Don’t we need more than one Day?—how about a Week? New Zealand Music gets a Month. Let’s make it a Year for Dance…one day at a time. by Jennifer Shennan How was your International Dance Week? For me… Day One—Saturday 29 AprilI’m in Christchurch to see Woyzeck (which I’ve reviewed elsewhere on On Dancing)—a thrill to watch actors who move
29 April 2023. Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre Shortcuts to Familiar Places began a few years ago as an investigation by James Batchelor into the transmission of dance from one generation to another. Dance is an art form that has no widely practiced method of reconstruction via a score or similar written derivative, and knowledge of a movement style or a
Every year a message from an outstanding dance artist is circulated throughout the world by the International Theatre Institute and the World Dance Alliance. In 2023 those organisations have chosen dancer and choreographer YANG Liping from China to write this annual message. YANG Liping is a member of the Bai ethnic group from Dali, Yunnan Province. She is a National First-class Dancer and the Vice
27 and 28 April 2023. The Pump House, ChristchurchA musical by Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennanreviewed by Jennifer Shennan Peter Falkenberg’s name is synonymous with Free Theatre, an experimental and alternative theatre enterprise formed in Christchurch in the late 1970s and surviving/thriving these 44 years, earthquakes notwithstanding. That’s remarkable longevity. Woyzeck, with composition by Tom Waits, lyrics by Kathleen Brennan and
28 April 2023. National Arboretum, Canberra Hillscape, choreographed by Ashlee Bye in association with Australian Dance Party, was performed in the Amphitheatre at Canberra’s National Arboretum. It is a stunning outdoor venue with one problem—from where we the audience were required to position ourselves (on the very edge of the huge circular space, mostly standing unless we had brought a
Back in 2017 I spoke to Philip Piggin, then working as Creative Program Officer at Belconnen Arts Centre in Canberra, and at the time a recipient of an honour from People Dancing, a major community dance organisation based in Britain. An article focusing on that interview appeared in The Canberra Times and is still available, at the time of posting
Audiences in Canberra are being offered a wide range of dance events during the week beginning 29 April. That day is International Dance Day and the week of festivities, hosted by Ausdance ACT, will officially be opened on that very day by the ACT’s Minister for the Arts, Tara Cheyne MLA. The range of events is extraordinary and highlights the
14 April 2023. Playhouse, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane Queensland Ballet’s current production of Giselle owes its staging to Ai-Gul Gaisina, Russian-trained dancer with a stellar career in Australia as a dancer, teacher, coach and, more recently, stager of ballets from the traditional repertoire. The first thing to say about this production, originally made for Houston Ballet in 2011, is
Unintentionally, this month’s dance diary has a focus on retirements, resignations, the act of moving on and other activities associated with change. Dance is a moving art form. Adam Bull, principal with the Australian Ballet since 2008, has announced his retirement from the company at the end of June 2023. Bull has danced major roles in classical and contemporary works
This post contains two reviews of the 2023 Don Quixote. The first and longer one is of the digital screening; the second, shorter one refers, with particular reference to one dancer, to a matinee performance I saw in Sydney towards the end of the season. Digital screening, March 2023. (Filmed live on 24 March 2023, Arts Centre, Melbourne) This production