Innholdsfortegnelse for April-May 2018 i Dance Australia

LATE summer in my home town sees Perth Festival and Fringe World festival transform Perth’s cultural centre, Northbridge, into a hive of live shows. The current Perth Festival director, Wendy Martin, is a passionate advocate for dance. It’s reflected in her programming, with six superb dance productions this season. That’s in spite of the fact that contemporary dance tends to attract a small sector of the arts-attending audience, in comparison to genres such as theatre and circus. This summer, however, there were two movement-based works that appeared to appeal as much to those new to dance as to those who watch it regularly. The first was Michelle Aitken’s Fringe World show Future’s Eve, a full-length solo work of physical theatre that scathingly interrogates ideas about the female body. Clever, comedic…

FOR over 30 years, the New York City Ballet has been under the artistic direction of Peter Martins, the only leader the company has had aside from its legendary founder, the great choreographer George Balanchine. Now 71, Martins had never given any indication that retirement was in his sights. But in the course of a whirlwind and shocking four weeks, NYCB’s steady, stable leadership profile unraveled. The flurry of news – which was covered intensely and prominently in the New York Times – began on December 4 last year with a report that the company, along with its affiliated School of American Ballet, had initiated an investigation in response to an anonymous letter accusing Martins of sexual harassment. Although no official announcement was made, on December 7 “the company confirmed”…

IMPULSTANZ, the international dance festival based in Vienna in Austria, is calling for registrations for its annual program. Established in 1984 by Karl Regensburger and Ismael Ivo, and “utterly dedicated” to the promotion of contemporary dance, ImPulsTanz is now one of the biggest and most comprehensive dance festivals in Europe, taking over the city’s theatres and nightlife for four weeks. The festival has four main pillars: Performance, Workshop, Research and Social. With about 50 productions in Vienna’s most important venues, more than 200 workshops and many social events, the festival also draws in some of Europe’s most innovative choreographers and thinkers. Registrations have now opened to apply for the ATLAS program, which allows emerging young dance artists to work intensively on their professional development. The program provides studio space for…

Denise Richardson talks to the Queensland Ballet’s stunning principal dancers, Yanela Piñera and Camilo Ramos, about their emotional journey from Cuba. QUEENSLAND Ballet (QB) principal artists Yanela Piñera and Camilo Ramos first came to Brisbane in 2010, as members of the National Ballet of Cuba, performing in its sensational production of Don Quixote. They knew a little about Australia, but nothing of Brisbane. Finding themselves now firmly established in the city, seven years later, is still a source of wonderment to them both. “We had a great time here,” enthuses Piñera. “We went to the zoo, walked around the city, saw the Valentino exhibition. One of the things that impressed us most was the (Southbank) artificial beach in the middle of the city. Brisbane was one of the best places…

CHOREOGRAPHER Stephanie Lake and audio-visual artist Robin Fox became a creative team and a couple almost simultaneously. Renowned for works such as A Small Prometheus (2013), Double Blind (2015) and Pile of Bones (2017), the award-winning duo has made over ten works in the seven years that they’ve been together. Stephanie Lake Nina Levy: Which came first, the personal relationship or the professional one? Stephanie Lake: We became friends first, then partners, and then we began working together. We met in the line for coffee at the Malthouse café. I was familiar with Robin’s work and he was familiar with mine because he’d collaborated with Chunky Move before [Lake has a long association with the company both as a choreographer and dancer]. We’d worked with some of the same people.…

CHANGES to the vocational education and training (VET) fee loan scheme announced by the Turnbull Government in 2016 are starting to have an impact on the dance world. In total, more than 470 VET courses are now deemed ineligible for VET Student Loans by the government across a range of areas including commerce, marketing, architecture, education, health and creative industries. This means students enrolling in these courses no longer have the option of taking a government-funded loan or, from January 1 this year, accessing Centrelink support to assist with fee payment. In the creative arts, more than 50 courses have been excluded, including many diploma, advanced diploma and graduate diploma dance-related courses. Among the courses originally deemed ineligible for loans are Diploma of Dance (Elite Performance); Diploma of Musical Theatre;…

THE Cuban dance phenomenon, Ballet Revolución, is returning to Australia for a national tour in April/May with a brand new production. Cuba is renowned for its sensational dancers (Carlos Acosta a case in point). This troupe of dancers has already thrilled audiences in sold-out shows from Singapore to Berlin, Vienna and London. Australian choreographer Aaron Cash (a former tap dog with an extensive CV as actor and dancer), along with Cuban choreographer Roclan Gonzalez Chavez, blend breathtaking ballet, contemporary dance, salsa and Cuban dance to produce a unique fusion with a distinctly Cuban flavour. The tour begins at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre on Friday April 27, and continues through Bunbury, Perth, Canberra, Sydney, Frankston, Melbourne and Adelaide. Go http://www. balletrevolucion.com.au/  for full details.…

Queensland Ballet Young Talent THE Queensland Ballet is reaping the benefits of its comprehensive training programs, with four of the company’s 2017 Jette Parker Young Artists – Chiara Gonzalez, Libby-Rose Niederer, Daniel Kempson and Suguru Otsuka – promoted to company artists for 2018. “They have all proved themselves to be talented, dedicated, promising and well-rounded young dancers this year with excellent technique and ability that any company would be proud to employ,” artistic director Li Cunxin says. In addition to these promotions, a group of the 2017 Jette Parker Young Artists – Hannah Clark, Paige Rochester and Shaun Curtis – will be undertaking a second year in the program. They will be joining the new 2018 artists: Josephine Frick, Natalie Lu, Lilyana Scott, Isabella Swietlicki, Pol Andres Thio, Mali Comlecki,…

BIG Dance is an event that sees thousands of people dance together in some of the world’s most iconic locations. It will be hitting Australia on International Dance Day, April 29. Encouraging people to be active through dance, Big Dance is a free, large-scale participatory celebration open to everyone of all ages, abilities and experience. In the months leading up to Big Dance, Ausdance Victoria and NSW will motivate aspiring dancers and community groups to learn the Big Dance 2018 routine in a series of fun, free dance workshops. The Big Dance 2018 routine includes versions to suit a variety of capabilities and circumstances, including standing and seated. Online tutorials will be available, in which the Big Dance 2018 routines are guided and taught by developing dance college artists from…

IN May this year Melbourne audiences will have the chance to see a unique pairing of talents: Australian choreographer Tim Podesta and principal guest artist of the Royal Ballet, Mara Galeazzi. The pair formed a collaboration in 2015, called M & T in Motion, and since then have been building an international reputation. Podesta’s Shadow Aspect was nominated for five awards and won Best New Ballet Production at the Wales Theatre Awards. That work, which included dancers of Ballet Cymru, premiered in late 2017 in Newport, Wales, followed by a sell-out London performance at the Sadler’s Wells Linbury Theatre. This year the pair will be joined in Australia by Company Wayne McGregor dancers James Pett and Travis Knight, Chilean principal dancer from the National Ballet of Mexico, Sebastian Vinet, and…

If you enjoyed the recent Winter Olympics ice skating, then this is the show for you! The Imperial Ice Stars is returning to Australia with this award-winning production, touring to Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney in July. Showcasing 23 former Olympic, World, European and National Championship-level skaters, the entire cast holds more than 250 medals between them. Together they bring their athletic and artistic talents to Tchaikovsky’s ballet classic. The show is choreographed by Tony Mercer, produced by James Cundall Dance Australia, in association with the producers, can offer one DOUBLE PASS for each venue below: • Arts Centre Melb: July 3, • Adelaide: July 18, Entertainment Centre • Sydney: July 25, Capitol Theatre Just go to www.danceaustralia.com.au/win and enter! Offer closes June 11.…

THE name Jon Green is inextricably linked with dance. The West Australian photographer is probably best known to dance aficionados for his 12 years of work photographing West Australian Ballet (2001-2013), but his longest standing relationship is with the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, where he has been photographing dancers and other performing arts students for 28 years. Green and I go back a fair way too. Back in 2009, when I was working for Ausdance WA, I had the privilege of watching Green working on a shoot with local dancer Jacqui Claus. What fascinated me was the way Green directed Claus, and the way she responded. The sense of energy and purpose in the studio was palpable; the process captivating to watch, a performance in itself. So when…