Dance diary. September 2023

Canberra Dance Theatre

Canberra Dance Theatre (CDT) is about to celebrate its 45th birthday and part of its celebrations will take place in Civic Square in Canberra City on 15 October. Amongst other activities, CDT is staging a Great Big Community Dance at 2:15 that afternoon. The media release says: ‘There’s no need to learn our fabulous dance first. Simply join the group, check out who the leaders are and follow along. It’s all about participating, connecting with others, sharing a joyful experience and having a great time.’

The Canberra drumming ensemble Tanamasi will be playing live music and the community dance has been choreographed by Gretel Burgess, Max Burgess, Rachael Hilton, Levi Szabo and Jacqui Simmonds.

Canberra Dance Theatre grew out of the National University Dance Ensemble (NUDE), established by Graham Farquhar in 1970. In 1977 it became Canberra Dance Theatre and was under the leadership of Diana Shohet, Lorna Marshall and Graham Farquhar. Its artistic directors since then have been:

Dr Stephanie Burridge (1978–2001)
Amalia Hordern (2002–2006)
Megan Millband (2007–2009)
Liz Lea (2010–2016)
Jacqui Simmonds (2020–current and Artistic Coordinator from 2018-2019)

The company has had a remarkable history of collaboration over its 45 years and has included collaborations with Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Dance Theatre Student Ensemble, Mirramu Dance Company as led by Elizabeth Cameron Dalman, and a list of individual artists too long to mention but who include Phillip Adams, Jennifer Barry, Julia Cotton, Patrick Harding-Irmer, Russell Page, Paul Saliba, Cheryl Stock, and Jade Dewi Tyas Tunggal.

CDT is also the home of the GOLDS, Canberra’s much admired group of dancers over the age of 55.

Jack Riley and Nikki Tarling

Once again a portrait of dancer Jack Riley, this time with fellow dancer Nikki Tarling, has made it to the finals of the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ prestigious prize, the Archibald. The portrait, reproduced below, is by artist Marcus Wills. Read a little more about it here.

Jack Riley was the subject of another portrait, also by Marcus Wills, which reached the finals of the Archibald in 2020. See this link.

Ron Barassi (1936–2023)

I don’t usually write about football or football players on this site, but Ron Barassi, Australian Rules footballer, coach and mentor, is an exception. Barassi died on 16 September 2023 aged 87. His connection with dance goes back to the 1960s when he was responsible for input into Robert Helpmann’s then iconic creation The Display. Barassi was called in to ensure that the male dancers in the ballet, who were passing a football amongst each other, were doing so correctly. Barassi is recorded as saying: In 1964 I had the great pleasure of coming to know Robert Helpmann through my involvement on his ballet ‘The Display’. In the dance there was quite a lot of football played and Robert asked me to attend rehearsals and advise the ballet dancers on the correct ways of playing Victorian Rules. I did so and although the dancers were impressively athletic, I immediately noticed that they were throwing the football around the room like rugby players. I told Robert this and he was absolutely mortified. From there he worked solidly to get every detail right, as his demand for excellence and accuracy was uncompromising.

Further discussion of various aspects of The Display are at this link.

Bangarra T-shirt

I bought myself a Bangarra YES T-shirt ahead of the forthcoming referendum on the Voice to Parliament. It was quite expensive as T-shirts go but 50% of the profits from the sales will be donated to the Mangkaja Arts Resource Centre in Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia. The T-shirt features artwork by Lynley Nargoodah and I can attest to the quality of the product and the beauty of the artwork that adorns the word YES. I think the supply is almost sold out but check here where there is more information about the design.

Bangarra dancer Daniel Mateo wearing the Bangarra YES T-shirt

More on Strictly Gershwin

To close this months dance diary here is another photo from Queensland Ballet’s fabulous Strictly Gershwin, which I can’t get out of my mind! Read my review here.

Patricio Revé in *Rhapsody in Blue* from *Strictly Gershwin*. Queensland Ballet 2023. Photo: © David Kelly

Michelle Potter, 30 September 2023

Featured image: Promotional image for Canberra Dance Theatre’s 45th birthday celebrations. Photo: © Jacqui Simmonds

Unhinged. The Training Ground

29 July 2023. Erindale Theatre, Canberra

There was a lot to admire about Unhinged, the latest production from The Training Ground, a Canberra-based group designed to give advanced contemporary dance students from the region the opportunity to prepare for tertiary and/or pre-professional dance courses. Most obviously, the dancers were absolutely brilliant when dancing together. Great coaching of course but how stunning it was to watch the beautiful manner in which they danced as one when unison was required. Not only that, their hair and make-up were impeccable and gave them such a professional look, and one that fitted well with the characters they represented (dolls in most cases).

The second outstanding production feature was the film that so often took on the role of a background set. Created by Trent Houssenloge and Chris Curran of Cowboy Hat Films, the film component was at times a fluid, abstract image, but at other times it was a 3D creation that seemed to set the dancing in a space beyond the stage. At times the setting was an outdoor venue, at others an inside view of an artist’s studio or factory. A wonderful addition to the production.

Unhinged was inspired by the well-known ballet Coppélia but, as is the way of Bonnie Neate and Suzi Piani who direct The Training Ground, the familiar story was given a new slant. The main characters, Swanhilda (Alice Collins); Franz (Joshua Walsh); Coppélia, a doll who is brought to life (Larina Bagic); and Dr Coppélius, a doll maker (Imogen Addison); remained in the new story, which centred on the fact that Swanhilda was enraged by Franz’s attention to Coppélia. Swanhilda was, apparently, the ‘unhinged’ character. The relationships between the characters developed and changed over the course of the production and the whole ended in a somewhat surprising manner with a destructive fire, although the work continued for several minutes after that.

Unfortunately, I have to say that for me the story did not unfold as strongly as was needed for the rage of Swanhilda (usually Swanilda—no ‘h’ in the spelling of the name in the traditional ballet) to be really noticeable. Nor was it really clear who Franz was in the town in which he lived. In fact, none of the main characters held the stage, that is acted, in a way that gave any real strength to their characters, despite the unison dancing and the make-up and hair styles. So, it was just as well that the work had a powerful visual element to enjoy.

The Training Ground is an excellent initiative, especially given that there is an aim there to keep dancers in Canberra if possible rather than have them go elsewhere to pursue a career. But I wonder if it would not be more advisable to make brand new works rather than aim to give a different slant on a well-known ballet? Romeo and Juliet worked well as the 2022 production but Coppélia is a different ballet, not as widely known as R & J, not so emotionally human perhaps, and maybe therefore one that does not lend itself so well to new slants? Perhaps a dramaturg would have been a useful addition to the production?

Michelle Potter, 30 July 2023

Photos: © ES Fotografi

Ruth Osborne. News from QL2 Dance

A surprise announcement arrived in my inbox today. Ruth Osborne, currently artistic director of QL2 Dance, Canberra’s youth dance organisation, is stepping down from the role she has held for 25 years. The transition to a new chapter for QL2 Dance will be made over a 12 month period and at the end of that time the organisation will be led by Alice Lee Holland.

Osborne’s career to date has been diverse and quite extraordinary. Below are the first two paragraphs of an article I wrote about Osborne at the end of 2016, just before she was about to take up a Churchill Fellowship. Then follows a link to the whole article, which was published in The Canberra Times in December 2016.

Canberra youth dance pioneer Ruth Osborne to continue her work with Churchill Fellowship

Michelle Potter, The Canberra Times, 17 December 2016

Ruth Osborne has been setting up and facilitating dance projects for the young people of Canberra since 1999. It was then that she was invited to come to Canberra from Perth to set up the Quantum Leap Youth Program for the Australian Choreographic Centre at Gorman House. Osborne had had an extraordinarily diverse dance career in Perth, involving teaching, directing and choreography across a range of institutions. She was also a founding board member and artistic director of STEPS Youth Dance Company for 10 years.

As we sit in the beautifully green and cool courtyard of Gorman House, Osborne talks of her experience in Perth. ‘When I started working with young people in Perth, I could see the benefits of bringing them together from different places, not just from one dance school,’ she says. ‘It was about opening up minds; attracting boys into dance, and youth programs were a great way of doing that; and looking at who were our artists, and how young people might benefit from their input. The move to Canberra was an exciting prospect as it gave me the opportunity to work full-time with young people.’

Read the full article at this link.

Since the Churchill experience Osborne has continued, unrelentingly, her extraordinary work with young dancers in Canberra and surrounding regions. A very recent activity was a collaboration with James Batchelor, a former Quantum Leaper and now an acclaimed professional dancer and choreographer, on the transmission of dance from artist to artist. It resulted in a work called Shortcuts to Familiar Places. Read more about it at this link.

The official announcement from QL2 Dance is at this link.

Michelle Potter, 20 July 2023

Featured image: Portrait of Ruth Osborne, 2023. Photo: © Olivia Wikner

Stars in 3D. The Chamaeleon Collective

15 July 2023. Gorman Arts Centre, Canberra

Stars in 3D was yet another innovative program directed by Liz Lea and, as we have come to expect from Lea, it bridged barriers in so many ways. It was performed by Lea’s recently established inclusive dance group, Chamaeleon Collective, and was part of a new Canberra arts and innovation festival, Uncharted Territory. It was made in collaboration with two academics working in the field of Astronomy, Professor Susan Scott and Dr Brad Tucker from the Australian National University, with input from the Australian Research Council’s ASTRO 3D Centre, and supported by Recovery VR and QL2 Dance.

Stars in 3D was preceded by a talk and discussion with Scott and Tucker, which gave us a background to how Lea’s work was constructed and visually presented. Her program notes tell us that it is ‘A celebration of the Universe, from chromosomes to mapping the galaxy.’

The performing space, the QL2 black box area in Gorman Arts Centre, was an immersive space with three walls being used for the projection of images of a variety of matter from space. The images, and they were quite extraordinary shots, surrounded the dancers throughout the evening and often had words of explanation superimposed on them.

The work began with a solo from Jareen Wee who had been brought up from Melbourne as a guest artist with the Collective. With her beautifully fluid technique and expressive body she was the standout dancer of the evening and her opening dance recalled a solo she performed in Lea’s 2021 work The Point.

A highlight was the duet between Lea herself and Katie Senior, a dancer living with Down Syndrome, in which Senior’s thoughts on her life and activities were discussed through dance, communication, and film. This duet also looked back, this time to a work Lea and Senior made together in 2017 called That extra ‘some. It did, however, take on a new perspective within the context of Stars in 3D and had been extended, I think, with some extra film (there was film there that I don’t remember from the 2017 performance!). Perhaps I am wrong on that point but it was a special, and different experience to see it this time.

Surrounding the Katie Senior/Liz Lea duet there was a variety of dancing from the Collective, with dancers dressed sometimes in appropriately starry, glittering costumes as they promoted and simulated the astronomical discoveries that we heard about in the pre-show lecture.

In a brief interlude towards the end of the evening, Lea explained to us how to use the VR glasses we were given at the start of the show. For those who were able to get the glasses working using links on their mobile phone, some films in 3D were available to watch. (Don’t ask!)

All in all Stars in 3D was an unusual night, full of new experiences complemented by a diverse range of dancing, and filled with incredible images of a world beyond what we know well. Dance and science—a long-standing theme for Lea since she arrived in Canberra.

On a concluding note, for some time I wondered why the name of the group was Chamaeleon Collective, with that second ‘a’ in the spelling of the word. I was used to the word chameleon, the name of a lizard family known for its range of colours and ability to change colour and brightness. So why was there an extra ‘a’ in the name of the group? Eventually I asked Google and it turns out that Chamaeleon is the name of a small constellation in the deep southern sky named after the lizard family. The lizard family is sometimes spelled with that ‘a’ in there and its scientific name has the ‘a’ as well. So things became a little clearer and, all things considered, the spelling Lea uses is especially appropriate in the context of Stars in 3D given its connection with investigations into the nature of the universe.

Michelle Potter, 16 July 2023

All images: © Andrew Sikorski

Communicate. Quantum Leap

18 May 2023. Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre

Communicate, the latest production from Canberra’s youth group, Quantum Leap, gave me something of a jolt. There were, for example, a few changes to the structure we usually see from the group. But more than that, this current group of dancers aged from 13 to 23, who were joined for this production by 8 dancers from Bangkok, gave a show that often had a strongly professional look about it, more so than usual. Quantum Leap’s production values have always been high and have come from choreographers, designers, composers, film makers, stage managers, and others who are professionals in their field. But with Communicate the company surpassed itself with a high standard of dancing along with the excellent input we have come to expect from the various collaborators. Occasionally I forgot entirely that the dancers were still developing the skills they need to move into a professional company.

The program, which examined various aspects of how we communicate and interact with each other, was made up of three sections. The first, Holding Space, came from choreographer Alice Lee Holland currently working in Townsville with Dance North. The second, Echo Chamber, was the work of Kyall Shanks, artistic director of the Tasmanian youth company Yellow Wheel. The third, Shared Language, began with a work, choreographed by Lordfai Navinda Pachimsawat creative director of Bangkok Dance Academy, and made in Bangkok on 8 Thai dancers. But this third section was extended once in Australia into two further developments in which Thai and Australian dancers engaged with each other in a variety of ways. These developments had choreography by Ruth Osborne assisted by Steve Gow. In all cases input from the dancers was acknowledged and this method of working is an essential component of any Quantum Leap program.

While each work had its own special aspects, there were some exceptional solo moments that were absolute highlights. It was a thrill to watch as tiny details of placement of various parts of the body were given a focus, and when an emotionally dramatic aspect of the work was physically highlighted. No one held back!

The contingent from Bangkok began their section in a very individual way—brightly and distinctively dressed and also more or less going their separate ways in a movement sense.

But those outer clothes were soon removed to reveal outfits that were more sombre and lacking that individuality. By removing those rather extravagant clothes, the dancers revealed themselves as beings with a shared humanity and they began working closely together in a movement sense. They formed various group patterns, often with arms joined, often moving in undulating patterns. In many respects, this aspect of the choreography reminded me of some of Graeme Murphy’s approaches, and even further back to the choreography of Bronislave Nijinska.

But this section eventually morphed into wider issues of sharing life and dance with others, and eventually we saw all 28 dancers working together.

Going back to the changes in structure mentioned earlier, the most obvious one was that in Communicate each section was separated from the following one by a blackout. In previous Quantum Leap programs the various sections, while still separate pieces, followed on from each other without a break but with a carefully choreographed end to one and beginning of the next. This arrangement was always a beautifully fluid transition and had become an expected part of Quantum Leap programs. So the change was a shock, although perhaps this change moves Quantum Leap into a more regular, or usual arrangement as followed by professional companies?

Overall, this program had been beautifully rehearsed and was mostly impeccably performed. The focus on communication was highlighted in a diverse manner across the production and Communicate was a delight to watch and a credit to all those involved.

Quantum Leap is a significant addition to the dance scene in Canberra and a list of ‘some alumni’ who have begun their careers as Quantum Leapers (listed in the printed program) is quite astonishing. They include (if I have to limit myself to just two} Daniel Riley now directing Australian Dance Theare, and James Batchelor with a major international career as a choreographer.

Michelle Potter, 19 May 2023

All photos: © Lorna Sim

Hillscape. Australian Dance Party

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 folding chair or were prepared to sit on the grass), the dancers were tiny figures in a vast grassy area. Luckily the images below give a close-up look at the nature of the choreography, which was not so clear from the edges of the amphitheatre. Peter Hislop’s image, as the featured one on this post, also shows the three black devices that produced (beautifully) Dan Walker’s original score commissioned by A Major Lift.

Early in Hillscape, the dancers worked with long pieces of cloth in shades of light and dark pink, sometimes with each performer manipulating an individual piece, at other times working together with one piece of cloth. And this separation/togetherness was an ongoing featured of Hillscape. The three dancers constantly came together and separated.

Patricia Hayes-Cavanagh, Yolanda Lowatta and Ashlee Bye in *Hillscape*, Australian Dance Party, 2023. Photo: © Peter Hislop

Ashlee Bye, Patricia Hayes-Cavanagh and Yolanda Lowatta in *Hillscape*, Australian Dance Party, 2023. Photo: © Peter Hislop

(left) Patricia Hayes-Kavanagh, Ashlee Bye and Yolanda Lowatta; (right) Yolanda Lowatta. Hillscape, Australian Dance Party, 2023. Photos: © Michelle Potter

But ultimately the frustrating view we got from afar had to be seen as a reflection of the focus of the work—the endless cycle of generation and regeneration taking place in a vast landscape, made more relevant given that the Arboretum was created on land that was burnt to cinders in the disastrous bushfires that hit Canberra twenty years ago in 2003. There were moments in the work when it seemed that there was a struggle to survive, but others when growth seemed assured, and indeed had happened. But, nevertheless, I wished I could have had a closer view of the choreography, especially the detailed movements but also of the lyrical, swirling sections danced with skill and style by the three dancers.

Hillscape, commissioned by Ausdance ACT as part of its Dance Week program, was a component of Seeds of Life, a session in the 2023 Canberra International Music Festival (CIMF). It was preceded by a performance from clarinettist Oliver Shermacher, which we saw and heard in the Margaret Whitlam Pavilion; and three other musical presentations that took place in various outdoor locations in the Gallery of Gardens. Shermacher’s performance was a brilliant display of a highly theatrical attitude to musical presentation as at one stage he involved the audience using their mobile phones to provide a background to his playing, and he sang, spoke, moved (danced?) and generally surprised throughout.

Despite my frustrations, I am pleased I was able to see Hillscape, which had just one performance as part of CIMF. It not only suggested that Ashlee Bye is a choreographer to watch, but continued Australian Dance Party’s image as a company presenting site-specific works with unusual vision and inventiveness.

MIchelle Potter, 29 April 2023

Featured image: Patricia Hayes-Cavanagh, Ashlee Bye and Yolanda Lowatta in Hillscape, Australian Dance Theatre, 2023. Photo: © Peter Hislop.

Below is what the performance looked like from the edges of the amphitheatre!

Philip Piggin conducting a class. Photo Lorna Sim

Talking to Philip Piggin

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 this news item, in an online version at this link.

Since then, Piggin has moved on from Belco and is now working freelance, with particular emphasis on the program ZEST Dance for Wellbeing, as well as teaching at Canberra Dance Theatre where he also holds life membership. It was time to talk again, in particular about the ZEST program in which movement classes are designed, as the website says, ‘for adults who want to keep their body and brain active and healthy, regardless of their mobility, skill or age.’

As the image below shows, ZEST classes start sitting on a chair but there is an option to stand and I was especially interested to ask Piggin to talk a little about his interest in teaching dance to people of different abilities. He spoke eloquently and enthusiastically about this aspect of his work:

A class in the ZEST program. Photo: © Art Atelier

Teaching people of different abilities, young and not so young, has been a long-time component of my dance practice. It was ignited in my early days of dancing in the UK, and in particular with one company of deaf and hard of hearing dancers with whom I worked for several years. It was full of fun, challenge, laughter and learning.

This really opened the door to me of the power of dance to provide unique opportunities for everyone to discover the creative potential of our bodies and our imaginations. And all this while having fun with other people! I found this to be a richly rewarding, physically fascinating and joyously affirming part of my dance journey. Dance as an art-form can be accessible to everyone, and challenges and activates the brain and the body in so many different ways.

When working in regional NSW this also came to fruition when I suggested to the Department of Education Regional Arts team that as well as a dance camp for mainstream school children, how about we deliver one for children with various abilities across the Riverina? And it happened—and was so special.

I believe so strongly that everyone has the right to have access to and engage with quality arts experiences—whatever our ability, mobility, age, gender, background, etc. Excitingly, more and more artists across all art-forms are becoming aware of this, and with training are providing quality programs for all. Surely this is a reflection of an aware, developed and inclusive society that values every individual.

And he spoke a little more about teaching older adults.

My practice now focuses primarily on delivering dance to older adults—and this is certainly a growing practice across the world as many societies enjoy a longer life span. I think we are all aware of how important it is to keep exercising for our long-term health and wellbeing—and again dance offers the perfect vehicle. A fun and challenging workout for the body, the brain, our creative spirit, and all within a group of like-minded peoples. The perfect package I reckon!

So much research nowadays affirms the value of dance to healthy ageing, and I am certainly seeing this being increasingly recognised by health organisations who often fund such programs across our nation.

Our ZEST Dance for Wellbeing program, that now delivers over 12 weekly classes across Canberra, is funded by a variety of health organisations and private donors, and this is proving essential to the sustainability of the program as arts funding is increasingly challenging to access.

Over my career I have had the privilege and opportunity to teach so many different groups, on both sides of the Equator—and it provides a constant and exciting challenge to my practice, which I believe ensures I am constantly learning, evolving and expanding as an artist. It is definitely a two way exchange!

Read more about ZEST at this link where you will find a little about the history of the program (including reference to SPARK classes for people living with Dementia), as well as details of the extensive range of classes on offer. The link will also take you to brief biographies of three other teachers who work with the ZEST program—Jacqui Simmonds, Jane Ingall and Debora Di Centa.

With thanks to Philip Piggin.

Michelle Potter, 24 April 2023

Featured image: Philip Piggin conducting a class. Photo: © Lorna Sim

Australian Dance Week, 2023. Ausdance ACT

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 growing strength of dance, both professional and community, in the city and surrounds.

As a precursor to the week, Australian Dance Party, Canberra’s professional dance company, will present Hillscape at the National Arboretum on 28 April. Hillscape, choreographed by Ashlee Bye and co-commissioned by Ausdance ACT and Canberra International Music Festival (CIMF), will feature as part of a CIMF program called Seeds of Life. Seeds of Life marks the tenth anniversary of the National Arboretum and the twenty years that have passed since the disastrous bushfire season in Canberra in 2003. Hillscape, with an original score by Dan Walker, celebrates regeneration.

Yolanda Lowatta, Pat Hayes-Cavanagh and Ashlee Bye in *Hillscape*, 2023. Photo: © Olivia Wikner

But on International Dance Day itself audiences will be able to see two of Canberra’s professional, independent dance artists in a one-off performance, Batchelor & Lea, at the Canberra Theatre. James Batchelor will present his Shortcuts to Familiar Places, a solo work that premiered recently in Europe and that focuses on Batchelor’s examination, over an extended period, of how dance styles are transferred across generations of performers. Liz Lea will reprise her outstanding production, Red. Red was first seen in Canberra in 2018. Since then the production has toured extensively overseas.

(left) James Batchelor in an early iteration of *Shortcuts to Familiar Places*, 2022. Photo: © Morgan Hickinbotham; (right) Liz Lea in a study for *Red*, 2016. Photo: © Nino Tamburri

Liz Lea in a study for a forthcoming show, 'RED'. Photo: © Nino Tamburri — (left) James Batchelor in an early iteration of *Shortcuts to Familiar Places*, 2022. Photo: © Morgan Hickinbotham; (right) Liz Lea in a study for *Red*, 2016. Photo: © Nino Tamburri

The choreography of both Batchelor and Lea will feature elsewhere during the week. Batchelor’s new work for Canberra’s mature-age dancers, the GOLDs, is Leaning Rippling, Breathing. It will be featured at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) on 7 May as a pop-up experience in relation to the NPG’s current exhibition ‘Portrait 23: Identity’. This new, short work is accompanied by an original sound design by Morgan Hickinbotham. It will also be seen in the break between the two works on the Batchelor & Lea program.

The GOLDs in a study for *Leaning, Rippling, Breathing*, 2023. Photo: © James Batchelor/Zander Porter

Lea’s Stellar Company, a multi-arts dance company working in an inclusive, intercultural. intergenerational capacity, is presenting an online version of its earlier program, A Stellar Lineup (2022), over a 24 hour period. Check the Dance Week calendar (link below) for further details.

The focus on inclusivity by Batchelor and Lea in Leaning, Rippling, Breathing and A Stellar Lineup highlights the strength of community dance in Canberra and there are a number of community activities included during the week (see below for calendar link). One major community feature will be the free classes being offered by ZEST Dance for Wellbeing. ZEST offers a movement experience for adults who want to keep their body and brain active and healthy, regardless of their mobility, skill or age. A leading teacher for the ZEST program, and in many ways responsible for the existence of Dance for Wellbeing programs in Canberra, Philip Piggin, spoke to me about his interest in pursuing these projects stressing the importance of giving everyone a chance to experience the benefits of dance to mind and body.

ZEST Dance for Wellbeing class. Photo: © Art Atelier

Included in the Dance Week lineup are many other open classes in a variety of techniques from a variety of dance schools and organisations including a Hungarian folk dance workshop from Compagnie József Trefeli and a Bharatanatyam workshop from Vaidehi Subfamanyan. For information about classes and a number of events not mentioned in this post, see the full Dance Week calendar at this link (with apologies for non-inclusion of a number of exciting initiatives).

Michelle Potter, 19 April 2023

Canberra Critics’ Circle Awards (Dance) 2022

22 November 2022, Canberra Museum and Gallery

Dance in Canberra showed its current and growing strength in the annual awards given by the Canberra Critics’ Circle. Five recipients were honoured with a dance award, the most for a single year (at least as far as I can recall) in the 32 year history of the CCC awards, which celebrate originality, excellence, energy and creativity across the arts. Here are the dance recipients, with citations.

ALI MAYES

For a performance that was both technically and theatrically strong, and in which characterisation of a leading role was maintained in an exceptional manner throughout. To Ali Mayes for Juliet in the Training Ground’s Unravel.

Read my review at this link.

Joshua Walsh and Ali Mayes in a scene from *Unravel*, 2022. Photo: © ES Fotografi

AUSDANCE ACT

For its initiative in bringing together dance filmmakers from the ACT and South Australia in October 2021 and September 2022 in which 9 short films were commissioned and shown, thus widening knowledge and understanding of Canberra’s dance culture beyond the ACT. To Ausdance ACT for their two collaborative programs of Dance.Focus.

Scroll down through this link to read my comments from the September season.

JAKE SILVESTRO

For an exceptional full-length solo performance choreographed using a variety of physical genres combined with a strong visual arts component and an underlying focus on issues concerning the disastrous bushfires that ravaged parts of Australia in December 2019. To Jake Silvestro for his production of and performance in December.

Read my review at this link.

Jake Silvestro in *December*, 2022. Photo: © Mark Turner

AUSTRALIAN DANCE PARTY

For an adventurous site-specific work that explored a Canberra sculpture and its surrounding watery setting through innovative dance, and exceptional lighting and sound design, to give the audience a highly immersive experience. To Australian Dance Party for LESS.

Read my review at this link.

Scene from *LESS*, 2022. Photo: © Lorna Sim

DANNY RILEY

For his charismatic, athletic performance in his self-choreographed work Similar, Same but Different, based on a piece choreographed by Ruth Osborne for Riley’s brother, and performed against a film of Osborne’s work. Similar, Same but Different was performed with a calm assurance that was as captivating as it was moving. To Danny Riley for Similar, Same but Different.

Scroll through this link to read my comments on the 2020 production of Similar, Same but Different.

Danny Riley in Similar, Same but Different. Hot to Trot, 2020. Photo: © Lorna Sim — Danny Riley in Similar, Same but different, 20220 Photo: © Lorna Sim

Congratulations to those five awardees for moving Canberra dance forward during 2022.

Michelle Potter, 23 November 2022

Culture Cruise. Australian Dance Party

5 November 2022. Lake Burley Griffin and Canberra cultural institutions

There it was waiting as we arrived at Canberra’s Lawson Crescent Viewing Dock, a wharf at the edge of the site of the National Museum of Australia. It was a small orange boat holding 28 passengers and named ‘The Gull’. Formerly a fishing boat and now captained by the capable and knowledgeable Jim Patterson, it was to take us on a ‘Culture Cruise’, a four hour journey, which began and finished on Lake Burley Griffin, and which was the brainchild of the ever-adventurous Australian Dance Party.

The first leg of the trip took us across the calm and peaceful waters of the lake to Queen Victoria Wharf not far from Canberra’s Reconciliation Place. It was a relaxing ride of 20 minutes or so and it was a pleasure to see the buildings that we in Canberra know well but mostly see from a different vantage point. For those who may not know the buildings that dot Canberra’s lake shores, Captain Jim had a number of stories, historical and sometimes humour-filled, to tell.

The dancing began as we walked up to and through Reconciliation Place and continued as we crossed to the Portrait Gallery. Yolanda Lowatta danced solo during this part of the journey. She was a powerful figure in the quite simple choreography, which sometimes was performed around the structures making up the Place, and sometimes in the surrounding grassy and tree-filled landscape. Her strength had an emotional underpinning and gave rise to thoughts on the Indigenous aspects of the land on which she was dancing, and across which we were walking, Ngunnawal land.

From Reconciliation Place we walked on to the National Portrait Gallery where a row of seats outside the Gallery entrance awaited us. The performance began with music from jazz vocalist and composer Creswick (aka Liam Budge) who was soon joined by dancer Levente Szabo and then Lowatta. Szabo’s dancing was quite acrobatic while Lowatta’s had something of a Hispanic feel to it. They danced together and separately and their dancing, especially their interactions (sometimes also with Creswick), was always stimulating to watch. After this section of dancing we entered the Portrait Gallery and were given some time to see the art works on show, especially in the current exhibition, Who are you: Australian portraiture. Amongst a huge range of art works in the exhibition one stood out on this occasion for me, a charming head and shoulders portrait, which I had not seen before, of Dame Margaret Scott created by Kenneth Rowell in 1949.

Perhaps my favourite part of the journey came as we left the Portrait Gallery and headed in the direction of the National Gallery. We were led on this part of the journey by Levente Szabo who danced across the plaza in front of the High Court and over the bridge linking the the two well-known ‘brutalist’ buildings, the High Court itself and the National Gallery. He used the structures surrounding the buildings, and the space they occupied, in an interactive and skilful manner, and worked in a similar way as we moved past the Gallery and towards our lunch stop.

Levente Szabo on the bridge between the High Court and the National Gallery of Australia. Canberra 2022

Lunch was served at the Jetty Kiosk before we took to the boat again, with a glass of local wine, for another relaxing journey on water back to our starting point. The adventure ended in the amphitheatre at the Garden of Australian Dreams at the National Museum where we were entertained again by Creswick before being invited to experience the Museum’s newest space the Great Southern Land Gallery.

Liam Budge performing at the National Museum of Australia, Canberra 2022

Culture Cruise was created and presented by the Australian Dance Party as part of the Canberra Art Biennial. It was an extraordinarily memorable experience led by Stefanie Lekkas, a guide with a strong theatrical background, and with Indigenous cultural input from Ngunnawal advisors Aunty Caroline Hughes and Tara Hughes. It brought together over half a day so many aspects of Canberra’s cultural life—art, architecture, dance, music, food and wine and more—as well as giving an opportunity to take in the immediate landscape, the expansive lake and the beautiful surrounding mountains, the Brindabellas. While it would be an exceptional experience for visitors to Canberra, I (having lived in Canberra for 50+ years now) found so much to enjoy and think about. There are plans for Culture Cruise to continue in 2023. Do take the opportunity to join a cruise. You won’t be disappointed.

Michelle Potter, 8 November 2022

Featured image: ‘The Gull’ moored at Lawson Crescent Viewing Deck.

All photos: Michelle Potter