For students getting back to the studio after holidays, or professionals returning to th
Dance Australia4 min read
A Building That Flies
THIS building will be here when I and my sons have long passed away, as a monument of pluck and indomitable perseverance.” (Thomas Dixon) What once started as a “minor renovation”, led by Queensland Ballet’s Artistic Director Li Cunxin, has ballooned
Dance Australia4 min read
The Remaking Of ‘Carmen’
THE opera Carmen has inspired many adaptations. Written by the French composer Georges Bizet in 1875, its dramatic story of sexual jealousy, its tempestuous heroine and its gorgeous, singable melodies has made it one of the most popular operas in the
Dance Australia3 min read
West Australian Ballet
SWAN LAKE HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE, PERTH REVIEWED: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18 WHAT a way for the West Australian Ballet to conclude its 70th year! The WA Ballet’s Swan Lake has raised the standards of modernising old, perhaps outdated, storylines. Artistic D
Dance Australia3 min read
Australian Ballet School
BUTTERFLY PLAYHOUSE, ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE REVIEWED DECEMBER 9 BUTTERFLY, created by Lucas Jervies especially for the Australian Ballet School, really is a very clever creation. It takes the conventions of a traditional classical ballet and gives th
Dance Australia3 min read
SDC Pre-Professional Year
PPY22 REVEALED BAY 20, CARRIAGEWORKS REVIEWED DECEMBER 5. PPY22 Revealed" was a large-scale graduation performance that gave its 49 graduates ample space to collectively shine across five different works. Now in its ninth year of operation, SDC’s Pr
Dance Australia2 min read
Lucy Guerin Inc
‘PIECES’ SUBSTATION, NEWPORT, MELBOURNE REVIEWED DECEMBER 14 PIECES is an annual artist development program of choreographers commissioned by Lucy Guerin Inc. Each choreographer had 20 minutes to enthral the audience with a solo performed in the pos
Dance Australia3 min read
Rachel Arianne Ogle
Where were you born? I was born and raised in Boorloo [Perth], on Whadjuk Noongar boodja. You began your performing career in calisthenics. What made you move to dance? I somehow always knew that I wanted to be a dancer, but I had no knowledge of th

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