Dance Australia

WELCOME to our 40th anniversary issue. How do you choose the best highlights from 40 years of dance writing? It’s impossible, especially when having to squeeze them all into a single article with a deadline looming. Where to start? The archives of Da

FOLLOWING a sell-out tour of Australia of The Nutcracker in 2018, Moscow Ballet la Classique has returned to Australia for another extensive tour, this time with The Sleeping Beauty. The company’s travels began in March at the Regal Theatre in Perth

THE Queensland Ballet has been forced to withdraw its planned performances of Dangerous Liaisons as planned for its 2020 tours, following revelations of sexual misconduct allegations against the ballet’s choreographer, Liam Scarlett. The company was

THE West Australian Ballet is presenting an Australian premiere of Javier Torres’s The Sleeping Beauty in May. Torres is a Mexican-born freelance choreographer, who is closely associated with the Finnish National Ballet. His version of Sleeping Beaut

SUBMISSIONS have opened for the new Inspired Dance Film Fest Australia, which is aimed at providing a platform for dancers, choreographers and filmmakers to explore their creativity on film. The co-founders are Ian Knowles and Rohan Seinor, both high

“THERE is nothing more powerful than dance performed to live music,” says Sydney Dance Company artistic director Rafael Bonachela. For his first program and major new work for the year he has collaborated with Bryce Dessner of American rock band The

WITH an eye to supporting the next generation of choreographers, Dancenorth is presenting its annual season of Tomorrow Makers, which celebrates its ensemble as makers, at its home venue in Townsville from May 21 to 23. Curated by Dancenorth’s Assoc

THE Cecchetti International Classical Ballet Competition is held every three years in a different country around the globe. This year it is Australia’s turn. In July 2020, the competition will be hosted by Cecchetti Ballet Australia Inc at the Concou

THE heartwarming tapdance musical, Stepping Out, is making its professional Australian premiere in Melbourne, in a production by the Sydney-based, independent company, Nineteen 98 Productions. The show stars Annie Aitken, Debora Krizak and Deone Zano

This photo by Jacqueline Mitchell is of Isabella Jordan, a student at the Tanya Pearson Academy in Sydney. “I wanted to create a bold and vibrant mood to match Isabella’s bright personality and dynamic movement quality,” Mitchell says. “The lights we

THIS year Dance Australia celebrates its 40th anniversary – an incredible achievement for an arts publication. Founded in Melbourne by Dally Messenger back before the internet, the magazine is now owned by the Sydney-based family company Yaffa Media,

IN its most basic form, dance can be described as the movement of the body in a rhythmic way, to express a moment of delight, an idea or emotion, or to release energy. People from all cultures express themselves through this powerful impulse and for

• Sometimes I say that dancers (and singers!) “add acting on top”. They pull the faces that seem to reflect the emotion of the piece rather than let the face take care of itself and trust the thing that is capable of most expression, the body. • The

BORN in New Zealand 1972, Raewyn Hill asked her mother if she could start ballet at age five but was told she needed to wait until she was six, her first lesson in patience. She is a Distinguished Graduate of the New Zealand School of Dance (1992), b

YOU should do this job… you should get a job like this one.” Funnily enough, it was an off-hand comment in a post-performance chat with his then boss David McAllister that first turned former Australian Ballet dancer Robert Curran’s thoughts towards

SOPHIE BEATY, PHOTOGRAPHED BY TAYLOR-FERNE MORRIS. Sophie is a Level 8 pupil at the Australian Ballet School and a 2020 Prix de Lausanne candidate. SAM EADE, TAKEN BY TAYLOR-FERNE MORRIS. Sam moved from Wellington, NZ, to Brisbane over two years ago

DEAR DANCER, You’re right, learning to take criticism is a necessary step. Dancers regularly face the opinions of teachers, directors, the general public, dance critics and even their own families. And while we know that most criticism is well intend

Vito Bernasconi (pictured) is a soloist and has been with Qld Ballet since 2013. Criticism as a word can have a negative connotation. I’ve always preferred to consider it as information to learn, develop and grow. When I receive feedback, I remind my

MARCUS Morelli and Jade Wood are senior artists with the Australian Ballet, and good friends. They are well-matched in terms of height and build, and are frequently cast to dance together in roles varying from the classical (eg. Bluebird pas de deux

OSCAR Wilde’s The Happy Prince is a very short allegorical story about compassion versus contempt and greed. At the time allegedly written for children, it also carried a potent message for adults, pointing a finger at the inequities of Victorian Eng

IN the tranquil bushland setting of the limestone Quarry Amphitheatre, West Australian Ballet’s 27th season at this unique venue elevated our spirits in a beautifully balanced triple bill offering a superb quality of neo-classical dance and choreogra

NOW in its fourth year, Supercell Festival of Contemporary Dance continues to evolve; this year moving its performances away from a theatre setting into the streets of Brisbane, and featuring local, interstate and overseas artists. As well as perform

PROJECTION Dance Company from Albury/Wodonga came to Sydney’s Concourse Theatre on February 29, performing Closer, a fraught, psychologically intense work choreographed by the company director Tim Podesta. Although described on Projection Dance Compa

ARE students’ attentions spans getting shorter? Are politeness and courtesy outdated concepts? Just how do teachers compete with digital distractions in a class? These are just some of the questions swirling around the complex issue of discipline in

HOFESH in the Yard was a short, sharp program of two works by contemporary Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter. His seminal 2006 sensation Uprising, and a “new poetic re-iteration” of his 2015 piece tHE bAD, are both set to multi-skilled Hofesh’s o

Bbodance has made two announcements recently, one sad, one happy. The first is that its former CEO, John Travis, has died, after a long illness. Travis (18/8/1945 to 2/2/2020) was the CEO of bbodance for over 20 years. Vale. He was farewelled at a fu

IN celebration of its centenary, the Royal Academy of Dance is conducting a year-long program of events worldwide. In Australia, events are already well underway, with the Boy’s Dance Challenge in January, and the “Shaping Minds. Shaping Bodies” conf

What is your background? I’m half Sri Lankan, half Australian, with other bits as well! And your dance background? I started at Vivienne Dunn in Keysborough, Vic, (now closed) at five, then went to Jane Moore Academy of Ballet in Highett, then the A