Dance Australia

get rid of grey wigs!

THIS issue carries the second part of colleague Nina Levy’s series on “mature” dancers. It is both edifying and exhilarating to learn how these dancers regard their artform. They represent a huge shift in attitudes over recent years to older people dancing – it used to be that retirement at 35 was the norm, with many a dancer expressing their regret that they had to give up just as they were reaching their artistic maturity. Now we are witnessing dancers defying these attitudes and insisting on their ability to not just keep their bodies moving in highly refined and athletic ways, but to actually add to the whole great potential of what dance as an artform can be. We can thank the growing acceptance of dance for older people in part…

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…

dance to savour in perth

In a first for all Australian arts festivals, all of the first week of performances at the Perth Festival will be by First Nations artists. These will include Bangarra Dance Theatre in Bennelong and the world premiere of Bungul, a live video/audio production which includes Yolnu performers with the WA Symphony. From overseas will come the master of rock ‘n’ roll performance, Hofesh Shechter, as local company STRUT Dance transforms the Courtyard into a mosh pit of super-charged dance. In another welcome return, Irish company Teac Damsa will perform Mám. 50 local performers will be represented in Stephanie Lake’s monumental dance work Colossus. Circa’s renowned ensemble will join 18 local performers from Co:3, Circus Maxima and CircusWA in the world-premiere Festival commission of Leviathan. The ever-popular Ballet at the Quarry by the WA…

forsythe for sdc

SYDNEY Dance Company (SDC) is starting 2020 with a bang: with the renowned choreographer William Forsythe. The company will perform his N.N.N.N., a work that presents the mind in four parts, represented by four dancers. The same program will feature two works from SDC Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela. The first is Impermanence, in which he joins forces with Bryce Dessner of American rock band The National to make a new work with a specially created score, performed live on stage by the Australian String Quartet. The second is E2 7SD, the duet that launched his choreographic career. Conceived as a performance and sound sculpture of an emotionally charged landscape, E2 7SD is based on personal diaries – it was awarded UK’s Place Prize in 2004. Entitled “Bonachela/Forsythe”, Season One will play Sydney…

uplifting dance

“DANCERS are made to be on-stage,” said West Australian Ballet’s artistic director Aurélien Scannella at the company’s 2020 launch, and his program for next year certainly reflects that sentiment, with the company introducing a sixth season to its annual program. A seventh, in the form of a tour to China, is on the cards, subject to funding. Entitled “State”, the new season will take place at WA’s State Theatre Centre in June. The theatre is known for its contemporary dance seasons, and in keeping with that theme, the program will be a contemporary triple bill, headlined by Graeme Murphy’s Air and Other Invisible Forces. Garry Stewart’s Reincarnation, created for WAB and Co3 for 2019’s Quarry season, will be remounted for this season, with a new duet Galatea and Pygmalion, by Hong…

choice mcallister

IN 2020, The Australian Ballet is embarking on “a year of limitless possibilities”, showcasing productions that carry ballet brightly into the future. In his 20th and final year as Artistic Director, David McAllister has programmed a rich assortment of Australian and world premieres alongside established works that have made an indelible mark on modern ballet history. Audiences can expect two inventive contemporary choreographers, Wayne McGregor and Alice Topp, in the triple bill, “Volt”. A stunning new ballet version of the Russian literary classic Anna Karenina will make its Australian premiere. “Molto” will bring together three landmark works from the past 50 years. The long-awaited The Happy Prince, by Graeme Murphy, which was postponed last year, will grace the stage, as will Alexei Ratmansky’s new incarnation of Harlequinade.…