Creating dance
International Young Choreographers Project 2024
Applications from emerging Australian choreographers are now being called for this international opportunity.
The IYCP has been providing young choreographers with this invaluable artistic and cultural experience since 1999. Read about previous Australian participants’ experience here.
Closing date is 16 December 2023.
About 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. Eight choreographers from the Asia-Pacific region are chosen by WDA Asia Pacific (WDAAP) to attend.
Participants are selected from a list of young choreographers recommended by World Dance Alliance country chapters (Asia Pacific, including Australia, the Americas and Europe), 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.
Participants must fund their own travel to Taiwan. However, an honorarium of US$800 for WDAAP choreographers is included, plus accommodation, local transportation, dancers, studios, publicity, production and office assistance.
Australian applicants must be members of Ausdance (find your local Ausdance).
Information for applicants
Application forms are available from Ausdance National.
In addition to contact information, applicants will be asked to answer these questions:
- What you would gain from a professional experience such as this?
- Why would you like to work in Asia?
- A brief concept of your proposed work.
- A 200-word biography and a resume/CV.
Closing date is December 16 2023.
Congratulations to the shortlisted nominees of the 21st Australian Dance Awards
Celebrating 21 years, the Australian Dance Awards is one of the country’s most prestigious performing arts awards. The Awards acknowledge people working in the professional dance sector who have made innovative and exceptional work of national significance, or have made an outstanding and enduring contribution to the dance industry.
‘Arriving at the shortlist is a demanding job for the volunteer panel of 13 dance sector professionals representing all states and territories’, said Julie Dyson, nominations coordinator for the 2018 Australian Dance Awards.
‘Panel members include educators, independent artists, dance company directors, and writers/reviewers. We receive between 450 and 700 nominations each year. A thorough voting system is in place, with two, sometimes three rounds of voting.’
Presented by Ausdance National, the 2018 awards will take place on Saturday 8 September at the Brisbane Powerhouse, with tickets on sale from 9 July.
‘Ausdance National is honoured to present the 21st Australian Dance Awards in partnership with industry sponsors’, said Kerry Comerford, Executive Director of Ausdance National. ‘The Awards ceremony is the time we acknowledge and celebrate the dance profession’s depth and diversity, both on and off the stage.’
Presented in an afternoon of performances showcasing some of Australia’s best dance of the past year, the annual Australian Dance Awards rely on the generosity and goodwill of the dance sector. ‘It’s important that the event represents the excellence and diversity of dance in Australia’ said Sandi Woo, 2018 Award’s producer.
2018 Australian Dance Awards shortlist
Services to Dance
- Philippe Charluet
- Marilyn Miller
- Philip Piggin
- Hilary Trotter
Services to Dance Education
- Paige Gordon
- Raewyn Hill
- Sinsa Mansell
- Katrina Rank
Outstanding Achievement in Community Dance
- Annette Carmichael (choreography), James Gentle (sound design) for The Beauty Index
- Tracks Dance for Man Made
- QPAC, The Royal Ballet and Community Groups for We All Dance
- Sprung!! Integrated Dance Theatre for Share House
Outstanding Achievement in Youth Dance
- Austinmer Dance Theatre for UNREAL
- Co3 for Project next
- QL2 Dance for This Poisoned Sea
- Moorambilla Voices for Gundabooka
Outstanding Performance by a Company
- Co3 for The Zone
- Dancenorth Attractor
- STRUT Dance for William Forsythe's One Flat Thing, Reproduced
- Queensland Ballet for Raw (triple bill): No Man’s Land, Glass Concerto and Ghost Dances
Outstanding Achievement in Choreography
- Lucy Guerin and Gideon Obarzanek for Attractor (Dancenorth and Lucy Guerin Inc)
- Raewyn Hill for The Zone (Co3)
- Stephanie Lake for Pile of Bones (Stephanie Lake Company)
- Stephen Page for Bennelong (2017) (Bangarra Dance Theatre)
Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance
- Martin del Amo for CHAMPIONS
- Australian Dance Artists for Restraint(s)
- Michelle Heaven for In Plan
- Nick Power (choreography), Jack Prest (sound design) for Between Tiny Cities រវាងទីក្រុងតូច
Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer
- Jana Castillo for construct (Australian Dance Theatre)
- Amber Haines for Spectra (Dancenorth)
- Ako Kondo for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (The Australian Ballet)
- Charmene Yap for Ocho (Sydney Dance Company)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer
- Richard Causer for Behind Closed Doors (Expressions Dance Company)
- Nelson Earl for Ocho (Sydney Dance Company)
- Beau Dean Riley Smith for Bennelong (2017) (Bangarra Dance Theatre)
- Kimball Wong for construct (Australian Dance Theatre)
Outstanding Achievement in Commercial Dance, Musicals or Physical Theatre
- Gravity & Other Myths for BACKBONE
- Michael Ralph for SELF
- Andrew Hallsworth for Muriel’s Wedding (Sydney Theatre Company and Global Creatures)
- Nicola Gunn and Jo Lloyd for Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster
Outstanding Achievement in Dance on Film or New Media
- Richard James Allen for Enchant
- Sophia Bender for Behind Barres
- Sue Healey for Eileen
- Catherine Moore & Jade Lowry for Unstilled
2018 Australian Dance Awards shortlist media release (50 KB PDF)
Dance in Proximity: World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific Conference & AGM
Taipei National University of the Arts, 10–11 November 2017
There were some special moments at the Dance in Proximity conference, hosted in Taiwan by the Taipei National University of the Arts in November, and organised by a wonderful team of artists, choreographers and teachers, led by Yunyu Wang.
Munguntsetseg Munkhbadrakh demonstrating traditional Mongolian dance movements during the Cross-cultural Dance Education session. Photo Julie DysonCall for papers—The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet
Edited Volume: The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet
Editors: Dr Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel (Faculty of Education, RAD) and Dr Jill Nunes Jensen (Loyola Marymount University)
We are seeking contributions to an edited volume on contemporary ballet. The book will posit ‘Contemporary Ballet’ as a new domain within the broader frameworks presently recognised by discourses in dance.
Kristina Chan receives the Peggy van Praagh Choreographic Fellowship
Congratulations to Kristina Chan who received the Ausdance National Peggy van Praagh Choreographic Fellowship at the 2017 Australian Dance Awards on Sunday 24 September 2017.
National Dance Forum 2017: Dance in the Digital Domain
Tuesday 22 August 2017
For immediate release
Australia’s peak dance organisation, Ausdance National, will host a two-day forum next month bringing together dance makers, producers and presenters for a highly topical forum focusing on the future of dance within the digital domain. The National Dance Forum is Australia’s key platform for dance artists, industry professionals and educators in providing rich opportunities to discuss, debate and collaborate with some of the most influential individuals and organisations in the country.
Call for expressions of interest—present at National Dance Forum 2017
2017 National Dance Forum
25–26 September, Victorian College of the Arts
Photo: Sydney Dance Company. Gideon Obarzanek’s L’Chaim! Photo by Wendell Teodoro.World Dance Alliance update March 2017
This year’s WDA Global Summit will be held from 23–28 July in St John’s, Newfoundland, a beautiful Canadian city on the east coast. Titled ‘Dancing from the Grassroots’, there will be many exciting events—performances, a conference including Pecha Kucha presentations, panel discussions and papers, and of course a Choreolab and master classes. We hope many Australians have made submissions to participate and look forward to once again having great representation from Australia at all events. Registrations will be open shortly.
Another opportunity available to Australian Ausdance members is the International Young Choreographer Program (ICYP), which offers fellowships to eight young artists: three from Taiwan, three from other Asia Pacific countries, and one each from WDA Europe and WDA Americas.
This year Australian Scott Ewen has been selected to participate in the ICYP. Scott attended the WDA Choreolab as a a highly regarded choreographer last year in Seoul. Congratulations Scott!
Ausdance members are automatically members of the WDA through Ausdance National’s partnership arrangement that includes publication of Asia Pacific Channels, access to choreographic fellowships, and discounted event attendance. Make sure you’re an Ausdance member before applying for any of these events.
Scott Ewen (front) with dancers and choreographers from the 2016 Choreolab at the WDA festival in Seoul. Choreolab convenor Jin-Wen Yu is kneeling, on the right. Photo: Suling Chou.Apply for 2017 International Young Choreographers’ Project
National Indigenous Dance Forum—join the Curatorial and Community working groups
The National Indigenous Dance Forum (NIDF), in partnership with Yirramboi Festival (Melbourne Indigenous Arts Festival), will take place from 5–7 May 2017 in Melbourne.
It's time to get involved! Be part of the NIDF curatorial or community working groups (or join BOTH).
BOLD festival—celebrating the legacy of dance—call for presentations
daCi and WDA announce World Dance Congress for 2018
How can dance help in transforming society? This and many more questions will be a focus in 2018 at one of the world’s largest gatherings of dance educators and young artists in Adelaide, Australia.
During the week of 11–15 July 2016, delegates from daCi (dance and the Child international) and WDA (World Dance Alliance Education and Training Network) met in Adelaide, Australia to collaborate in planning for a joint congress to be held from 8–13 July 2018. How to connect with UNESCO and initiate global advocacy informed our planning.
Big Dance Australia 2016 update
Big Dance is a biennial festival of people dancing led by the Mayor of London in partnership with People Dancing and the Big Dance Hubs, a network of leading dance organisations across the UK.
Big Dance Week ran from 2 to 10 July 2016 and Ausdance Queensland and Tracks Dance in Darwin hosted Big Dance events.
Sir Matthew Bourne auditions male dancers for Melbourne production
Arts Centre Melbourne, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures and Re:Bourne, the charitable arm of New Adventures are working towards a major creative project that will culminate in a one week season at Arts Centre Melbourne’s State Theatre in Autumn 2017.
This project offers an opportunity for Melbourne-based dancers to work for one month with choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne’s leading international dance company.
Sir Matthew Bourne and other members of the New Adventures team will be in Melbourne in August 2016 to audition six male dancers to join the company for this one-off project at Arts Centre Melbourne.
Key information
- Audition date: Saturday 6 August 2016 (applications required)
- Recalls: Sunday 7 August 2016
- Where: Auditions and recalls will be held in a centrally located venue in Melbourne
- Rehearsals & season: Sunday, 14 August 2016 (workshop) & Monday 13 March – Sunday 9 April 2017
- For Melbourne-based male dancers with at least three years of professional level training in classical or contemporary dance with a stage appearance age between 14–22.
- Audition notice and application information on the Arts Centre Melbourne website.
- Applications close COB Tuesday 12 July 2016.
Asia-Pacific Channels June 2016 issue out now
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.
Download the June 2016 issue (2 MB)
Images from the June 2016 issue.We produce and publish Channels as a contribution to the World Dance Alliance and dance in our region. It also helps us build the international networks that provide professional development opportunities for Australian dance artists.
Our work producing this publication helps us contribute to the World Dance Alliance's goals, which are:
- 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.
Write for Brolga—an Australian journal about dance
Submissions are open for Brolga #41 under the broad theme 'A place for dance'.
Key information
- Submissions due 31 August 2016
- Email your submission to the editor Olivia Millard
- Brolga guidelines for contributors (48 KB PDF)
The art and community ecology in which dance exists is delicate and complex. As with the fight for survival by animals in compromised environments perhaps it is the ‘charismatic’ or ‘innovative’ artists who survive. If so, where is the place for the dancers and dance makers who exist outside the realm of publically notable; who eschew spectacle or even notoriety? And how is it possible for a dancer to find their dance place in the rich history of skill and experimentation?
WA hosts the 2016 Australian Dance Awards
Australian Dance Awards 2016 key information
- 6.30 pm Sunday 18 September 2016
- Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, Perth
- Tickets: ticketek
The 2016 Australian Dance Awards image is from WA-based Ochre Contemporary Dance Company. Photo: Dana WeeksThe dance community in Western Australia is gearing up to host the 2016 Australian Dance Awards at the Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, Perth, on Sunday 18 September. Ausdance WA is working with Claudia Alesssi, creative producer of this year’s event, to curate a truly memorable evening, showcasing Western Australian dance companies, and more.
Dancehouse’s Housemate Residency
The Housemate Residency is about accompanying dance artists through the entire creative process, from vision to realisation. The program offers time to explore, space to examine possibility and the financial support to bring the Resident's project to fruition.
EOI submissions close 7 July 2016 at midnight.
Dancenorth experiment fills in the blanks
Media release
Next week Dancenorth opens their tour of the double bill ‘If _ Was _’
Tour performance dates and locations
- 9–11 June, Dancenorth, Townsville
- 15 June, Mackay Entertainment Centre
- 16 June Proserpine Entertainment Centre
- 23–25 June, Judith Wright Centre, Brisbane
- 29 June – 2 July, the Substation, Melbourne
Delve into the fanciful and illusionary worlds of two extraordinary choreographers, Stephanie Lake and Ross McCormack, as they fall down the rabbit hole of imagination and fill in the blanks for Dancenorth’s most recent double bill.
