Dance Australia

happy birthday to dance australia!

“The archives record not just the artists but attitudes and ideologies too...” 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 Dance Australia contain so much history – dancers, companies, choreographers, teachers, schools – myriad artists involved with dance have come and gone during the 227 issues that have been printed. The archives record not just the artists but attitudes and ideologies too, changes in politics and governments, shifts in Australia’s cultural landscape. A range of publishing technologies have come and gone as well. The first issues of Dance Australia were quarterly, laid out by hand with rollers and hot wax,…

moscow ballet returns

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 and continue through 30 theatrical venues around the country, finishing in early May at the Theatre Royal in Hobart. From its beginning, the core of the Moscow Ballet was composed of the dancers from the leading theatres of Moscow, St Petersburg, Perm, Saratov and other cities of Russia and the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (formed after the Soviet Union collapsed). The founding artistic director is Elik Malikov. Nowadays the company comprises more than 60 professional dancers. The repertoire includes the pearls of classical ballets such as Swan…

scarlett banned

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 to perform the ballet in Melbourne from April 17-18 as well as take it on a Queensland regional tour in June/July. Scarlett, 33, is based in the UK and has been Artist-in-Residence at the Royal Ballet since 2012. He was appointed the Queensland Ballet’s Artistic Associate in 2017. However he has now been banned from the Royal Ballet while an inquiry is being carried out by independent investigators about allegations the choreographer had been sharing naked photographs with students, according to The Times. The Royal Opera House was made aware of the allegations and had suspended Scarlett…

a beautiful ‘beauty’

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 Beauty is based on the Petipa original classic. “To me,” he says, “the entire story of takes place in Princess Aurora’s heart. That means all the characters are her feelings personified, particularly Syrene, the Fairy of Love, and Carabosse, the Fairy of Fear.” ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ will run from May 8 to 23 at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Perth.…

web highlights

1 STONE FOR DRILL Tasmanian youth dance ensemble DRILL Performance Company has announced Isabella Stone as its new artistic director. A WA-based dance artist, Stone is an alumnus of STEPS Youth Dance Company (which was amalgamated into Co3 in 2014) and the WA Academy of Performing Arts. In 2019 she was a member of the Tasdance ensemble. 2 PRIX DE LAUSANNE LIVE STREAM Dance Australia streamed the annual prestigious international competition live from the Auditorium Stravinski in Montreaux in Switzerland. Dance Australia’s Emma Sandall, who writes our Ask Emma column, was host. 3 COLLABS FOR CO:3 Co:3 Australia’s 2020 launch saw WA’s flagship contemporary dance company announce a new two-year approach to programming. The first year will be focused on partnership presentations, the second on staging new works by Co:3’s artistic director, Raewyn Hill.…

new dance film fest

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 highly seasoned professional dancers who boast extensive careers both nationally and internationally. They believe there has been a missed opportunity in Australia to celebrate dance on film. Organising this festival is a way to give back to the industry they love. The inaugural Festival will be held at Hoyts Cinema Paris, Entertainment Quarter, Sydney, November 8, 2020. Tickets for the Festival will go on sale later in the year. The Festival is also supported by ambassadors Todd McKenney, Kelley Abbey, Aaron Cash, and Stephen Tannos. Submissions opened on February 29, with an early bird deadline March…