Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2026 i Dance Australia

THERE is a particular tension that runs through Australian dance, one that feels both energising and unresolved. On stages across the country, programming is ambitious, artists are increasingly articulate about their practice, and audiences remain invested. At the same time, the conditions underpinning this vitality remain precarious, uneven and, in some cases, unsustainable. This year has brought renewed public attention to questions of equity and value within the arts, not only in terms of funding, but in how labour, training and longevity are understood. Dancers are speaking with clarity about the realities of their working lives. Institutions are reflecting on structures that have long been fixed. These conversations are not new, but they are gathering momentum and inciting change. Over 2025, I have been inside studios, foyers and theatres, and…

ACROSS Australia, 2025 proved to be a year in which dance asserted its reach, its relevance and its appetite for scale. Works unfolded in theatres, on festival stages, in public spaces and industrial sites, revealing an art form unafraid to stretch its vocabulary or to interrogate its foundations. The volume of reviews published across the year speaks to that breadth: a national landscape alive with new commissions, bold reinterpretations of the canon, and the continual evolution of independent practice. A defining feature of the year was ambition. Large interdisciplinary works brought together dancers, choirs, sculptural installations, electronic sound and experimental design in ways that treated the stage as a living ecosystem rather than a single frame. Elsewhere, choreographers pursued the opposite approach, crafting tightly focused pieces that demanded a slower,…

FIFTY years is a long time in Australian dance, although for the world’s oldest living cultures it is a blink. That tension sits at the heart of NAISDA’s story. The college reaches its half-century at a moment when Australia is still learning how to engage with First Nations knowledge in ways that are respectful, reciprocal and structurally meaningful. Dance has often been the first place where these questions surface. It is also the place where answers, or at least pathways, begin to take shape. NAISDA’s existence has always carried a provocation: what happens when an art form built on bodily tradition and inherited knowledge is taught within a westernised training model, yet refuses to be absorbed by it? The college grew out of community workshops, political momentum and a hunger…

DANCE stands as a compelling paradox. It is young enough to feel agile and responsive yet old enough to understand the weight of lineage. When Artistic Director Garry Trinder addressed audiences at the opening of the 2025 Performance Season, he returned repeatedly to the idea of continuity. Not nostalgia, not institutional pride, but an ongoing, living line. “The passing of the baton happens constantly,” he said. “The rich tradition continues in the studio through every step, every phrase, every variation and every muscle twitch.” In an art form that is always threatening to evaporate as quickly as it appears, continuity is not merely a value, but a survival strategy. Trinder’s framing positions the School not as an institution that preserves history behind glass but one that keeps history breathing through…

EACH year Dance Australia’s What’s On Guide offers a glimpse into the artistic pulse of the season ahead, and 2026 reveals a landscape defined by ambition, collaboration and a remarkable breadth of choreographic thinking. Across the country, companies are engaging with legacy, expanding creative vocabularies and inviting audiences into worlds shaped by ritual, innovation, theatrical scale and intimate human detail. From landmark collaborations and adventurous festivals to new commissions that speak directly to the pace and complexity of contemporary life, this guide reflects a national dance ecology alive with imagination and intent. Australasian Dance Collective Australasian Dance Collective’s 2026 season moves along multiple axes, theatrical, architectural and international, revealing a company that treats contemporary dance as a field in constant reconfiguration. At its centre sits THREE, returning to Brisbane Powerhouse…

A LICE Topp is bringing Shakespeare's darkest tragedy to the ballet stage. The acclaimed Australian choreographer's new production of Macbeth premieres with the Royal New Zealand Ballet in February 2026 as part of the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival and Auckland Arts Festival—a co-production with West Australian Ballet that promises to be a visceral exploration of power, ambition and feverish descent into madness. In an exclusive interview for Dance Australia, Alice Topp talks to Leila Lois about this bold new work, her approach to adapting Shakespeare, and why this ancient tragedy feels like an urgently contemporary new ballet. Lelia Lois: How do you translate Shakespeare's dense, language-driven tragedy into pure movement? Alice Topp: Shakespeare's text is wonderfully, wildly rich in conjuring vivid imagery and describing behaviours, emotions, atmosphere and energy. All…

SITTING patiently in my seat, waiting for the curtain to rise on the premiere of Garry Stewart’s, Elastic Hearts, was a nervous moment; critics are pen-poised and an expectant public waiting. What is the delay in the curtain lifting? In the back of my mind, as rehearsal director, I am toying with worst case scenarios: please, no last-minute injuries! Not to worry, just bad traffic around the Gold Coast’s HOTA (Home of the Arts), and a delayed Governor. The pause gives me a moment to reflect on a younger and rowdier audience than typical for a Queensland Ballet (QB) opening night. No doubt fans of Aussie pop icon, Sia, whose music inspired the ballet. Lights dim, mobile phones on silent, here we go! Sixty minutes later and the theatre is…

MY childhood was spent growing up in a lower, middle-class family on the outer northern fringes of Sydney in the 1970’s and 80’s, attending an all-boy’s public school. Access to quality live theatre experiences was difficult (I vaguely recall attending a live production of Fantasia as a pre-tween) and my family didn’t have the finances to easily afford them, coupled with a local culture that was infinitely more likely to attend the “footy” than a ballet. Due to this lack of financial, geographical and cultural access to live theatre, it was via the screen, bringing music and dance into my living room, that I fell in love with dance specifically and performance more broadly. As a pre-teen, I recall Friday nights spent sitting on the couch with my recently divorced…

MARILYN Rowe House is an essential extension of The Australian Ballet School’s training framework, offering a safe, caring, and community-minded environment where young dancers can grow both personally and artistically. Designed in consultation with leading ballet and academic institutions worldwide, the House accommodates up to 30 Australian and international students and provides a supportive base that fosters rest, routine, and connection. Pastoral care is at the heart of the program: qualified and experienced staff work closely with The Australian Ballet School teachers, the School’s Health & Wellbeing team and VCASS educators, to ensure students feel supported, understood, and empowered as they navigate the challenges of living away from home. Among the residents of Marilyn Rowe House is Scarlett Weaver, who moved from Sydney in 2025 to undertake full-time training at…