Industry news

Ausdance National was invited to present at the Senate Inquiry into the National Cultural Policy in July.

Dr Cathy Adamek (Ausdance National Vice-President and Director, Ausdance ACT) attended with Michelle Silby (Director, Ausdance Victoria), presenting a two-minute response drawn from Ausdance National's submission. The response included subsequent consultation by Julie Englefield (Director, Ausdance Qld) and a review of the government's Revive policy with Jacob Williams (President, Ausdance National).

The main objective was to draw the Senate's attention to the lack of Dance references in the policy.

An excerpt of the Ausdance Public Hearing Statement reads:

• We celebrate Australia’s new National Cutural Policy Revive, and we support its broad recommendations relating to all art forms. However, there are gaps we would like to see addressed:
  • There needs to be more support for First Nations dance across the sector.
  • There is little reference to dance or language-specific references to dance across all pillars, which primarily emphasise visual arts and music.
  • We ask that dance be explicitly recognised across the five pillars.
• Dance is a major contributor to cultural storytelling: It is
  • one of the most diverse art forms, and
  • one of the top three most popular forms of physical recreation.

Read the official documents: 

Ausdance Public Hearing Statement

Ausdance Talking Points

Official Committee Hansard SENATE ENVIRONMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS REFERENCES COMMITTEE National Cultural Policy

Transcript of hearing

The Senators were particularly interested in the numbers associated with dance participation in Australia and dance studio issues such as music licensing.

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Ausdance National held its Annual General Meeting on Monday 26 June via Zoom.

The Acting Chair, Cathy Adamek, presented the Ausdance National 2022 Annual Report, and the audited accounts were presented by Treasurer Sebastien Ananian-Cooper.

Subsequent to the meeting, the AN Board met and elected the following office bearers for the forthcoming period: 

• Jacob Williams (President)
• Cathy Adamek (Vice President)
• Isla Gibson (Vice President)
• Charl van der Walt (Treasurer - co-opted as per section 4.1.2 of the Constitution)
• Julie Dyson AM and Natalie Allen (board directors)
• Jane Pamenter (Public Officer: non-board position)

Ausdance National is in a period of review and transition at present, and we thank Ausdance network members and others for their contribution and input to this process with consultant Tony Grybowski.

As a result of this review, the AN board has decided to maintain the organisation to undertake a limited number of activities within its financial resources and by optimising the skills of its small Board of Directors.

In the meantime, Ausdance National is fulfilling basic governance requirements, financial management of funds and bequests, attendance at sector advocacy meetings, maintaining important lines of communication with the Ausdance network and partner relationships (Aon/NAAE/TDCA/WDA).

The review’s recommendations will be further progressed by coordinating a national gathering with members of the Ausdance network in the near future.

Updates were provided on the work of the Tertiary Dance Council of Australia, the National Advocates for Arts Education, the National Dance Forum and the Australian Dance Awards. The need for strong national advocacy for dance was also noted.

The Board acknowledged the significant contribution made over many years by Sebastian Ananian-Cooper, who stepped down at the AGM, and Lizzie Vilmanis for her contribution as Board President in 2021-22.

Thanks also to Cathy Adamek for her work as Acting Board President over the past five months.

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In 1982 the Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute founded International Dance Day to be celebrated every year on 29 April, the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), choreographer and creator of modern ballet.

Every year a message from an outstanding dance artist is circulated throughout the world. This year's IDD Message is by Chinese dancer and choreographer YANG Liping.

Dance—a way to communicate with the world

Body language is humanity’s most instinctive form of communication. As new-born babies we can use our hands and feet to make dancing-like gestures even before we learn to utter a word, and then dance arises from this 'primitive tongue'.

Many things prompt people to dance. In my hometown, my grandmother once told me that dance is a way to thank the Sun for bringing warmth and light to our lives.

When there is a good harvest, we would dance in the fields with joyous hearts to express our gratitude to the earth. When we meet someone we love, we may dance like a peacock spreading its tail feathers to win their affection. Even when we are sick, we may use mysterious dance rituals to repel the demons of sickness.

In my world, dance has been intricately interwoven into our lives and existence since earliest childhood. It has always been the key that unlocks human beings' communication with nature and all living beings. In my hometown, there is a saying: 'If you have legs but cannot dance, you have wasted your life in vain'.

Dance is closely connected to nature and life. As far as I’m concerned, dance is one and the same with nature and life—that is the true essence of dance.

Some people come to this world to carry on their lineage, some come to enjoy life, some come to seek experiences. For me, I am an observer of life. I come to see how a flower blooms and withers, how clouds float, and how dew condenses.

Therefore, all my creative inspiration comes from nature and life: the brightness of moonlight, the display of peacocks’ plumage, the transformation of a butterfly from a cocoon, the way a dragonfly skims the water’s surface, the way a caterpillar wriggles, the way ants form a queue.

Many years ago on a stage, I faced the audience and danced the first choreography I created—the peacock dance The Soul of a Peacock. Peacocks are still existing animals in the world. It is a creature that symbolises sacrosanctity and represents beauty in the Eastern world because its appearance resembles that of the phoenix, with a reified posture comparable to the dragon. While dancing, I figured out the soul of the peacock.

The dance culture of mankind is bountiful, embracing common culture and attributes. We derive the essence of dance by observing nature, life and all living beings that surround us. My nation, too, has an abundant dance culture that I passionately carry forward as an inheritance. It nourishes the mind and body, giving us the ability to communicate with the world.

I collected some traditional primitive dances and brought them on stage, such as Yunnan Impression, Tibetan Riddle, Pingtan Impression and many more besides.

All these dances originated from the land and were left to us by our ancestors as heritage, which needs our efforts to be preserved and introduced to the world. Once these works were staged, people were deeply impressed by their captivating beauty and cultural significance.

As a dancer, I have continued to explore the boundless realm of dance for decades and have been invited to create experimental contemporary works such as Under Siege—The Full Story of Farewell My Concubine, and Rite of Spring for the global stage.

My art draws its inspiration from nature in my hometown, my personal life experiences, and the profound civilization of the East, which is an integral part of world civilization, as it provides diversity, richness, and above all, inspiration.

'Learning from nature' and 'Unity of man and universe' is the philosophy, the wisdom, and the aesthetics of the East. These doctrines are also the spiritual core of my art. As human beings, we should respect nature, learn from nature, and harmonise with nature, just like the earth, the mountains, and the sky.

Dancers and choreographers need to listen more attentively to the joys and sorrows of the world, using dance to complete the dialogue we have had with nature, and life which has lasted for thousands of years.

Today I will not only continue to share our dance culture with the world, but I also hope to invite all the dancers in the world who love dance and who would like to express their emotions through dance, to jointly dance for conveying our love and praise to heaven and earth.

Life never ends, and dance never stops.

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We record with great sadness the passing of Professor Shirley McKechnie AO, one of Ausdance’s founders and perhaps the most influential artist and educator in Australia’s recent history.

Shirley’s passion for dance, her unwavering faith in the ability and potential of young artists and educators, and her understanding of the core values of dance, made her one of our greatest and most articulate advocates and mentors. Her life was marked by generosity, intellectual rigour and support for artists across the whole dance spectrum.

Shirley was born in Melbourne in 1926 to a father who had survived service in World War I at the Somme and Passchendaele, and from whom she developed a lifetime interest in science and a passion for the Australian natural environment. Her life in dance was marked by the early influences of Bodenwieser training with artists such as Johanna Kolm (later Exiner), Margaret Lasica and Daisy Purnitzer, and where improvisation and choreography were central.

Shirley as a student, professional dancer and choreographer. Top right image of Shirley in On View: Icons (2015) by Sue Healey. The image behind is Twittering Machine from Shirley's Sketches on Themes of Paul Klee (1964).

Her later seminal friendships with artists such as Dame Peggy van Praagh, Keith Bain and Kathryn Lowe, and with the UK's Peter Brinson and the Dean of Education at LaTrobe University, Warren Lett, greatly influenced her later teaching and research.

Shirley’s own career was marked by significant ‘firsts’:

• founder of one of the first contemporary dance schools in Australia in 1955
• founder of one of the earliest contemporary dance touring companies as director, choreographer and performer (Contemporary Dance Theatre of Melbourne 1963-72)
• founder of the first tertiary dance degree course (Rusden State College, 1977)
• a driving force behind the seminal Armidale choreographic seminars (1974–76)
• a founder of the Australian Association for Dance Education (Ausdance, 1977)
• a member of the Council of the Victorian College of the Arts (1974–88)
• assisted with the founding of the first professional dance education company (Tasdance, 1981)
• the founding chairperson of the Tertiary Dance Council of Australia (1985–86)
• interviewer and researcher for the National Library of Australia (1980s–90s)
• guest artist, The Australian Ballet (Nutcracker, 1992)
• National President, Ausdance (1992–94)
• inaugural presenter of the Peggy van Praagh Memorial Addresses (1991)
• founder of Green Mill Dance Project (1993–97)
• patron of the Australian Choreographic Centre (from 1996)
• received the first Australian Research Council grants for choreographic research, Unspoken Knowledges (1999–2001), Conceiving Connections (2002–2005) and Intention and Serendipity: Investigating Improvisation, Symbolism and Memory in Creating Australian Contemporary Dance (2005-2008)
• Professor of Dance at the Victorian College of the Arts (1998) and Honorary Doctorate (2007)
• an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the VCA/University of Melbourne.

As well as being elected an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1998, Shirley received numerous awards in recognition of her services to dance in Australia, including:

• an Order of Australia in 1987 (OAM)
• a Kenneth Myer Medallion for the Performing Arts in 1993
• Ausdance 21 Award for outstanding and distinguished service
• two Australian Dance Awards, including Services to Dance Education (1997) and Lifetime Achievement (2001)
• a Centenary Medal (2000)
• made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2013 (AO).

Top left: Shirley at Kathryn Lowe’s book launch in Canberra, 1998. Top right: With Sue Street and Julie Dyson at the VCA in 2006. Bottom left: With Sarah Adams, Jenny Kinder and Sue Healey at Shirley’s 80th birthday, 2006. Bottom right: With Lee Christofis and Mark Gordon at the Australian Choreographic Centre in 2005.

Shirley led several seminal research projects from 1999–2008 that were at the forefront of a new research interdisciplinary area – dance and cognitive science. She had recognised – years ahead of other research groups – that the intellectual, creative and collaborative processes involved in the conception and development of dance works have much to offer psychology, sociology, anthropology, cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience as a lens on human thought, expression, communication, problem solving and decision making.

Shirley and her multidisciplinary team investigated the processes involved in creating new dance works. She analysed and described the choreographer and dancers working together as a ‘community of creative minds’ and as a self-organising system, sometimes centralised and other items distributed.

Shirley crossed disciplinary boundaries and inspired others in the research team to do the same, a catalyst for breakthroughs in thinking across seemingly disparate academic disciplines, leading ultimately to dance connecting with science.

Shirley’s major concern was that audiences for contemporary dance needed to grow, and she therefore applied her research to understanding the ways in which audiences respond to contemporary dance works.

One hallmark of Shirley’s research was the productivity and diversity of output from each project. Sharing practical knowledge from these projects, she also wrote extensively on the value of multidisciplinary research and the challenges and possibilities it entails. Her research writing during the 1980s and 1990s, and her initiating and leading of large interdisciplinary research projects in Australia demonstrated her usual foresight and vision.

Shirley’s pre-eminence in national and international dance research, her leadership in dance scholarship, her ongoing mentorship of young dancers and choreographers and her unprecedented contribution to Australian dance and dance research have created a proud legacy for one of our most revered artists, educators, researchers and mentors.

Ausdance is proud to have been associated so closely with our founder and mentor, and as publisher of much of her research. This is a time to celebrate an extraordinary life, and to reflect on Shirley’s significant achievements.

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Tuesday 28 June 2022 at 12.30pm AEST

The Ausdance National 2022 Annual General Meeting will be held via Zoom on Tuesday 28 June 2022 at 12:30pm AEST.

The AGM agenda, 2021 SGM minutes and annual report are available below.

Ausdance National's members are dance professionals and cultural leaders from across Australia who engage in a great diversity of dance forms and practices.

With a vision for dance to become a valued part in the lives of all people, Ausdance National's advocacy, programs, resources and partnerships help to facilitate and promote the processes and benefits of best practice dance engagement.

Part of a leading affiliation of peak bodies for dance, arts and culture in Australia, Ausdance National works with the federated network of Ausdance associations – Ausdance ACT, Ausdance NSW, Ausdance Qld, Ausdance SA, Ausdance Victoria and Ausdance WA. Ausdance National is the Australian Chapter of the World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific and is also a founding and continuing member of ArtsPeak, the National Advocates for Arts Education and the Tertiary Dance Council of Australia. 

Current Board Members of the Ausdance National Council are: 

• President: Lizzie Vilmanis (Qld)
• Vice President: Julie Dyson AM (ACT)
• Treasurer: Sebastien Ananian-Cooper (SA)
• Director and Public Officer: Dr Cathy Adamek (SA/ACT)
• Director: Ella Havelka (Vic/NSW)
• Director: Shyamla Eswaran (NSW)

In 2022 there will be three board vacancies – nominations have previously been called for as per the Constitution.

2022 Agenda Papers

• AGM Meeting Agenda
• Minutes of 2021 SGM
• 2021 Annual Report and 2021 Audit (to be tabled)

To register to attend or to request a proxy form please email President Lizzie Vilmanis. 

A zoom link to attend the AGM will be sent after you have registered. 

To allow for administration, please RSVP and arrange proxies by Friday 24 June 2022.

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The Board of Ausdance National advises that a review will be conducted to re-evaluate the Australian Dance Awards. This places the current Awards program on hold until the evaluation has been completed. 

The review will consider the relevance of the Awards in today’s world, and their impact and value in serving the national dance community and the mission and vision of Ausdance National, including their accessibility, their inclusivity and their viability. 

The review forms part of the Board’s appraisal of the association’s positioning and its ability to advocate for cultural leadership and the diversity and professionalism of dance practice, enabling the many benefits dance brings to the lives of people living on the lands now known as Australia. 

Ausdance National aims to build awareness, understanding and acknowledgement of the extensive and impactful contributions made by the national dance sector. The roles that cultural leaders, dance professionals – and the pluralism of dance that they facilitate – are essential in shaping quality of life, and must be recognised and valued to be sustainable.

Ausdance National values the shared knowledge, experience and expertise of all of our members. You are vital to shaping Ausdance National activities that are relevant and effective and can support you and serve our mission.

We will be seeking your input about the Australian Dance Awards to inform the review. 

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Safety, inclusion and mobilisation at the intersection of diversity requires urgent action. 

We believe change is a collective movement and everyone has their part to play in creating the inclusive, accessible and safe dance industry this country deserves. 

We also believe that change starts at home, and we are carefully assessing how best to move forward sustainably, respectfully and with appropriate consultation.

The board of Ausdance National:

• Is committed to examining, better understanding and advocating for equity, anti-discrimmination and intersectional diversity in the Australian dance environment. 
• Prioritises safety in all its forms and supports safe spaces for such discussions.
• Values the unique capacity of dance for cross-cultural exchange, knowledge-sharing, artistic expression, healing and storytelling.
• Promotes respectful communication, interactions and behaviour across all platforms throughout the dance community.

As a first step towards a safer and more inclusive dance industry, Ausdance National has formed a diversity working party to develop Terms of Reference for a new Standing Committee on Diversity & Inclusion that will advise the Board.

Once formed, we look forward to working with, and supporting, diversity advocates, community leaders, key organisations and industry professionals across the Ausdance network and beyond to enable a more inclusive, accessible and safer dance community for everyone connected by, and living on, these lands.

As a not-for-profit organisation operating without any government funding and a voluntary board, we appreciate your patience in this process. 

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The Ausdance National Executive is calling a Special General Meeting (SGM) for Thursday 12 August 2021 at 7.30pm AEST via Zoom. This meeting will ratify proceedings of the AGM held on 27 June 2021, in the absence of a quorum of directors at that meeting, caused by the late apology of the National President.

Agenda: The purpose of this meeting is to achieve a quorum as per the Constitution in order to –

• ratify the proceedings of the AGM, including the appointment of new directors and changes to the Constitution.
• appoint new Public Officer.

The following motions will be put:

• That the proceedings of the Annual General Meeting of the Australian Dance Council – Ausdance Inc., held via Zoom on 27 June 2021, be ratified.
• That the new Public Officer be formally appointed to the Association

To RSVP, or if you require a proxy form, please email Lizzie Vilmanis. RSVPs and proxies are requested by 11 August 2021 to allow for preparation of the SGM.

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Sunday 27 June 2021 at 12.30 pm

The Ausdance National 2021 Annual General Meeting will be held via Zoom on Sunday 27 June 2021 at 12.30 pm AEST.

The AGM agenda, 2020 AGM minutes, annual report and revised Constitution are available below.

Ausdance National, the peak organisation supporting dance professionals and the dance ecology at the national level, continues to work with the state and territory network, driving important advocacy to make dance a valued part in the lives of all Australians. This work is especially important in these unprecedented times with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ausdance National continues to drive support for dance across all sectors and lobby for increased investment.
 
Elected Board Members at the 2020 AGM: 
President: Paul Summers (Vic); Vice President: Julie Dyson AM (ACT); Vice President: Lizzie Vilmanis (Qld); Treasurer: Sebastien Ananian-Cooper (SA); Council Directors: Dr Cathy Adamek (SA), Deborah Robertson (WA), Katy McKeown (Vic); Public Officer: Tamara McKee.

In 2021 there will be four board vacancies – nominations have been called for and received, as per the Constitution.

The Ausdance National Constitution will also be revised and voted on to reflect the organisation's current situation.

2021 Agenda Papers

AGM Meeting agenda
2020 President’s report
Minutes of 2020 AGM
Revised Constitution

Please RSVP to President Paul Summers if you are able to attend, or if you require a proxy form.

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In accordance with the Constitution, Ausdance National calls for nominations to fill a maximum of three new board vacancies. The Annual General Meeting will be held via Zoom on 27 June 2021 at 12.30 pm.

When nominating, please consider the following:

• Skills & experience—the board needs to include outstanding individuals that have demonstrated skills, experience and knowledge in specific areas and will contribute to good governance and the future development of Ausdance National and dance in Australia
• Diversity—the board should reflect our wider community with an appropriate cultural diversity and gender mix, together with considerations of age. In particular, we encourage applications from First Nations people.
• Location—the board should reflect the breadth of dance activity across Australia. Selection will not be based on location only.
• Board nominees must be Ausdance members.

The following selection criteria will also be considered:

General criteria—all board members

• A commitment to the development of Australian dance
• A commitment to the mission and aims of Ausdance National
• Proven ability to think strategically in a changing and dynamic environment
• High-level skills, knowledge and experience that will significantly contribute to the good governance and future vision of Ausdance National and the Ausdance network.
• A range of networks and contacts.

Additional criteria—President & Vice Presidents

• Demonstrated leadership skills & experience.
• An awareness of funding and arts sector structures and organisations.
• Availability to support Ausdance network communications and policy development.

The board should attract:

• A National Executive of outstanding leaders in the community with extensive networks and contacts. The Executive should include at least one individual who has experience in a senior role within the professional dance sector.
• Senior dance artists, arts managers and producers
• A qualified CPA or Chartered Accountant
• Law professionals
• Marketing, public relations and communications experts
• Senior staff from the tertiary and/or education sector
• Senior corporate and/or government (non-arts) representatives
• Experts from areas including technology, human resources, business development.

Nominations must be received on the nomination form by Monday 31 May 2021. Please contact National President Paul Summers for further information and for the nomination form.

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In 1982 the Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute founded International Dance Day to be celebrated every year on 29 April, the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), choreographer and creator of modern ballet. Every year a message from an outstanding dance artist is circulated throughout the world, and this year it marks the beginning of Australian Dance Week to be celebrated throughout Australia.

This year's IDD Message is by German dancer Friedemann VOGEL.

Everything starts with movement – an instinct we all have – and dance is movement refined to communicate. Much as flawless technique is important and impressive, it is ultimately what the dancer expresses inside the movement that is the essence. 

As dancers, we are constantly on the move, aspiring to create these unforgettable moments. Regardless of the dance genre, it’s what every dancer strives to achieve. So, when all of a sudden, we aren’t allowed to perform anymore, with theatres closed and festivals cancelled, our worlds come to a standstill. No physical contact. No shows. No audiences. Never in recent history has the dance community been so collectively challenged to stay motivated, to find our raison d’être.

Yet, it is precisely when something precious has been taken away from us that we truly appreciate how vital it is what we do, and how much dance means to society at large. 

Dancers are often celebrated for their physical prowess, when in fact we are sustained even more by our mental strength. I believe it is this unique combination of physical and psychological agility that will help us overcome, to reinvent ourselves to keep dancing, and to keep inspiring.                 
 

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Congratulations to Australian Dance Award winners, announced online on Tuesday 8 December, spanning achievements across 2018 and 2019 in twelve categories. They celebrate the rich diversity and uniqueness of dance in Australia with national companies, performers and collaborating artists, dedicated studio, school and tertiary teachers, regional and remote artists, independents and astounding youth and community dance groups.

View the Awards ceremony again or watch for the first time on Ausdance National's Youtube channel.

The 2020 Australian Dance Award Winners are…

Lifetime Achievement Awards for 2019 and 2020 go to Jill Sykes AM and Janet Karin OAM.

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMUNITY DANCE
Tracks Dance for In Your Blood, a joyous and exceptionally realised dance work performed in the Darwin Botanic Gardens as an exquisite celebration of tradition, family and the collective.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMUNITY DANCE
Fine Lines for The Right, an intergenerational mature dance collective that presented a serious work about sacrifice for the greater good, explored through the lens of contemporary politics.

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN YOUTH DANCE
FLING Physical Theatre for Body & Environment, an ambitious and surprising new work showcasing a high level of performance skills in this group of young artists, demonstrating a sense of confidence and maturity.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN YOUTH DANCE
QL2 Dance for Filling the Space, an exceptionally mature performance that explored dimensions of space and its potent significance to the world of dance – physically, emotionally, and architecturally.

2018 AWARD FOR SERVICES TO DANCE EDUCATION
Karen Malek for her inspirational work as a dance teacher for over 40 years, and as the President of the Australian Teachers of Dancing as a pivotal figure in dance education in Australia.

2019 AWARD FOR SERVICES TO DANCE EDUCATION
Sue Fox for her role as co-writer of state and national arts curriculum documents, including The Australian Curriculum: The Arts, as a founder of the Ausdance Educators Queensland group, and as a key member of the National Advocates for Arts Education.

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHOREOGRAPHY
Narelle Benjamin & Paul White for Cella, a defining and moving work in a stunning meditation on the wonders of the human body.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHOREOGRAPHY
Garry Stewart for South, a theatrical work that evokes Mawson’s tragic Antarctic expedition of 1912 performed by nine dancers with Stewart’s virtuosic movement

2018 AWARD FOR SERVICES TO DANCE
Valerie Lawson for her work as a Walkley Award-winning journalist who has devoted much of her life advocating for, and writing about, dance in Australia.

2019 AWARD FOR SERVICES TO DANCE
Philippe Charluet for over 30 years of filming Australian dance productions from some of the country’s most outstanding companies and choreographers, in particular for his documentation of the work of Graeme Murphy and Janet Vernon in his Heritage Collection.

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE ON FILM OR NEW MEDIA
RIPE Dance for In a Different Space, an inspirational dance film combining beauty, humour, serenity, and cheekiness in equal measure.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE ON FILM OR NEW MEDIA
Samaya Wives for Oten, a film that speaks to an integral facet of human nature: our imperfections, yet the slow cadence and dreamy expressiveness of the text provide a moment of stillness, a chance to see the beauty in these so-called ‘flaws.’

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMERCIAL DANCE, MUSICALS, OR PHYSICAL THEATRE
The Farm for The Tide, a work that explores the impact of climate change with two outstanding performers, Gavin Webber and Joshua Thomson, transforming a tough reality into a place of optimism and compassion.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMERCIAL DANCE, MUSICALS, OR PHYSICAL THEATRE
STRUT Dance for SUNSET, a major commissioned event that took audiences on a magical and haunting journey through one of Perth’s heritage listed buildings.

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN INDEPENDENT DANCE
Vicki Van Hout for plenty serious TALK TALK, a work that explores the consultative process in Indigenous art making, inviting the audience to appreciate the full complexity of negotiating culture across disciplines, genres, and eras.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN INDEPENDENT DANCE
Laura Boynes for Wonder Woman, a work that draws attention to the potent presence of a solo female dancer whose less visible strengths and powers are celebrated in a staging of the ‘severalness’ of femininity.

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE DANCER
Narelle Benjamin for Cella, an extraordinarily moving and physically demanding performance with Paul White, in an exploration of how the human body can transform and evolve in the imagination.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE DANCER
Marlo Benjamin for Skeleton Tree with Stephanie Lake Co., for a performance that was powerful and heartfelt with a rare combination of incredible technical prowess and a depth of feeling, strength and bravery.

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE DANCER
Kimball Wong for The Beginning of Nature with Australian Dance Theatre, for a brilliant demonstration of his innate ability to combine strength and technique with rich artistry and emotion in this symphony of overlapping rhythms of nature and life.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE DANCER
Tyrel Dulvarie for 30 years of 65,000 by Bangarra Dance Theatre, in an outstanding performance celebrating Bangarra Dance Theatre’s thirtieth anniversary, especially for his transfixing dancing in Unaipon, the opening work on this triple bill program. 

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A COMPANY
Australian Dance Theatre for The Beginning of Nature, a work full of intense theatricality, danced to an evocative score by Brendan Woithe, and with exceptional Indigenous references to the Kaurna language of the Adelaide Plains.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A COMPANY
Bangarra Dance Theatre for 30 Years of 65,000, a work that celebrated the company’s 30th birthday, immersing itself in magical choreography and the formidable challenge of Jiri Kylian's Stamping Ground in this unique homage to Indigenous culture.

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The Lifetime Achievement Awards honour Australian dance people who have made outstanding contributions to the profession, raising the profile and prestige of dance in Australia for more than 40 years.

 The 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Jill Sykes AM, and the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Janet Karin OAM.

The presentation of the Australian Dance Awards is a highlight of the Australian dance calendar, bringing together all sectors of the dance industry to celebrate the best and brightest of all forms and cultures of dance. The Awards will be presented online on Tuesday 8 December 2020 at 7.30 pm AEDT.

Jill Sykes AM

Jill Sykes has been writing about the arts, dance in particular, since 1960 when she began working as a cadet journalist in Adelaide with The Advertiser. She has been freelancing since 1979 and is respected as a dance writer and critic for the breadth of her outlook, which encompasses all forms of dance; for the honesty of her approach; and for the inspiration her reviews and articles generate for her readers.

Growing up in Adelaide, Jill saw her first dance performance when not quite six years old when the British company, Ballet Rambert, brought its production of Giselle to Adelaide. Her love of dance, and the arts in general, began then. Sykes travelled to London in 1965 and joined the reporting staff of The Evening News, eventually becoming one of that newspaper’s dance critics. Back in Australia, she was employed by The Sydney Morning Herald as a news reporter in 1972 and soon became its dance critic as well. Sykes left The Herald’s fulltime staff in 1979.

Since 1979 she has written a wealth of dance reviews and articles, which have appeared in newspapers, including regularly in The Sydney Morning Herald, and in a wide range of other newspapers, dance magazines and journals in Australia and overseas. She is the author of The Sydney Opera House: from the outside in and has contributed to the Currency Press Companion to Theatre in Australia and, most recently, Routledge’s Shaping the Landscape: Celebrating Dance in Australia, published in 2012 and updated in 2020.

Jill also writes about theatre, music and the visual arts and in 1995 was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her service to the arts. In 1997 she was the recipient of an Australian Dance Award for Services to Dance.

Janet Karin OAM

For over 60 years Janet Karin has been a significant force in the world of Australian dance. She has been respected as a dancer, teacher, artistic director, mentor, researcher and academic, and in each of those roles has shown a deep commitment to dance and an intelligent and searching approach to the growth of the art form.

Janet began her performing career with Laurel Martyn’s Victorian Ballet Guild, danced with the Borovansky Ballet in its final season, and joined The Australian Ballet as a founding member in 1962. She was promoted to principal in 1966. Memorable roles with The Australian Ballet include those in Melbourne Cup, Les Sylphides and Aurora’s Wedding, and she received exceptional reviews for her dramatic interpretation of Myrthe, Queen of the Wilis, in Giselle and Clytemnestra in Robert Helpmann’s Elektra.

After retiring from The Australian Ballet in 1967 Janet moved to Canberra and, with her then husband Bryan Lawrence, established the Bryan Lawrence School of Ballet, later to be renamed as National Capital Ballet School. In Canberra she initiated the Karin System of Ballet Training, which presented dance as both a means of personal enrichment and as an art form. Above all, it was never a static method of teaching and learning but was constantly evolving in response to new developments in science and the arts and in teaching methodology.

In 1997 Janet left Canberra to work for Ross Stretton, a former student who had been appointed as Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet. With Stretton she worked to enable the expansion of The Australian Ballet’s repertoire with new acquisitions from leading choreographers. Karin also taught at The Australian Ballet School from 2001 to 2016, in particular in the area of kinetic studies, where she worked on the application of neuroscience principles to elite ballet training.

Janet has served on the Dance Committee of the Australia Council; as President of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS); the Board of the Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare, and has published widely in internationally recognised journals. She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1989; the Australian Dance Award for Services to Dance Education in 2014 and the 2015 IADMS Dance Educator Award.

(Citations prepared by ADA panel member Dr Michelle Potter)

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The the Parliamentary Inquiry into Australia’s Creative and Cultural Industries and Institutions recently called for submissions to address five Terms of Reference (TOR).

Ausdance National responded by directly addressing the TOR from a dance perspective, adding extensive references by Dr Anja Ali-Haapala to support the submission.

Terms of Reference

The direct and indirect economic benefits and employment opportunities of creative and cultural industries and how to recognise, measure and grow them.

Employment and economic benefits of the creative and cultural industries have already been comprehensively measured by the Cultural Ministers’ Council via the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Australia Council and in A New Approach Insight Reports 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, although studies have still been limited by the current level of recognition of roles and employment models in the arts.

Australia is without a Federal Government arts policy. Endorsement and meaningful support of First Nations arts and cultural activity must be central to a new arts policy to preserve their cultural knowledge and storytelling, and ensure the safety of First Nations Peoples. Without them we have no cultural, creative or innovative future, or any clearly-articulated Australian cultural identity. Policy at a federal level needs to provide clear vision to achieve recognised goals of national importance. 

Creating further opportunities in a growth industry and reaping the benefits of the resulting economic growth must rely on inclusive government policies that:

• Acknowledge the arts and cultural industries as significant contributors to Australia’s health and wellbeing;
• Acknowledge all sectors of the arts – and particularly First Nations artists – as being significant contributors, and include the unique cultural diversity of industry ecosystems in a multicultural society;
• Acknowledge the arts and cultural industries as being worthy of significant investment as drivers of the economy (both directly and indirectly).
• Eliminate the regressive efficiency dividend on cultural institutions;
• Acknowledge the arts and cultural industries as requiring significant and inclusive vision in policy and long-term strategic planning across all levels of government and across departmental divides;
• Acknowledge the interconnectedness of the education and training sectors – from local dance studio businesses, to arts in schools, communities and professional arts training institutions – when considering the arts policy ecosystem.
• Acknowledge artists as legitimate workers and contributors rather than as hobbyists by recognising the Australian Taxation Office’s definition of a professional artist through the following business indicators in TR2005/01, i.e.

34. This business indicator may be demonstrated in a number of ways, for example:

• industry and peer recognition as an artist;
• qualifications (or equivalent experience as apparent from an artist's portfolio or body of work) typical of those in the relevant industry sector. (In some sectors of the arts industry formal qualifications are the norm. In others, especially in new and emerging types of art, it would be less usual for an artist to have any formal qualifications);
• public recognition as an artist (for example, is the taxpayer described as such in the media? Is their opinion as an artist sought by the public? Is their art work used by others as examples for teaching purposes?);
• meeting the eligibility and selection criteria for grants, awards and professional opportunities (for example, residencies) open to artists in the relevant industry sector (for example, individual applicants for grants from the Australia Council must be able to demonstrate that they are identified and recognised by their peers as a practising artist; in addition, the selection criteria for all grants from the Australia Council requires applicants to provide evidence of detailed planning and ability to execute the proposed project);
• appointment to a position being contingent on the person's status as an artist (for example, being offered a position as a resident artist; where a teaching position is based on the employee's status as a professional writer; being appointed as a member of relevant boards or committees);
• memberships of professional associations, including unions (that is, does the taxpayer's industry sector have any organisations that are dedicated to serving the professional needs and interests of artists? If so, is the taxpayer a member?);
• reputation building in a manner consistent with others in the relevant industry sector;
• methods of application and time commitment to activity consistent with others in the relevant industry sector; and
• obtaining the advice or services of an agent, manager, legal or financial adviser, if it is common in the taxpayer's industry sector.

The non-economic benefits that enhance community, social wellbeing and promoting Australia's national identity, and how to recognise, measure and grow them

As noted in our response to Arts Minister, the Hon. Paul Fletcher, about the $250m arts funding package announced three months ago (and still to be distributed), ‘Unless outputs from the whole dance sector are maximised, many interacting or benefiting arts and non-arts business economies will be negatively affected. These include but are not limited to: 

• First Nations independent artists
• Disability and regional sectors
• Mental health initiatives
• Multicultural organisations and projects
• Physical health management
• Creative capacity building
• Tourism and hospitality sectors.’

Ausdance is not resourced to measure these outputs, but many large government-funded organisations such as the ABS, the Australia Council and the Department of Communications & the Arts are available to take on this work if properly resourced. The work of Dr Jackie Bailey and the BYP group is also relevant here.

Accumulating research provides evidence that dance improves quality of life (see appendix for a list of recent academic, empirical studies). This is important work performed by the academic dance sector that is vital for maintaining high standards and relevant applications of process, engagement and delivery of dance to improve quality of life. This work is currently under threat from decreased university funding and fee increases.

The best mechanism for ensuring cooperation and delivery of policy between layers of government

The following questions are not easily answered without cooperation between layers of government:

• What do the Covid-affected dance studio sector and the tertiary dance training sectors have in common?
• Where do they fit into the Australian dance ecology?
• Why are they not included in arts policy and funding strategies?
• And why are they not recognised as integral to the wider dance industry by politicians and policy makers?

Ausdance Victoria’s Covid-19 Business Impact Survey (focusing on dance studios), and the Federal Government’s increase in tertiary fees in the Creative Arts illustrate the lack of understanding of the centrality of dance education and training to the Australian dance ecology, i.e. the training sector and the performance/creative sectors contribute to employment for both. Training is about making students ‘job ready’, providing the skills for them to forge new ground. Education and training do not happen in isolation but through the integration of the sectors.

Arts ministers, advisors, bureaucrats and other arts spokespersons must start to recognise that studio, school and tertiary dance education sectors are integral to the success of the wider dance ecology. The success of these sectors fuels the success of other, but our current world-class dance companies, performers, teachers and dance makers will continue to lose ground as they struggle to survive in a growing policy and funding deficit environment, increasingly seen as irrelevant by governments whose leaders see no votes in the sector.

Graduates are indeed job ready for careers in dance but there is room for expanding dance training to contribute to broader ‘job readiness’ in the future. The skills learned through dance are transferable and sought after in many careers outside the dance industry, as evidenced by the Australian Institute of Sport and Ausdance’s SCOPE for Dancers project, proving that dance skills have so many applications in other industries. As already evidenced in this project, recognising this and increasing funding to take advantage of dance artists’ training, would prove more effective for future employment of dance artists.

Our submission to the Senate Inquiry into the Government’s Higher Education Support Amendment Bill 2020 notes that –

Australia's arts industry is already in a precarious situation as a result of severely reduced government investment in artistic practice (as opposed to the ‘billions’ it invests in galleries, libraries and museums). There is also a complete lack of industry-based public policy.

Immediate consideration must also be given to:

• Enhanced tax incentives to motivate private giving and investment in artworks and industry development.
• Removal of the efficiency dividend on small-agency cultural institutions.
• Prioritising artistic, creative and cultural outputs (including processes as well as products).
• Relief for lease-holders in both government-owned and private tenancies well into 2021 to enable continued creativity and innovation whilst minimising unnecessary risk.
• Investment in a public campaign to rebuild confidence in the dance and arts sectors, all of which are heading into a very uncertain year in 2021.
• Expanding JobKeeper eligibility criteria to include casual freelance dance professionals employed on short-term contracts who have worked consistently in the 12 months prior to COVID-19, but who have had multiple employers. 
• Providing employers in the dance sector the flexibility to determine levels of JobKeeper pay equal to the casual employment contract suitable for project work.
• Extend JobKeeper beyond March to support dance businesses (including sole traders) who face ongoing disruption and impact on sustainability due to COVID-19. 
• Adding direct financial investment to the current package to include support for restarting business activities (including generating live performance outcomes) for micro and small dance businesses. This means prioritising further continued support to rebuild the dance sector, so severely impacted by COVID-19. 
• Continuing to engage with dance sector representatives across the dance industry, including peak organisations such as Ausdance and BlakDance, to inform equitable and relevant policies of support and assistance for the whole dance sector. 

The impact of COVID-19 on the creative and cultural industries

The Australia Council for the Arts

We are particularly concerned about the Australia Council’s reduced capacity to respond adequately to recovery of the arts sector into 2021, leaving many small companies, independent artists and organisations’ activities unsupported in an already-diminished funding environment.

As the Federal Government’s own peak arts funding and advisory body, the Australia Council’s funding must be substantially increased – many in the arts community are calling for its funding to be doubled (a proposal we support). Its present funding levels deprive it of being able to deliver on its charter to ‘support Australia’s arts through funding, strengthening and developing the arts sector’ and is leaving a huge pool of ‘unfunded excellence’ without support, well documented already by the Council.

The dance ecosystem is inter-dependent, and the Council must be adequately funded to strengthen and develop it. Policy settings should recognise that different dance sectors serve different purposes, from the major dance companies to youth dance companies, First Nations performers, independent artists, community dance practitioners across regional Australia, school and studio teachers, choreographers and producers.

The results of the Australia Council’s four-year funding for small to medium dance companies earlier this year highlighted the ongoing losses sustained by this sector of the dance profession. Only eight small dance companies and organisations in Australia are left with the ability to employ staff, plan for the future and create new work, while four other highly-regarded companies are left hanging by a thread, with one-year ‘transitional funding’.

The demise of companies such as Restless Dance and Tracks Dance will remove visibility and support for disability, remote and regional First Nations communities, and loss of employment, mental health and education opportunities in their communities.

Recognition that increased Australia Council funding is an investment in our future, and will be part of the recovery solutions, is vital. It is self evident that 2021 will require more than a thinly-spread Council funding strategy for the arts and cultural sectors to re-emerge as viable creative industries and important drivers of innovation and new thinking.

The dance industry’s loss of all self-generated income, and its inability to survive long months of shut-down and the road to recovery, is of major concern. Months of shut-down and an indefinite and unclear road to recovery place the dance industry’s future in limbo. It’s difficult to plan forward and restrictions to business operations are limiting self-generated income streams. 

There needs to be much more recognition of creative and cultural outputs to include processes and services as well as products. As a very big service industry, dance contributes significantly through the services provided directly and indirectly to communities. The positive degree to which this contribution impacts the daily lives of Australians and the subsequent savings made due to improved quality of life need further investigation to realise the value provided.

Employment of dance practitioners

Dance practice has largely been ignored during the Covid crisis, or confused with gyms, boot camps, fitness studios etc., leaving artists, companies and studio teachers without clear direction about the future of their arts businesses or even about their Covid-safe plans (acknowledged here as often jurisdiction-based regulations).

While JobKeeper supports individual jobs, resources are also needed to support the business costs involved in carrying out the multifarious projects those workers undertake to maintain a living wage. Freelance dance professionals, without any safety net, are therefore struggling to remain in an industry in which they are an essential element.

The business activities carried out by casual freelance professionals and micro and small dance businesses fulfil integral roles that support the business activities of the currently identified ‘sector significant organisations’. These are activities the ‘sector significant organisations’ are not positioned to undertake, but which are necessary to ensure effective, productive functioning of the dance ecology. 

Dance performance companies report extremely limited activities in 2020, with most in the small to medium dance sector unable to function at all as viable businesses. While some small businesses have been able to pivot their offerings (e.g. shifting dance classes online via Zoom), others have found it either unprofitable or an unsatisfactory way of teaching and learning in dance, an intensely physical artform requiring close supervision in order to comply with Safe Dance regulations.

Larger companies are reporting significant inroads into their reserves, unable to take risks without adequate guarantee against loss insurance, and the cancellation of almost all public classes which usually help to generate income, apart from the relatively few Zoom classes possible. Box office returns are almost nil because of social distancing requirements, and there have been significant losses with pre-paid bookings having to be returned to audiences. Philanthropic support has also almost dried up this year. However, companies have all reported that JobKeeper has kept them afloat, at least for now.

Supporting other sectors to carry out their roles will improve the outputs made by the industry at large. The rest of the industry isn't inferior to the major companies – practitioners in the small to medium and community arts sectors are not aiming to do the same things, but if they are, they do so for different purposes or for different populations. 

Private dance businesses, schools and tertiary institutions

Dance studio businesses number in their thousands in Australia, and the Ausdance Victoria impact survey found that millions of dollars had been lost in Victoria alone with forced closures, and yet most were not eligible for government assistance. As the report notes:

Most commonly, studios have only been able to access JobKeeper for the owner, part-time and full-time staff, leaving 80% of workers in the sector unsupported.

And –

92% of respondents expressed concern about their business surviving until the end of March 2021. … If these businesses collapse, thousands of independent dance artists and associated workers will lose their primary sources of income, and the cumulative effect on local economies, such as performance venues, dance suppliers, and related retailers, will be exponentially catastrophic.

As well as the financial impact, the role of dance studios in communities, the value of their work with young people (including artistic, physical, social and educational), and the impact of Zoom teaching as an unsatisfactory substitute for face-to-face teaching are important factors in considering the impact of Covid-19 on this sector.

Avenues for increasing access and opportunities for Australia's creative and cultural industries through innovation and the digital environment.

Dance is a highly-intensive physical activity that requires face-to-face creation, rehearsal, community participation and performance. While the digital environment is an important builder of audiences, its implementation is usually available to better-resourced companies.

There is a strong imperative to build incentives and funding for businesses (micro to major) to enable greater access to to their operations and business models. Digitisation of creative and cultural operations will require such incentives.

Live operations also need training and support to digitise their assets to improve access, e.g. language translations, closed captioning, physical infrastructure, support for workers with expertise, training for staff awareness and practical implementation, and opportunities to engage differently with sensory design elements etc. This design knowledge will be useful and valuable beyond the arts industry. 

Change language around ‘support’ to acknowledge the full value of contributions being made by all parties. Activities facilitated by the artist are ‘supported’ rather than ‘supporting’ artists themselves. Benefits extend both ways, but this reciprocal value is rarely acknowledged. 

Change trickle-down models of support, recognising the unique functions of different levels and parts of the industry and the different processes that will aid their functioning effectively, then design new support models that enable these processes to occur.

Decentralise of infrastructure: The majority is metropolitan centric, but investment in local infrastructure, including new regional hubs to attract business, making places desirable. 

Create venues that allow smaller scale productions and activities to support innovation in delivery, including digital formats, significantly improving visibility of the small to medium dance sector, including the large cohort of professional community dance practitioners.

Overhaul industry awards to acknowledge new roles, working across all industries to improve conditions specifically for casual workers and contractors who have been least supported during the pandemic. 

Restore ABS collection methods to reflect professional artists, teachers and other arts workers whose 'primary job' is an arts occupation, not always their primary source of income. 

Further recommendations:

• Develop a federal Arts policy that endorses meaningful support to First Nations artists, and acknowledge the unique cultural diversity of industry ecosystems in a multicultural society as being significant contributors.
• Incorporate First Nations knowledge to develop business protocols and plan creative activities that recognise and grow visibility of First Nations people and culture. 
• Substantially increase the Australia Council’s funding, as the Federal Government’s own peak arts funding and advisory body, so that it can deliver on its charter to ‘support Australia’s arts through funding, strengthening and developing the arts sector’.
• Diversify funding options and integrate arts incentives across government portfolios to provide more opportunities for creative and cultural partnerships that also aid government priorities.
• Improve the scope of business-related support to include micro businesses and improve stability and sustainability for workers in the dance industry. Acknowledge the arts and cultural industries as being worthy of significant investment beyond mere sustenance.
• Acknowledge the interconnectedness of the education and training sectors – from local dance studio businesses, to arts in schools, communities and professional arts training institutions – when considering the arts policy ecosystem.
• Eliminate the regressive efficiency dividend on cultural institutions following significant job losses and redundancies in these small agencies.
• Recognise the ATO’s definition of a professional artist through the business indicators in TR2005/01, i.e. acknowledge artists as legitimate workers and contributors rather than as hobbyists.
• Provide enhanced tax incentives to motivate private giving and investment in artworks and industry development.
• Provide specific support for creativity and innovation of arts in digital spaces.
• Invest in a public campaign to rebuild confidence in the dance and arts sectors, all of which are heading into an uncertain year in 2021.
• Expand JobKeeper eligibility criteria to include casual freelance dance professionals employed on short-term contracts who have worked consistently in the 12 months prior to COVID-19, but who have had multiple employers. 
• Extend JobKeeper beyond March to support dance businesses (including sole traders) who face ongoing disruption and impact on sustainability due to COVID-19.

APPENDIX

Dance improves quality of life: Evidence

There is vast amount of research that indicates dance and dance therapy contribute to quality of life, across mental, cognitive, physical, social and identity domains. The research to date has reported these positive findings for specific populations, including people living with:

• Chronic heart failure
• Chronic back pain
• Dementia
• Depression
• Fibromyalgia
• Hypertension
• Intellectual disability
• Macular degeneration
• Multiple sclerosis
• Parkinson’s disease
• Visual impairment

People experiencing/going through:

• Cancer treatment, cancer survivors and partners
• Cochlea implant rehabilitation
• Obesity and being overweight
• Stroke recovery

People who identify as:

• Elderly
• Ethnic minority groups
• Independent older adults
• Middle-aged people, women in particular
• Primary and secondary-aged school children

Therefore, dance and dance therapy can increase quality of life for people in diverse life circumstances. Additionally, a recent systematic review and meta-analysis reported that “undertaking structured dance of any genre is equally and occasionally more effective than other types of structured exercise for improving a range of health outcome measures. Health practitioners can recommend structured dance as a safe and effective exercise alternative” (Fong Yan et al., 2018).

References

This is a selection of recent academic publications. There are many more studies on dance’s impact on quality of life. Australian studies are highlighted.

Adam, Dina, Ayiesah Ramli, & Suzana Shahar. (2016). Effectiveness of a Combined Dance and Relaxation Intervention on Reducing Anxiety and Depression and Improving Quality of Life among the Cognitively Impaired Elderly. Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal, 16(1), 47–53. https://doi.org/10.18295/squmj.2016.16.01.009

Allet, L., Müller-Pinget, S., Punt, I., Edelsten, C., Ballif, A., Golay, A., & Pataky, Z. (2017). Dance therapy combined with patient education improves quality of life of persons with obesity: A pilot feasibility study for a randomised controlled trial. Obesity Research & Clinical Practice, 11(1), 79–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orcp.2016.03.005

Aguiar, L., Da Rocha, P., & Morris, M. (2016). Therapeutic Dancing for Parkinson’s Disease. International Journal of Gerontology, 10(2), 64–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijge.2016.02.002

Anttila E., Svendler Nielsen C. (2019) Dance and the Quality of Life at Schools: A Nordic Affiliation. In: Bond K. (eds) Dance and the Quality of Life. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 73. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95699-2_19

Azevedo, L., Watson, D., Haighton, C., & Adams, J. (2014). The effect of dance mat exergaming systems on physical activity and health - related outcomes in secondary schools: results from a natural experiment. Bmc Public Health, 14(1), 951. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-951

Barnet-Lopez, S., Pérez-Testor, S., Cabedo-Sanromà, J., Oviedo, G., & Guerra-Balic, M. (2016). Dance/Movement Therapy and emotional well-being for adults with Intellectual Disabilities. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 51, 10–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2016.08.002

Bearss, K., McDonald, K., Bar, R., & DeSouza, J. (2017). Improvements in balance and gait speed after a 12 week dance intervention for Parkinson’s disease. Advances in Integrative Medicine, 4(1), 10–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aimed.2017.02.002

Blandy, L., Beevers, W., Fitzmaurice, K., & Morris, M. (2015). Therapeutic Argentine Tango Dancing for People with Mild Parkinson’s Disease: A Feasibility Study. Frontiers in Neurology, 6(MAY), 122. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2015.00122

Bognar, S., Defaria, A., O’Dwyer, C., Pankiw, E., Simic Bogler, J., Teixeira, S., Nyhof-Young, J., & Evans, C. (2017). More than just dancing: experiences of people with Parkinson’s disease in a therapeutic dance program. Disability and Rehabilitation, 39(11), 1073–1078. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2016.1175037

Bräuninger, I. (2012). The efficacy of dance movement therapy group on improvement of quality of life: A randomized controlled trial. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 39(4), 296–303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2012.03.008

Bräuninger, I. (2014). Dance movement therapy with the elderly: An international Internet-based survey undertaken with practitioners. Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy: Special Research Issue, 9(3), 138–153. https://doi.org/10.1080/17432979.2014.914977

Bräuninger, I. (2014). Specific dance movement therapy interventions—Which are successful? An intervention and correlation study. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 41(5), 445–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2014.08.002

Brustio, P., Liubicich, M., Chiabrero, M., & Rabaglietti, E. (2018). Dancing in the golden age: a study on physical function, quality of life, and social engagement. Geriatric Nursing (New York), 39(6), 635–639. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2018.04.013

Carapellotti, Anna M, Rebecca Stevenson, & Michail Doumas. (2020). The efficacy of dance for improving motor impairments, non-motor symptoms, and quality of life in Parkinson’s disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PloS One, 15(8), e0236820. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236820

Corrêa, J., F. A. Cunha, T. H. Pires, Giani T, M. A. Ferreira, & E. Dantas. (2010). Effects of distinct physical activity and meditation programs on quality of life and depression levels in active elderly women. European Journal of Human Movement, 23. https://doaj.org/article/f9f3ebb7e412492da372e011c944ffae

Crane-Okada, C., Kiger, L., Sugerman, R., Uman, R., Shapiro, R., Wyman-Mcginty, R., & Anderson, R. (2012). Mindful Movement Program for Older Breast Cancer Survivors: A Pilot Study. Cancer Nursing, 35(4), E1–E13. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCC.0b013e3182280f73

Cruz Banks O., Jackson J. (2019) West African Dance and Spiritual Well-Being for African Americans. In: Bond K. (eds) Dance and the Quality of Life. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 73. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95699-2_6

Dos Santos Delabary, M., Komeroski, I., Monteiro, E., Costa, R., & Haas, A. (2018). Effects of dance practice on functional mobility, motor symptoms and quality of life in people with Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, 30(7), 727–735. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-017-0836-2

Dunphy K., Ware VA. (2019) Dance and Quality of Life for Indigenous Communities in Australia. In: Bond K. (eds) Dance and the Quality of Life. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 73. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95699-2_28

Fong Yan, A., Cobley, S., Chan, C., Pappas, E., Nicholson, L., Ward, R., Murdoch, R., Gu, Y., Trevor, B., Vassallo, A., Wewege, M., & Hiller, C. (2018). The Effectiveness of Dance Interventions on Physical Health Outcomes Compared to Other Forms of Physical Activity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 48(4), 933–951. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0853-5

Foster, E., Golden, L., Duncan, R., & Earhart, G. (2013). Community-based Argentine tango dance program is associated with increased activity participation among individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 94(2), 240–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2012.07.028

García, C. (2018). Intervention Program with Rhythmic and Choreographic Activities (PIAFARC) in Obese Adults According to Nutritional Monitoring. Apunts. Educació Física i Esports, 134, 156–156. http://search.proquest.com/docview/2136407590/

Goldstein-Levitas, N. (2016). Dance/Movement Therapy and Sensory Stimulation: A Holistic Approach to Dementia Care. American Journal of Dance Therapy, 38(2), 429–436. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10465-016-9221-5

Gomes Neto, M., Menezes, M., & Carvalho, V. (2014). Dance therapy in patients with chronic heart failure: a systematic review and a meta-analysis. Clinical Rehabilitation, 28(12), 1172–1179. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269215514534089

Hackney, M., & Bennett, C. (2014). Dance therapy for individuals with Parkinson’s disease: improving quality of life. Journal of Parkinsonism & Restless Legs Syndrome, 4, 17–25. https://doi.org/10.2147/JPRLS.S40042

Hackney, M., Byers, C., Butler, G., Sweeney, M., Rossbach, L., & Bozzorg, A. (2015). Adapted Tango Improves Mobility, Motor-Cognitive Function, and Gait but Not Cognition in Older Adults in Independent Living. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 63(10), 2105–2113. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.13650

Hackney, M., & Earhart, G. (2010). Effects of dance on balance and gait in severe Parkinson disease: A case study. Disability and Rehabilitation, 32(8), 679–684. https://doi.org/10.3109/09638280903247905

Hackney, E., Hall, D., Echt, V., & Wolf, L. (2012). Application of Adapted Tango as Therapeutic Intervention for Patients With Chronic Stroke. Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy, 35(4), 206–217. https://doi.org/10.1519/JPT.0b013e31823ae6ea

Hackney, E., Hall, D., Echt, V., & Wolf, L. (2013). Dancing for Balance: Feasibility and Efficacy in Oldest-Old Adults With Visual Impairment. Nursing Research, 62(2), 138–143. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0b013e318283f68e

Heiberger, L., Maurer, C., Amtage, F., Mendez-Balbuena, I., Schulte-Mönting, J., Hepp-Reymond, M., & Kristeva, R. (2011). Impact of a Weekly Dance Class on the Functional Mobility and on the Quality of Life of Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2011.00014

Ho, R., Fong, T., Cheung, I., Yip, P., & Luk, M. (2016). Effects of a Short-Term Dance Movement Therapy Program on Symptoms and Stress in Patients With Breast Cancer Undergoing Radiotherapy: A Randomized, Controlled, Single-Blind Trial. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 51(5), 824–831. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2015.12.332

Houston S., McGill A. (2019) Understanding Quality of Life Through the Experiences of Dancers with Parkinson’s. In: Bond K. (eds) Dance and the Quality of Life. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 73. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95699-2_16

José Alípio Garcia Gouvêa, Mateus Dias Antunes, Flavio Bortolozzi, Andrea Grano Marques, & Sônia Maria Marques Gomes Bertolini. (2017). Impact of Senior Dance on emotional and motor parameters and quality of life of the elderly. Rev. RENE, 18(1), 51–58. https://doi.org/10.15253/2175-6783.2017000100008

Kiepe, M., Stöckigt, B., & Keil, T. (2012). Effects of dance therapy and ballroom dances on physical and mental illnesses: A systematic review. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 39(5), 404–411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2012.06.001

Klink, B., Praetorius, M., Roder, S., & Hintermair, M. (2014). Dance projects as an integral part of CI rehabilitation and their impact on mental health: a pilot study. HNO, 62(7), 530–535. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00106-014-2866-9

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Announcement of the 2018 and 2019 shortlisted nominees

Ausdance has pleasure in announcing the return of the Australian Dance Awards for the first time since 2018.

In 2020 Ausdance National elected a new board, fully committed to supporting the dance industry with political advocacy and representation to government, information and advice, and specialist industry products such as AON insurance. The board also committed to returning the Australian Dance Awards to the annual dance calendar.

The Australian Dance Awards celebrate the rich diversity and uniqueness of dance in Australia with national companies, performers and collaborating artists, dedicated studio, school and tertiary teachers, regional and remote artists, independents and astounding youth and community dance groups.  

Ausdance has always championed the importance and visibility of cultural diversity in dance, and has continued to advocate for diverse voices, building on a strong commitment to an excellent and equal dance ecosystem.

The annual Awards recognise and honour professional Australian dance artists who have made outstanding achievements that raise the profile and prestige of dance in Australia. This year’s Awards span these achievements across 2018 and 2019.

Online event details

The Australian Online Dance Awards will be presented by Ausdance National on Tuesday, 8 December 2020 at 7.30 pm AEDT (6.30 in Qld, 7pm in SA & NT, 4.30 pm in WA).

Lifetime Achievement Awards for 2019 and 2020 have been announced.

SHORTLISTED NOMINEES:

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMUNITY DANCE

Karma Dance for Bent Bollywood, a work that pushes the boundaries of classical Indian dance, capturing the depth and eloquence of its art and culture in this controversial work.

RIPE Dance for In a Different Space, a work that challenges notions of ageism, fear of ageing and body image, and featuring seniors aged 60 to 101 years dancing their stories in places of significance to them.

Emma Saunders for Austinmer Dance Project, an extraordinarily large-scale outdoor site-specific work of joy performed on New Year’s Day 2018 on Austinmer Beach, NSW.

Tracks Dance for In Your Blood, a joyous and exceptionally realised dance work performed in the Darwin Botanic Gardens as an exquisite celebration of tradition, family and the collective.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMUNITY DANCE

Chunky Move, Yellow Wheel, and Tasdance for SIMULCAST, a work that was visually beautiful and aesthetically satisfying, as young, old, trained and untrained dancers worked together to create this murmuration in Melbourne and Bendigo.

Rita Pryce and the Torres Strait Islanders Media Association & Torres Strait Performing Arts Festival for Dance My Story, a work made with community members in a theatrical performance exploring issues of domestic violence and how the cycle can be broken.

Fine Lines for The Right, an intergenerational mature dance collective that presented a serious work about sacrifice for the greater good, explored through the lens of contemporary politics.

Transit Dance for Hometown, a work designed to bring contemporary dance to regional areas, following a 4 day-workshop and choreographic experience for young people.

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN YOUTH DANCE

Ballet Theatre of Queensland for The Little Mermaid, an entertaining production choreographed by Timothy Brown, supported by outstanding set, costumes and lighting design.

FLING Physical Theatre for Body & Environment, an ambitious and surprising new work showcasing a high level of performance skills in this group of young artists, demonstrating a sense of confidence and maturity.

Merge Dance Theatre for Dis/Connect, an eye-opening and memorable performance that leaves audiences reflecting on the impact of technology and screen-time on our lives.

Stompin for Mirror Mirror, a work that looks into young peoples’ identity and sense of self through the filter of social media and self-reflection, and questions how often they see others in themselves.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN YOUTH DANCE

Brooke Leeder & Dancers for RADAR, a work of scale that brought together five independent dancers and 23 student dancers from John Curtin College of the Arts in a production that exemplified best-practice in mentoring the next generation.

Emma Saunders for Encounter South, a work celebrating youth, diversity and inclusivity in a radical approach to youth dance-making that captured young dancers’ stories to help us to see the familiar in unfamiliar ways.

FLING Physical Theatre for My Black Dog, a powerful project designed to support the mental health of young people living in regional, rural and remote locations, seeking to break down stigma and generate conversation about the issue.

QL2 Dance for Filling the Space, an exceptionally mature performance that explored dimensions of space and its potent significance to the world of dance – physically, emotionally, and architecturally.

2018 AWARD FOR SERVICES TO DANCE EDUCATION

Vicki Attard for her work as a former principal with The Australian Ballet who has since devoted her life to passing on her extraordinary artistic and technical knowledge as a teacher.

Meredith Blackburn for commitment to the value of dance education, challenging students to push boundaries and inspiring generations of young dance artists.

Karen Malek for her inspirational work as a dance teacher for over 40 years, and as the President of the Australian Teachers of Dancing as a pivotal figure in dance education in Australia.

Pepa Molina for her work in bringing a real sense of Flamenco to Australia, making the art form accessible to Australians with her passionate and deep knowledge of the form.

2019 AWARD FOR SERVICES TO DANCE EDUCATION

Sheru Bharadwaja for raising the profile of street dance in Australia, promoting an understanding of vernacular styles to dance educators and delivering engaging programs for dancers with disabilities.

Sue Fox for her role as co-writer of state and national arts curriculum documents, including The Australian Curriculum: The Arts, as a founder of the Ausdance Educators Queensland group, and as a key member of the National Advocates for Arts Education.

Katy McKeown for her role as Head of The Australian Ballet’s Education & Outreach Program, delivering high quality equitable dance experiences to children across the country and for the creation of the STEAMDANCE program.

Wendy Smith for her role as one of the pioneers of Skinner Release Technique, and for shaping dancers with a sense of anatomical awareness, so crucial for this pedagogy.

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHOREOGRAPHY

Narelle Benjamin & Paul White for Cella, a defining and moving work in a stunning meditation on the wonders of the human body.

Stephanie Lake for Colossus, an exhilarating and unforgettable contemporary dance work exploring relationships between the individual and the collective.

Alice Topp for Aurum, a compelling and captivating work of choreographic scope and diversity, establishing a powerful connection with the audience,  and a breathtaking performance by The Australian Ballet.

Anouk Van Dijk for Common Ground, an intricate choreographic game of chess for two extraordinary performers, and evoking dualism, equality and betrayal.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHOREOGRAPHY

Rafael Bonachela for Cinco, a work that explores the musical texture of a Ginastera String Quartet with the gifted dancers of the Sydney Dance Company performing a technically complex and intricate work.

Stephanie Lake for Skeleton Tree, a riveting, hypnotic dance work that explores relationships between the individual and the collective, solitary striving and joyous union through dance, music and theatre in an emotional and nuanced work.

Garry Stewart for South, a theatrical work that evokes Mawson’s tragic Antarctic expedition of 1912 performed by nine dancers with Stewart’s virtuosic movement vocabulary and a challenging set of large moveable white cubes.

Marina Tamayo and Aitor Hernandez Sanzano for Emerald, a work choreographed for two bravura dancers combining traditional flamenco in a contemporary format in a dance of intensity, intricacy, and passion.

2018 AWARD FOR SERVICES TO DANCE

Erica Rose Jeffrey for her work in establishing Dance for Parkinson’s Australia in 2012 with over 40 class programs now existing around the nation.

Valerie Lawson for her work as a Walkley Award-winning journalist who has devoted much of her life advocating for, and writing about, dance in Australia.

Marina Tamayo for her work as a Spanish dance practitioner who creates opportunities for remote, urban and international community engagement in performance and education.

Paul Wakelam for his work in designing for Australian dance as a collaborator, curator, sponsor and passionate exponent of the boundless relationship between dance and architecture.

2019 AWARD FOR SERVICES TO DANCE

Philippe Charluet for over 30 years of filming Australian dance productions from some of the country’s most outstanding companies and choreographers, in particular for his documentation of the work of Graeme Murphy and Janet Vernon in his Heritage Collection.

Mark Dyson for excellence in lighting design, working between the spaces of light, dark and movement, enabling the choreographer to tell powerful stories on stage.

Sidney Saltner for his outstanding contribution to dance over three decades, and for his leadership as a benchmark for other First Nations peoples, enabling enduring social and cultural benefits for young people.

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE ON FILM OR NEW MEDIA

Lisa Maris McDonell for Softly Softly, a film based on journal entries by one of historic house Meroogal’s former owners.

Lucy Doherty for Reminiscence, the third instalment of an ongoing short dance film series exploring and unravelling her experience with loss and grief after losing her mother Jane in 2014.

Richard James Allen & Karen Pearlman for Digital Afterlives, a witty and whimsical meditation on free will, identity and the afterlife made through the collision of dance, digital code, and Franz Liszt.

RIPE Dance for In a Different Space, an inspirational dance film combining beauty, humour, serenity, and cheekiness in equal measure.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE ON FILM OR NEW MEDIA

Sophia Bender for Endo Girl, a visually deluxe blend of dance and film, educating viewers on an important and unknown disease with beautiful scoring, colour grading and attention to detail in choreography that enhance the difficult commentary.

Jen Brown for Sky Song, capturing an extraordinary improvisational moment in a sensitive and evocative work at Mt Stromlo, where the burnt-out shell of the old observatory and moon map are integral to the dance and images.

Claire Marshall for SHIFT, an innovative film that is proof of her mastery of the art form, and for her ability to move an audience through choreography, direction, design and editing.

Samaya Wives for Oten, a film that speaks to an integral facet of human nature: our imperfections, yet the slow cadence and dreamy expressiveness of the text provide a moment of stillness, a chance to see the beauty in these so-called ‘flaws.’

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMERCIAL DANCE, MUSICALS, OR PHYSICAL THEATRE

Circa Contemporary Circus for En Masse, a presentation of two visions of humanity at its extremes, conveying a powerful life and death struggle between group and victim.

Circa Contemporary Circus for Circa’s Peepshow, an exhilarating ride into the bizarre recesses of the mind in a mesmerising acrobatic performance of teetering towers of bodies and precarious aerials.

The Farm for The Tide, a work that explores the impact of climate change with two outstanding performers, Gavin Webber and Joshua Thomson, transforming a tough reality into a place of optimism and compassion.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMERCIAL DANCE, MUSICALS, OR PHYSICAL THEATRE

High Kix  for Frou Frou to Fruition, a colourful and energetic cabaret set in Lucky’s Speakeasy, created, and choreographed by Kym Degenhart in collaboration with the cast.

Opera Australia for West Side Story, for bringing back to the stage this classic dance musical and making it seem as relevant today as it did when we first saw it in Australia in the 1960s.

STRUT Dance for SUNSET, a major commissioned event that took audiences on a magical and haunting journey through one of Perth’s heritage listed buildings.

The Farm for Throttle, a piece created by Gavin Webber and Grayson Millwood that takes us on a tyre-squealing journey to a drive-in showground near you, complete with human road kill, the walking undead and zombies.

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN INDEPENDENT DANCE

Anything is Valid Dance Theatre for Dust on the Shortbread, a powerful and moving work that takes an intimate look at the impact of dementia on relationships.

Clare Dyson for ALONE TOGETHER, a work that focuses on themes of loneliness and being alone, placing the audience into moments of 'aloneness' to physically experience the work.

Liz Lea for RED, a brave and confronting work in a multi-media setting performed with strength, courage and clarity and showing the power of dance to transmit a very human message.

Vicki Van Hout for plenty serious TALK TALK, a work that explores the consultative process in Indigenous art making, inviting the audience to appreciate the full complexity of negotiating culture across disciplines, genres, and eras.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN INDEPENDENT DANCE

Australian Dance Party for From the Vault, a powerfully danced production that was an immersive experience for the audience with exceptional creative input from the whole collaborative team, including dramaturgy, lighting, design, and music.

Laura Boynes for Wonder Woman, a work that draws attention to the potent presence of a solo female dancer whose less visible strengths and powers are celebrated in a staging of the ‘severalness’ of femininity.

Scott Elstermann for Act 2 Scenes 1-4, a wonderfully comic interpretation of Wes Anderson's 'Grand Budapest Hotel' and for its effective animation, capturing the cartoon-like nature of The Grand Budapest Hotel’s many fight scenes.

Lewis Major for Epilogue, a hypnotic performance where modernity and tradition interact in perfect harmony in a meditation on classicism and the role that beauty has played in the shaping of the Western canon.

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE DANCER

Narelle Benjamin for Cella, an extraordinarily moving and physically demanding performance with Paul White, in an exploration of how the human body can transform and evolve in the imagination.

Anca Frankenhaeuser for MIST, choreographed by Stephanie Burridge, for a truly remarkable performance in a duet with violinist Kailin Yong in which gesture and facial expression joined forces with movement and sound to create a stunning and intimate comment on life.

Carina Roberts for Dracula by West Australian Ballet, for a role that was exceptionally well-performed in the dual roles of Mina and Elizabeth, bringing softness and strength to the roles.

Charmene Yap for Ab(Intra) with Sydney Dance Company, for an exemplary performance, and for her ability, with maturity and emotional investment, to allow the audience to be swept up in the power and the beauty of the moment.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE DANCER

Marlo Benjamin for Skeleton Tree with Stephanie Lake Co., for a performance that was powerful and heartfelt with a rare combination of incredible technical prowess and a depth of feeling, strength and bravery.

Niharika Senapati for Precipice by Rachel Arianne Ogle, for a performance in this challenging work that was dynamic and compelling, demonstrating her trademark mix of strength and fluidity.

Alexa Tuzil for Giselle by West Australian Ballet, for a performance that belied her youth in an emotionally charged and technically assured interpretation, especially in the ‘mad scene’ in which she oscillated between teary recollection and wild-eyed disbelief.

Josephine Weise for The Dinner Party by Australasian Dance Collective, for a role in which she danced with impressive strength, technique, and character as The Insecure Party Girl, in constant motion as her character gained confidence and control over the course of the work.

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE DANCER

Victor Estevez for A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Queensland Ballet, a thrilling manifestation of Shakespeare’s conniving King Oberon, commanding the stage and everyone on it through dazzling choreographic waves and cycles, and compelling acting.

Matthew Lehmann for Dracula with West Australian Ballet in an outstanding world premiere of flair, power and convincing personification of Young Count Dracula, revealing his inner turmoil, conflict and attempts to resist his dark urges.

Oscar Valdes for La Sylphide with West Australian Ballet, an elegant, authentic interpretation of the charming James in this 1836 classic tale of love and loss, filled with wonderfully crisp batterie and lofty allegro.

Kimball Wong for The Beginning of Nature with Australian Dance Theatre, for a brilliant demonstration of his innate ability to combine strength and technique with rich artistry and emotion in this symphony of overlapping rhythms of nature and life.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE DANCER

Tyrel Dulvarie for 30 years of 65,000 by Bangarra Dance Theatre, in an outstanding performance celebrating Bangarra Dance Theatre’s thirtieth anniversary, especially for his transfixing dancing in Unaipon, the opening work on this triple bill program. 

Harrison Elliott for South with Australian Dance Theatre, an excellent performance in a challenging role as Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson, demanding strength, dexterity in risky solos, alternately precise and explosive, expressing both strength and vulnerability.

Ryan Pearson for Stamping Ground with Bangarra Dance Theatre, a performance danced as if born to it, darting like a polymorphous creature, flick-flacking, or courting a female, his virtuosity, fluidity, and commanding presence were exhilarating.

Andrew Searle for The Line with Co:3 Australia, for outstanding artistry in a work echoing a racist and painful past, a riveting display of strength and conviction that suggests trauma is part of what drives people on.

2018 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A COMPANY

Australian Dance Theatre for The Beginning of Nature, a work full of intense theatricality, danced to an evocative score by Brendan Woithe, and with exceptional Indigenous references to the Kaurna language of the Adelaide Plains.

Bangarra Dance Theatre for Dark Emu, a performance that is nothing short of virtuosic, beautifully fluid and exploring the vital life force of flora and fauna in a series of dance stories inspired by Bruce Pascoe’s book of the same name.

Marrugeku for Le Dernier Appel, an extraordinary dance-drama work of daring solos and cluster dances that pour out grief and frustration with alarming ferocity, a harrowing call for freedom in this divided paradise of Noumea.

West Australian Ballet for Milnjiya, Milky Way – River of Stars in association with Perth Festival, a collaboration between Gary Lang NT Dance Company, Miku Performing Arts, and also starring Deborah Cheetham in a performance that was delicate and inspiring.

2019 AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A COMPANY

Australian Dance Theatre for South, a work that was compelling and engrossing to watch, stunningly danced and brilliantly conceived: A major collaborative initiative using aspects of the Kaurna language and culture, with an exceptional original score.

Bangarra Dance Theatre for 30 Years of 65,000, a work that celebrated the company’s 30th birthday, immersing itself in magical choreography and the formidable challenge of Jiri Kylian's Stamping Ground in this unique homage to Indigenous culture.

Restless Dance Theatre for Zizanie, a work by Meryl Tankard in which the artists of Restless Dance Theatre celebrate the beauty of difference, full of good spirit, lively imagination, warm heart and sweet hope.

STRUT Dance for SUNSET, a work that took audiences on a magical and haunting journey through one of Perth's heritage listed buildings, with a sense of falling down a rabbit hole into a world of ghosts and memories.

Presenters

David McAllister AM, Artistic Director, The Australian Ballet
Wesley Enoch AM, Director of the Sydney Festival
Lucy Durack, star of musical theatre
Ella Havelka, dancer and choreographer, The Australian Ballet

Selection Panel

Ausdance thanks the ADAs selection panel, made up of dance professionals from all states and territories representing educators, independent artists, dance companies, writers and critics, administrators, and youth and community dance specialists.

Enquiries: Julie Dyson (0412 211 513) or Katy McKeown (0481 956 091)

The 2020 Australian Dance Awards is grateful for the support of our sponsors.

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A Parliamentary Inquiry into Australia’s Creative and Cultural Industries and Institutions has been called by the Minister for Communications and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP.

Ausdance encourages you to make a submission by the closing date, 22 October 2020.

The Terms of Reference for the inquiry are:

• The direct and indirect economic benefits and employment opportunities of creative and cultural industries and how to recognise, measure and grow them.
• The non-economic benefits that enhance community, social wellbeing and promoting Australia’s national identity, and how to recognise, measure and grow them.
• The best mechanism for ensuring cooperation and delivery of policy between layers of government.
• The impact of COVID-19 on the creative and cultural industries; and
• Avenues for increasing access and opportunities for Australia’s creative and cultural industries through innovation and the digital environment.

Your submission can take several different forms. You can write a letter, a short statement or provide a substantial paper. You can choose to fill out the committee survey or you can choose to share your thoughts in an audio-visual format. 

Every voice put forward helps to produce a more informed appreciation of public opinion. Information provided through your submission may be referred to and included in the report compiled by the parliamentary committee, whose members may use the findings to influence public policy and spur governments into action.

Do note that to make an influential parliamentary submission you will need to provide information that addresses the Terms of Reference. If your submission is irrelevant it is likely to be dismissed.

Remember, your  audience is the parliamentary committee. Arguments should motivate them to consider the positive potential of your suggestions through the perspective offered, and convince them to embrace the rationale that has shaped it. The submission should illuminate the opportunity they have to show leadership in government to benefit the people of Australia. 

A constructive submission won’t continue to list the problems of the past, but will offer ways to learn from them by suggesting how to shape a better future. Try to position your arguments to maintain the integrity of the situation, bearing in mind their relevance to the government's agenda. 

It’s not a requirement to address everything in the Terms of Reference. If you know of other people who would offer something relevant to the inquiry and further contextualise or support the arguments you’re making, let them know about it and encourage them to make a submission too.

Here are some helpful resources:

• Submissions that have already been published by parliamentary committees.
• The Politics of Dance – an action plan (Ausdance National)
• ArtsHub’s eight arguments to include in your submission. (Dr Jackie Bailey also shares language to use that is relevant to the Federal Government).
• Creating Our Future: National Arts Participation Survey.
• A New Approach: Insight Reports.
• Tips for writing a submission by Penelope Benton (NAVA)
• Information about how to make a parliamentary submission.

If you come across other resources that you find helpful, please do share them with others!

Act today to shape the future you want to see tomorrow!

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