Dance Australia

venerating the veterans

PLEASE don’t call me a ‘veteran’, Karen!”, an “older” dancer once mock-pleaded with me when I was writing a story about her. I obliged, of course, and ever since have been wary of using the word in case it would cause offence. But now I wonder, why? Why do we consider it even slightly shameful or embarrassing to be outed as one who has had “long experience in an office, occupation or the like”, to give the dictionary definition? We should be proud to flaunt our longitude in a profession. Yet experience equals years and years equal age, and our society teaches us to be embarrassed about getting older. As one who is a “veteran” myself now in my profession, I’m starting to question all the obfuscating. Other societies, like our…

dance australia

Editors Karen van Ulzen dance@yaffa.com.au Nina Levy nina@danceaustralia.com.au Contributors Susan Bendall Alan Brissenden Sally Clark Michelle Dursun Geraldine Higginson Irina Kuzminsky Matthew Lawrence Margaret Mercer Maggie Tonkin Denise Richardson Emma Sandall Overseas: Susan Reiter (New York) National Sales Manager Carol Roselli Ph: (07) 3348 6966 carolroselli@yaffa.com.au Advertising Production Michelle Carneiro Ph: (02) 9213 8219 michellecarneiro@yaffa.com.au Publisher Helen Davies Production Director Matthew Gunn Customer Service Manager Martin Phillpott Marketing Manager Lucy Yaffa Art Director Ana Heraud Studio Manager Lauren Esdaile Designer Samantha Smith…

brisbane festival brings rambert dance company

THIS year’s Brisbane Festival (September 6-28) will present what Artistic Director David Berthold describes as its “most ambitious project” to date: the multi-artform Invisible Cities, which will occupy a massive Yeerongpilly warehouse in an exclusive Australian season immediately following its world premiere in the UK. The production will bring together international artists at the top of their fields, directed by Leo Warner and involving art and technology wizards 59 Productions, Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and the full, iconic Rambert Dance Company. Not to be upstaged, however, Townsville’s Dancenorth will be premiering Communal Table – an interactive theatre-piece created by Artistic Director Kyle Page and Associate Artistic Director Amber Haines in collaboration with Global Philosopher-in-Chief of The School of Life, John Armstrong. This “genre busting” work will take place over dinner at…

a streetwise collaboration

WHAT happens when you combine gaming technology with hip-hop? Audiences in Sydney will find out when Shaun Parker & Company presents In the Zone this September. In the Zone is a hip-hop dance collaboration, featuring gaming technology that creates live sound through movement. The technology is called Airsticks, and In the Zone has been developed in collaboration with Airsticks co-creator Alon Ilsar with choreography by Shaun Parker. Featuring Western Sydney street dancer Libby Montilla, In the Zone takes gaming and escapism as a point of inspiration and celebrates the spectacular worlds that can be explored with technology today. It also examines the potential for loss of control through gaming, encouraging a renewed appreciation for nature. Premiering September 13, at Camden Civic Centre, ‘In the Zone’ is a free performance but bookings are required: https://www.…

melbourne city ballet folds

MELBOURNE City Ballet has closed its doors. The company’s dancers were informed by artistic director Michael Pappalardo at the end of June that the enterprise could not continue. Signs that the company was in trouble were evident when classes at the headquarters in Preston were suddenly cancelled. Students turning up for class found themselves locked out of the studios, confronted by a breach of lease notice. The MCB’s last performance was as guests at the National Theatre Ballet School’s Diamond Gala on June 29. Melbourne City Ballet (MCB) was established in 2013, with headquarters at the new Pentridge Gaol development. From the beginning it aimed to fulfill what Pappalardo believed was a need for affordable family programs of classical ballet in Melbourne and country areas. The company had a very busy schedule,…

web highlights

1 AUSTRALIAN DANCE UNVEILED Dancing Under the Southern Skies is a new book that takes us behind the red velvet curtain to explore the history of ballet in Australia. Written by acclaimed journalist and dance critic Valerie Lawson, the book is available from good bookstores or online at https://scholarly.info/ 2 MORE $$$$ The Keir Foundation, Carriageworks and Dancehouse have announced that the cash prize for the 2020 Keir Choreographic Award has increased to $50,000. The finals will be held March 3-7 at Melbourne’s Dancehouse and March 12-14 at Sydney’s Carriageworks in 2020. 3 GET SHORTY Attention young choreographers and dancers! Applications are open for Sharp Short Dance, a dance festival presented by FORM Dance Projects at Parramatta’s Riverside Theatres, November 12-16. Entries open 24 June and close October 21.…