Dance Australia

THERE can’t be too many taxi drivers who are familiar with ballet dancers, but I met one when I caught a cab to an interview with Li Cunxin, who had just been appointed as artistic director of the Queensland Ballet. When I gave the driver the address

SOME events are still making their first comeback after the pandemic. One is DanceRites, Australia’s national dance competition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance groups. The competition will be held on November 25 and 26, back on-site o

THE Australian Ballet is performing a double-bill by the lauded English choreographer, Frederick Ashton, in November. Part one is The Dream, an airy, romantic work created to celebrate the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth, and a homag

THE Youth America Grand Prix is celebrating 25 years this year and is now what must be the biggest student competition in the business. Each year the YAGP team travels around the world, holding semi-finals in 15 countries and dispensing career-defini

FOUR promising dance-makers have been commissioned for Sydney Dance Company’s “New Breed” season, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. They are Eliza Cooper, this year’s recipient of a prestigious ATLAS Choreographic Training Programm

SINCE Carlos Acosta, one of the preeminent male dancers of the 1990s and early 2000s, first burst onto the scene with his extraordinary athleticism and dynamic stage presence, interest in Cuban dancers has soared. Acosta had it all, including an over

BASED in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) in the Northern Territory, GUTS Dance is the only platform of its kind in a 1500km radius. Established in 2018 by dance artists Frankie Snowdon and Madeleine Krezek, it is a contemporary dance organisation offering o

VINCENT van Gogh (1853-90) was a post-Impressionist painter who is as well known for his paintings as he is for his poverty-stricken and tragically short life. He died by suicide at the age of only 34 after selling only one painting out of more than

WHAT is the recipe for a healthy life? Could dance hold the answer to physical, mental and psychological wellness from age two to age 102? Dance as an investment in lifelong wellbeing requires the rejection of outdated, ageist attitudes that rob indi

“HAVE you seen the new Chinese dancer from Houston Ballet, Matt? He’s amazing; I swear, I just saw him do eight pirouettes!” My fellow Australian Ballet School friend was not exaggerating. Mania Gielgud, the then Artistic Director of the Australian B

VEGANISM is on the rise. Many people, particularly young people, are adopting a completely animal-free diet in recognition of the cruelty to animals and the harm to the environment caused by the farming and manufacturing of animal products. They are

SHAUN Parker is back in Australia. He has been on the road, touring Europe with his production of King: his first overseas tour in four years. “[The company received] its first invitations to tour to Europe after the premiere season of King at the 20

DANCE is one of the few professions that requires a hyper-fixation on self-image, which in this case stems from countless hours gazing into the mirror. A dancer would typically spend four or more hours in a mirrored studio daily, scrutinising not onl

THE Sydney Eisteddfod Dance Gala was the crescendo of the annual Sydney Eisteddfod dance events. The event incorporated both the final of the Ballet Championship and the Dance of the Champion final for the senior dance troupes. In the Ballet Champion

IT seems that, not matter how far into the country you travel in Australia, dance schools are on every corner. People everywhere just love to dance. As with trends elsewhere, it is not just young people who are learning to dance: schools are catering

JOHN Steinbeck, the American Nobel Prize winning author (1902-68), had in mind the teaching of literacy when he wrote these words, but they apply to the teaching of any subject. They encapsulate the importance of a teacher's calling: how teachers can

STATE THEATRE, ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE REVIEWED: SEPTEMBER 19 Visually glorious, this production pays homage to an earlier version by Ann Woolliams. FOR this new production of Swan Lake, David Hallberg has returned to Ann Woolliams's production, creat

Your career began in classical ballet, with training at the Royal Ballet School, followed by positions within the National Ballet of Portugal, the Australian Ballet and finally the Royal Ballet. What motivated your shift towards contemporary dance? B