The World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific (WDAAP) has been working since 1986 to provide more opportunities for international exchanges in dance. Through our World Dance Alliance Asia–Pacific networks, we have been able to provide Australian dance artists with opportunities to
- publish their writing in books and conference proceedings
- participate in international choreographic development residencies and choreolabs
- attend conferences and networking events
- promote their work in the Asia–Pacific region.
All Ausdance members are automatically members of the World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific and it's a great opportunity to extend your own networks and participate in new culturally diverse opportunities at the annual WDA conferences and festivals.
What is the World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific?
The World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific is a network of dance organisations and individuals that work together to advocate for the support and preservation of all forms of dance in the Asia–Pacific region. They are dedicated to providing a global communication network for dance and to organising activities to share talent, knowledge and love of dance at the local, national or international level.
It operates through an Executive board, Networks (Education & Training, Research & Documentation, Support & Development, Creation & Presentation) and country Chapters. There are chapters in many countries of the Asia–Pacific region including Australia, where Ausdance acts on behalf of the WDA Asia Pacific to produce the region’s newsletter Asia-Pacific Channels and provide Australian networking information to the other chapters.
The World Dance Alliance (WDA) is represented internationally by the WDA Asia–Pacific President Yunyu Wang (Taiwan) and the World Dance Alliance Americas President Mary Jane Warner (Canada) and the Secretary General Cheryl Stock (Australia), who bring these regions together in matters of policy and global projects such as the Global Summits.
WDA also has partnerships with other international organisations such as WAAE (World Alliance for Arts Education), International Dance Committee of International Theater Institute ITI /UNESCO (ITI), UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), and daCi (dance and the Child international).
World Dance Alliance goals
- To promote the recognition, development and mutual understanding of all forms of dance.
- To facilitate communication and exchange among dance individuals, institutions and organisations interested in dance.
- To provide a forum for discussion of matters relating to dance.
- To encourage and support the research, education, criticism, creation and performance of dance.
- To liaise, co-ordinate and participate in activities with other dance organisations in the world.
Ways to get involved
If you have a passion for dance and cross-cultural collaboration, there should be a way for you to be involved. The World Dance Alliance Asia–Pacific welcomes new ideas.
Anyone can attend WDA events, festivals and conferences. If you are a dance artist, dance researcher or dance educator, there are opportunities for you to present your work at global summits and festivals, and to have your writing published in conference proceedings, journal articles or books.
Read Asia–Pacific Channels to get know the people who make the World Dance Alliance Asia–Pacific possible and to keep up to date on networking and choreographic opportunities.
Here are some key contacts:
- President—Urmimala Sarkar Munsi
- Australia Chapter—Ausdance National
- Asia–Pacific Secretary—Julie Dyson
- Education & Training Network Co-Chairs—Anna Chan (HK), Sarah Knox (NZ)
- Creation & Presentation Network Chairs—Shiu-chin Yu (Taiwan), Joelle Jacinto (Philippines)
- Research & Documentation—A. P. Rajaram (India)
The World Dance Alliance Asia–Pacific currently has chapters in these countries: Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, East Timor, Fiji, Hong Kong, India (Karnataka, Maharashtra, and West Bengal chapters), Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand.
If you have a particular interest in one country or region, you are welcome to contact that country's chapter representative through the World Dance Alliance key contacts.
Publications
Publications have been and continue to be produced through the collaborative efforts of WDA members.
The World Dance Alliance Asia–Pacific and The World Dance Alliance Americas works collaboratively on the proceedings of the World Dance Alliance Global Summits.
The Journal for Emerging Dance Scholarship (JEDS)
Led by the Research and Documentation Network, this is an online, blind-reviewed journal for publishing scholarly writings of young scholars and is a joint effort of WDA Americas and WDA Asia Pacific, with Professor Linda Caldwell and Urmimala Sarkar as editors.Celebrating Dance in Asia and the Pacific series
The Celebrating Dance in Asia and the Pacific series presents the views of dance scholars and commentators alongside the voices of a new generation of choreographers working from tradition to create new forms of expression in contemporary dance. It documents and celebrates these artistic journeys that work within the framework of rich and complex cultural heritages. Books in the series: Beyond the Apsara—Celebrating Dance in Cambodia (November 2009); Traversing Tradition—Celebrating Dance in India (April 2011); Sharing Identities—Celebrating Dance in Malaysia (August 2011); Shaping the Landscape—Celebrating Dance in Australia (October 2011); Identity and Diversity—Celebrating Dance in Taiwan (March 2013); Moving Oceans—Celebrating Dance in the South Pacific.
Asia–Pacific Channels
Asia–Pacific Channels is the bi-annual newsletter of the World Dance Alliance (WDA), published by Ausdance National in collaboration with MyDance Alliance in Malaysia. It profiles dance events and activities from WDA members throughout the Asia–Pacific region. Channels is available free to download from the Ausdance website.Dance, young people and change
Proceedings of the 2012 daCi and WDA Global Dance Summit—66 articles across six topics: teaching dance, dance as social justice, education of dance teachers and artists, dance learning, curriculumThe 2012 Global Dance Summit: Dance, Young People and Change, held at Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA) in Taiwan 14–20 July 2012, was organised collaboratively between Dance and the Child International (daCi) and World Dance Alliance (WDA) and hosted by TNUA. The summit attracted more than 1500 delegates of all ages, from over thirty countries. The program included performances and workshops for and by young people and adults, as well as presentations of research papers and panels and professional projects.
Dance dialogues: Conversations across cultures, artforms and practices
Refereed proceedings of the World Dance Alliance Global Summit 2008, reflect its rich diversity, dynamic energy and thoughtful re-appraisal of what dance is and might be in the 21st century.The 2008 World Dance Alliance Global Summit attracted over 400 artists, educators, scholars, scientists and health professionals from 28 countries, who converged on Brisbane for six days contributing to its four themes across five platforms. The aim of this multi-platform event was to privilege both the voice and the practices of our emerging and experienced artists and to encourage interdisciplinarity of practice and academic scholarship. It was based around four major issues facing the arts in the 21st century: transcultural conversations, re-thinking the way we make/teach dance, body/mind connections, and sustainability.
Shifting Sands: Dance in Asia and the Pacific
Shifting Sands: Dance in Asia and the Pacific (2006) presents 13 essays by Australian and Asian dance writers plus a large collection of shorter articles and stories from practising artists and critics sharing personal insights and experiences.Choreographic development opportunities
The International Young Choreographer Project
The International Young Choreographer Project (IYCP) is held in southern Taiwan in July/August and is hosted by World Dance Alliance Asia–Pacific Taiwan chapter. Applicants are selected by World Dance Alliance (Asia Pacific and Americas) country chapters based not only on their choreographic work but also on their ability to meet the challenges of working in a foreign country with unfamiliar dancers and culture, and their potential as a significant contributor to dance in the future.
The selected choreographers work with selected dancers from Taiwan. The three-week process of developing new works with local Taiwanese dancers concludes with two performances. The program highlights the diversity of dance in both styles and cultures, and how local and international choreographers perceive their daily lives and the world.