Dance Australia

SEEING the combined forces of Ballett Zurich and double choir – more than 200 performers altogether – moving as one in the Messa da Requiem at the Adelaide Festival recently, reminded me once again of the wonder of seeing large ensembles of dancers.

FOLLOWING a remarkable tenure of over a decade, Jacob Nash, Bangarra Dance Theatre's Head of Design, has departed the company. Nash designed the sets for more than 20 productions. His extraordinary visual sense has been fundamental to the artistic su

FORM Dance Projects and Parramatta Riverside Theatres are presenting a work by the appropriately named GUTS Dance, a dance "platform" based in Alice Springs (Mparntwe). The co-directors of GUTS are Madeleine Krenek and Frankie Snowdon, Victorian Coll

THE West Australian Ballet is presenting a classical ballet triple-bill, “Ballet to Broadway”, from May 5 to 13 at His Majesty’s Theatre in Perth. The program comprises Raymonda Act III, staged by Javier Torres, who is already known to WAB audiences

MELBOURNE'S new Rising festival has announced its 2023 program: and it’s huge! The program spans 185 events featuring more than 400 artists, including 35 commissions and 12 world premieres. The festival embraces the winter and the night, and will tak

WITH the devastating war grinding on in Ukraine, many Ukrainian ballet dancers are still stranded outside their home country. One group is the Grand Kyiv Ballet. Formed in 2014, since 2022 the GKB has remained outside Ukraine, touring all around the

IT’S no secret that for many dancers, quality family time can be a rare occurrence. Classes, rehearsals and shows often take precedence, while family occasions fall to the wayside. However, striking a balance between career and family is not impossib

THE dance industry has often relied upon auditions to determine the next big thing. Auditioning successfully for an established dance company used to be a foot in the door to the dance world. Now, changes are afoot. The entry points to dance companie

How do you find and recruit dancers for your company? We run an open audition day in December and also invite certain dancers for private auditions if we are interested. Are traditional auditions still the best way to find work as a dancer in 2023? T

BEING a performer, especially in dance, demands so much beyond technique and artistry. It takes real guts to put yourself out there day after day. From dance exams to auditions, training assessments and reviews – not to mention the ubiquitous mirror

Present role: Cha Cha and Frenchy in ‘Grease the Musical’ Harmony of the Seas, Royal Caribbean Cruises When I was home in Sydney in the midst of a nationwide lockdown, I wondered how soon I’d perform again. The country had just opened up its borders

Woolloomooloo, NSW Courses: Full Time Classical Ballet Course (Contemporary, Spanish and Jazz included) Auditions by private arrangement throughout the year. www.alegria.com.au Southport, Queensland Courses: After-School Classes for 3-16 year olds,

ANYONE following contemporary dance in the past decade will have been dazzled by the substantial talents of Samantha Hines. She has that "can’t take your eyes off" quality that draws an audience. In person, Hines comes across as someone who embraces

WHY would you want to be a critic? It takes a lot of courage to put your opinions out in the public arena, especially when your opinion is not a favourable one. Then you will make yourself unpopular, even despised. In fact, if you are a "popular" cri

To mark its anniversary, LGI presented a performance installation called ‘NewRetro’ at the 21-year-old galleries of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) in Melbourne from March 25 to April 2. The program featured a cast of 21 dancers, so

THE Australian dance scene has been buzzing with anticipation of a new film, The Red Shoes, the Next Step. An all-Australian production, it involves a big cast of local dancers and students. The film has been in preparation for a number of years: sho

MOST Australians would have encountered Paul Mercurio in one of his many guises: dancer, actor, movie star, TV chef, TV judge, beer brewer, all-round entertainer and nice guy. Nonetheless, it was probably still a surprise to many when it popped up in

STATE THEATRE, ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE REVIEWED WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15 The company is dancing with strength and aplomb, and dancers of all ranks are showing great polish. PURE joy! This is the only way to describe the Australian Ballet’s production of Don