Sphere. Australian Dance Party

My review of Sphere was published online by Canberra CityNews on 15 May 2026, following its opening performance in Canberra. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the CityNews post. Follow this link to the CityNews review.

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14 May 2026. The Vault, Dairy Road Precinct, Fyshwick ACT

The Vault is a concrete bunker that used to be a storage depot for coins and then beer kegs. It is a blank space, without windows, without pillars and without any decorative elements. It is located in Canberra’s Dairy Road Precinct on the edges of the industrial area of Fyshwick. It can perhaps be described as an example of Canberra’s brutalist architecture.

Sphere is a work, according to Alison Plevey founder of Australian Dance Party, that focuses on two meanings of the word ‘sphere’, that of aspects of the universe and, as well, the sphere of influence of dance. It was also created in celebration of Australian Dance Party’s tenth year of existence and, given its wide focus and its presentation in the Vault, which on the surface is not a hugely theatrical space, it is perhaps a little surprising that it was as immersive as it was.

On entering the space for the performance, it was noticeable that seating was spread out and arranged irregularly—no rows or tiers of seats, just a few simple benches and a few small rows of regular seating scattered across the area. There were spaces too for audience members to seat themselves on the floor. We were invited, as the production began, to move around the space as the work unfolded and, as the desire took us, to be closer to some aspects of the performance.

The overall production consisted of several sections. There were group moments, including the opening section led by Jahna Lugnan. This was followed by a very physical duet, a solo or two, including a powerful performance by one of the male dancers, and a few more group sections, all taking place in different areas of the Vault’s space.

A scene from one of the solos in *Sphere*. Australian Dance Party, 2026. Photo: © Michelle Potter

I am not sure whether Sphere was specifically choreographed or whether it was largely improvised movement. The character of the movement was, however, distinctive of the work of Australian Dance Party. There was a strong emphasis on fluidity of the upper body and, when working in groups, the dancers moved together often with bodies twisted around each other. Unusual shapes developed.

But what made the work so immersive, was the magnificent video imagery that covered the walls of the Vault as the dancing moved ahead. Created by videographer Liam Budge of Creswick Collective, the imagery was largely shot in a very Australian landscape of eucalyptus trees, with the vision including shots of dancers performing amongst the quite magnificent trees. One section, however, was shot to include graffiti images found in a more residential part of Canberra.

As it happened, the invitation to the audience to move through the space and get closer to some sections was not taken up to any great extent. I didn’t move around and to tell the truth I’m not really sure if moving around the space would have added to my feeling for the nature of Sphere. But I was fascinated by a quite young boy who did get up from his seat and try out a bit of dance for himself.

While immersive was the word that kept coming to mind as the work progressed, I also felt there was a calming quality to the overall production. Perhaps it was brought on by the lighting design, which was quite dark, apart from the changing, well-lit areas in which the dancing itself was taking place. It was at times difficult to distinguish the dancers from the audience as the performers, when not dancing, were sitting in various spots within the space rather than being hidden in the wings of a more usual performing space. It seemed to break down, in a positive way, differences between people.

Sphere, with original music from Sia Ahmad, was an exceptional and unusual tenth birthday event.

MIchelle Potter, 15 May 2025

Featured image: A view of the setting for one stage of Sphere. Australian Dance Party, 2026. Photo: © Michelle Potter

I was a guest of Australian Dance Party for this performance.

Impulse. Australian Dance Party

My review of Impulse was published online by Canberra CityNews on 15 March 2026. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the CityNews post. Here is a link to the CityNews review.

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Australian Dance Party, Canberra’s professional dance company, is never one to perform in what we might call a conventional performance space. I don’t recall, for example, ever seeing the company dance in a proscenium-style theatre. The company’s most recent presentation, Impulse, sits centre-stage in that performance model. It is a free show incorporating the creation and improvisation of music, dance and visual arts, with its opening show taking place outdoors in the Woden Town Square on a beautiful, cloudless Canberra autumn day.

The dancers (there were six of them) performed on what looked like a Tarkett flooring of grass (synthetic I assume), and were surrounded by a mixed audience of dance fans and photographers and artists recording the performance in their own unique manner. Two musicians sat on a raised platform, each on a separate side of the performing space, working with a variety of electronic resources to produce a soundscape.

An opening moment from *Impulse*. Australian Dance Party, 2026. Photo: © Michelle Potter

The show began with a single dancer creating a fluid but grounded series of movements, often with her back towards what appeared to be the front of the performing area. Slowly five other dancers joined her at various times, sometimes dancing separately, sometimes as a group. At times they seemed to be copying each other’s steps, working in unison or cascading out from each other. Sometimes one dancer would take a rest. Sometimes two or three dancers would separate themselves from the others and create a quite different set of movements. There were times too when the dancers performed using stretches of tape to join bodies or to stretch bodies into varied shapes.

All performers, both dancers and musicians, were a pleasure to watch, especially as the show progressed and as a certain nervousness dissolved at what was the first performance of an unusual work. But for me it was Jahna Lugnan who really stood out. Her freedom of movement and absolute involvement in the performance was exceptional. And she scarcely stopped to rest.

Costumes were a mix of styles but there was a certain unity with three main colours being represented—orange, pink and black. It was Lugnan who wore the most interesting looking costume—beautifully cut orange shorts and a very attractively designed top in pink and orange. None of this is surprising given that Lugnan’s career to date has included modelling at an international level.

The soundscape was dramatic and had a definite contemporary feel. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of sound production happened when two dancers joined one of the musicians and used a microphone attached in some manner to the musician’s equipment. Each dancer took a turn in speaking into the microphone. It was not clear what they actually said but somehow whatever they muttered or whispered was translated into a loud non-human sound.

Dancers making music with a microphone. *Impulse*, Australian Dance Party, 2026. Photo: © Michelle Potter

Impulse, which celebrates Australian Dance Party’s tenth year of existence, was quite fascinating in many ways. It lasted for almost an hour, but the time just sped along.

A final show will take place on March 21 at the Gungahlin Town Square as part of the Gungahlin Festival. A pop-up exhibition is also being arranged in the future to feature the work created by the photographers and visual artists, which emerged as their reaction to Impulse.

A visual artist painting her thoughts about *Impulse*. Australian Dance Party, 2026. Photo: © Michelle Potter

Michelle Potter, 15 March 2026

Featured image: Dancers from Australian Dance Party in a moment from Impulse. Photo: © Michelle Potter

Emerging Choreographers Project. Quantum Leap Australia

My review of the Emerging Choreographers Project was published online by Canberra CityNews on 14 December 2025. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the CityNews post. Here is a link to the CityNews review.

Emerging Choreographers Project. Quantum Leap Australia. A Block Theatre, Gorman Arts Centre, Canberra. 13 December 2025

The Emerging Choreographers Project (ECP) has been an annual Canberra-based event for several years now. Its aim has always been to give aspiring young choreographers an opportunity to collaborate with professional artists in the creation of an original dance work. The initial surprise of the 2025 program, however, came from opening remarks by Alice Lee Holland, current artistic director of what we have long known as QL2 Dance. She unveiled the news that the organisation is working towards the establishment of a new name, Quantum Leap Australia. The reason for the change was not explained, although one has to assume that it was, at least partly, a result of the leadership change. But it does also position the event in a wider context (in a geographical sense) and Canberra arts events can certainly do with being given wider recognition even if only by a name change.

The 2025 ECP was presented under this new name with six emerging choreographers participating in the program: Akira Byrne, Chloe Curtis, Jahna Lugnan, Lucia Morabito, Gigi Rohrlach and Maya Wille-Bellchambers. They were mentored by Holland and Emma Batchelor and were also given the opportunity, a new initiative, of working closely with Owen Davies of Sidestage, the Canberra-based organisation dealing in audio-visual technology for stage productions. While this I’m sure gave the choreographers extra inspiration, some of the lighting was quite dark, which is not an uncommon feature of dance productions at present (unfortunately I have to say).

In terms of mentoring, it would have been an added benefit if there had been some emphasis on how to speak out to the audience when, at the beginning of each work, the choreographer is required to give a brief introduction to the work. It is slightly annoying when the speaker is jigging around, as happened in most cases in this show. Please, ‘Speak up, stand still and look out at the audience!’

The work that stood out for me was Breathing Statues by Gigi Rohrlach in which four dancers moved from one sculptural pose to another. It appeared to me that the work was set in an Asian context in terms of the costumes, in the somewhat twisted and evocative arm movements as the dancers wrapped themselves around each other, and in sections of the music by Japanese composer Masakatsu Takagi.

I also enjoyed the closing work, Jahna Lugnan’s The Dog Shows No Concern, which Lugnan described in program notes as ‘resisting audience expectations and traditional narratives’. It certainly was unexpected in its musical approach, beginning with an excerpt from Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen but moving on to sound that was much more contemporary. So too was the costuming varied, perhaps one might even say outrageous, but certainly expressive of a variety of possible thoughts.

Scene from *The Dog Shows No Concern*. Quantum Leap Australia, 2025. Photo: © Olivia Wikner

The shape of me is shifting from Akira Byrne left me wondering about the difference between physical theatre and dance. I found Byrne’s emphasis on the spoken word frustrating, especially when at times it was hard to hear the words over the music. Nor was I a fan of the movement, especially for the group of four dancers who were like a collection of drooping shapes while the two main performers wrapped themselves around a metal structure. Program notes say the work examined the ‘relationship between mind, body, self and skin’.

A scene from *the shape of me is shifting*. Quantum Leap Australia, 2025. Photo: © Olivia Wikner

Some ideas don’t easily translate into dance especially when they are quite abstract concepts. I felt this was the case with Byrne’s work and also with Chloe Curtis’ Chorophobia, which set out to examine psychological reactions to fear.

One positive aspect of all works was the strength of the use of the performing space by each of the choreographers, including in those works that were staged in several short sections, such as Metamorphosis from Maya Wille-Bellchambers and Mirage of Memories from Lucia Morabito. Also interesting on a number of occasions was the visual nature of the groupings (if not always all that original).

Scene from *Metamorphosis*. Quantum Leap Australia, 2025. Photo: © Olivia Wikner

Choreography is not an easy art to master and, despite my reservations about some aspects of the works on show on this occasion, I have the utmost respect for those members of Quantum Leap Australia who had the courage to step up and create.

Michelle Potter, 16 December 2025

Featured image: Six choreographers taking a curtain call. ECP 2025. Photo: © Olivia Wikner

I was a guest of Quantum Leap Australia at this performance.

Emerging Choreographers, 2024. QL2 Dance

14 December 2024. Gorman Arts Centre, Canberra

Emerging Choreographers is an annual event on the QL2 calendar. It is a mentored program in which a number of senior QL2 dancers try their hand at choreography. They create and present a short work in collaboration with their peers and each choreographer is supported by professional artists in rehearsal and presentation. Many of those who have tested their early approach to choreography over the years have gone on to make significant careers in the dance world. Some have returned to work on various QL2 projects.

I am not in a position to review this year’s event given that I have a family member closely involved in the program. So I am simply presenting below a very small selection of images from the event.

Those emerging artists who created works for the 2024 program are: AKIRA BYRNE, ALEX POTTER, ARSHIYA ABHISHREE, CALYPSO EFKARPIDIS, CHARLIE THOMSON, CHRIS WADE, JAHNA LUGNAN, MAGNUS MEAGHER and SAM TONNA.

A link to a review of the 2024 program, written by Samara Purnell for CBR CityNews, is at the end of this post.

Scene from Calypso Efkarpidis’ *DreamScape*

Coral Onn and Juliet Hall in Alex Potter’s *Dominion (Pupa*)

Scene from Sam Tonna’s *Chromed and Polished*

Dancers and choreographers acknowledge tech staff at the end of the opening show

The review on CBR CityNews is at this link.

All photos: © Olivia Wikner, O&J Wikner Photography

Michelle Potter, 15 December 2024

Featured image: A moment from the film Catch and Release from Christopher Wade and Magnus Meagher

Elemental. The Chaos Project 2024, QL2 Dance

My review of the latest Chaos Project from QL2 Dance was published online on 19 October by CBR CityNews. Read it at this link. Below is a slightly enlarged version of the review.

The Chaos Project from QL2 Dance has become an annual event on Canberra’s youth and community dance scene: an event that gives young, aspiring dancers an opportunity to experience dance in a theatrical environment and to celebrate dancing on stage with colleagues.

Elemental, the 2024 project, was, however, a little different from previous productions. It was the first Chaos Project directed by Alice Lee Holland, who just recently has taken over the reins of QL2 Dance from Ruth Osborne. Elemental consisted of five separate works. They explored the elements of fire, space, air, earth and water, with each created by a different choreographer, or choreographers in the case of the final work.

The standout work by far was Earth choreographed by Alice Lee Holland. Although, as is the case with all five sections, the cast (of ten dancers in the case of Earth) was acknowledged as contributing to the choreography, it was Holland’s compositional input that really made the work the standout. Her extensive and varied use of the performing space, and the way she used groupings of dancers and had them interact with each other, meant that the work was always interesting to watch. In addition, her clear and dedicated development of the choreography gave the dancers a strong structure in which to work. Every one of them used their emerging performance skills with admirable courage and power.

The other four works, Fire from Jahna Lugnan, Space from Max Burgess, Air from Jason Pearce, and Water from Lugnan, Burgess and Pearce working together, did not to my mind have the same choreographic strength. All seemed to focus on movement of the arms and hands to the detriment of use of the whole body, and in some cases groupings of dancers seemed somewhat muddled. This was especially noticeable in the final work, Water, which had the largest cast and seemed not to have a strongly focused structure (as a result of having three choreographers working together perhaps?).

Pearce’s Air was something of an exception given that his aim was to explore the role of air on the body and how that aspect of the element can be expressed as a cohesive whole. Arm movements thus, rightly, played a major role, as did the gathering of the dancers in a single group for much of the work. Costumes for Air were quite exceptional. All the performers wore white to reflect an Arctic landscape and, while the colour was unvaried, the actual designs were all different and quite beautiful to look at. Their strength and beauty was, however, best seen without the blue-ish lighting that occasionally flooded over them.

Dancers from QL2 in a moment from *Air*. Photo: Olivia Wikner, O&J Photography

Lighting for Elemental was designed by the individual choreographers. Costume coordination was by Natalie Wade, although it is not clear who actually designed the costumes.

The major difference from previous Chaos Projects was the ending. Gone was a fully choreographed finale as we have become used to seeing—one of Ruth Osborne’s signature additions over the years of her directorship. The production finished, as most dance performances do, with the cast simply taking a curtain call. But, being used to a choreographed finale, I guess a simple curtain call was more of a shock than anything.

It will be interesting to see how the Chaos Project develops in future years under the direction of Alice Lee Holland. Personally, I hope the future may bring stronger choreographic input across the entire production.

On a closing note, I loved the image on the back of the printed program, which I think was created by Millie Eaton. She is acknowledged in the program’s list of the ‘creative & production team’ as doing ‘Program illustrations’. She also appeared in Fire, the work for the youngest members (aged about 8) of Elemental. The image indicated a complete involvement in the production, which is a feature, or certainly the aim, of every Chaos Project.

Michelle Potter, 20 October 2024

Featured image: Dancers from QL2 in a moment from Earth. Photo: Olivia Wikner, O&J Photography

Dance diary. July 2024

Looking ahead …

As August approaches I am looking forward to a number of dance performances beginning in Wellington with Royal New Zealand Ballet’s triple bill program Solace. Solace opens on 1 August and consists of Wayne McGregor’s Infra and two new works, To Hold by Sarah Foster-Sproull and High Tide by Alice Topp. Infra was seen in Australia in 2017 when it was performed by the Australian Ballet in a season called Faster. It is not my favourite McGregor work and it suffered somewhat in 2017 by being programmed alongside an absolutely brilliant work, Squander and Glory, by Tim Harbour. But I am very much looking forward to seeing the new works by Foster-Sproull and Topp.

I interviewed Topp in November for the National Library of Australia’s oral history program. It is available to listen to online at this link.

Then, in mid-August, the fifth Ballet International Gala begins a series of one night stands in Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra. Annoyingly it is not clear which works will be presented in Australia. Nor is it clear which dancers will be performing. I guess we just have to wait and see! Here is the website, which may eventually include some specific information.

Iana Salenko and her husband and dance partner Marian Walter in a moment from *Swan Lake*. Photo: © Carola Hoelting

News from James Batchelor

James Batchelor was recently funded by artsACT to develop a new work ‘inspired by the late choreographer, Tanja Liedtke.’ This follows on from his Shortcuts to familiar places, which examined the influence of Gertrud Bodenwieser on those who were close to her and those who followed her methods of dancing and teaching.

Liedtke’s career was relatively short. She tragically died when quite young (she was just 29) and, while she was definitely an influential choreographer, she was, as a result of her early death, without the extended connections Bodenwieser had developed over many decades. So, it will be interesting to see how Batchelor develops this new work.

News from QL2 Dance

Late in July, at the invitation of the Australian Embassy in Thailand, some dancers from Canberra’s youth group QL2 Dance performed in Bangkok as part of a large-scale event to celebrate the birthday of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua. Two First Nations’ dance artists, Julia Villaflor (Wagiman) and Jahna Lugnan (Bundjalung, Gumbaynggirr) were part of the celebration and performed Connected, a duet they had created that acknowledges and explores their connection to the land and each other. Villaflor and Lugnan were accompanied on their journey to Bangkok by Alice Lee Holland, incoming director of QL2 Dance.

Jahna Lugnan and Julia Villaflor working in the QL2 Dance studio, Canberra. Photo: © O&J Wikner Photography

Last minute July news.

Leanne Benjamin is to leave her role as artistic director of Queensland Ballet. Read the media release at this link.

Press for July 2024

‘Bangarra shares the dance stage to great effect.’ City News (Canberra). Online at this link.

MIchelle Potter, 31 July 2024

Featured image: Ana Gallardo Lobaina and Branden Reiners in Alice Topp’s High Tide. Royal New Zealand Ballet, 2024. Photo: © Ross Brown

Hot to Trot. QL2 Dance (2023)

26 November 2023. QL2 Theatre, Gorman Arts Centre, Canberra

Hot to Trot, the annual program for young choreographers from QL2 Dance, is always varied in what is presented to us, the audience. The 2023 season began with a film documenting the relationship (now twenty years old) between QL2 Dance in Canberra and Thailand’s Bangkok Dance Academy. We were introduced to the varied activities that have been part of that relationship from both a Thai and an Australian point of view.

The film was followed by six short works from choreographers Jahna Lugnan (Hazy Misconceptions), Julia Villaflor (Coloration), Emily Smith (You did this), Calypso Efkarpidis (Polarised Light), Arshiya Abhishree and Maya Wille Bellchambers in a joint production (Parasitic Waves), and Charlie Thomson (Humanchine). None of the choreographers had had extensive choreographic experience and for five it was their first effort. All the choreographers, in an introductory short statement about the work each was presenting, stressed the collaborative nature of the process and expressed the pride and pleasure they felt working closely with the dancers.

What was most striking for me was the way in which each of the choreographers managed the small black box space of the QL2 Theatre. There was no misunderstanding of the size and layout of the space in which they were working, and the movement spread beautifully up and down, across and around the space available. In addition I was impressed with many of the groupings that we saw, which were often a surprise and sometimes intertwined and layered in a quite special way (even if some reminded me of well-known images from past, well-documented productions).

Scene from *Coloration* in Hot to Trot, 2023. Photo: © O&J Wikner Photography

The final piece, Charlie Thomson’s Humanchine, was certainly the most entertaining to watch. It dealt with technology and its effect on human beings. ‘At what point are our thoughts our own and how much of it is informed by the machine,’ Thomson wrote in the printed program. The five dancers were dressed as individuals and showed themselves as having individual thoughts through facial and bodily expression. But they often performed together—often in a line, sometimes looking slightly mechanical. There was a point where the machine and the individual merged (if ever so slightly).

Scene from *Humanchine* in Hot to Trot, 2023. Photo: © O&J Wikner Photography

I also especially enjoyed Calypso Efkarpidis’ Polarised Light. Made on just three dancers it sought to explore the notion that some colours are visible to some creatures but not others, as discussed in a David Attenborough documentary called Life in Colour. The choreography was simple but strong and beautifully performed.

Scene from *Polarised Light* in Hot to Trot, 2023. Photo: © O&J Wikner Photography

Hot to Trot is a great initiative and the courage of those who take up the role of choreographer in the shows is remarkable. But the idea of expressing concepts that are often quite abstract has always bothered me when watching Hot to Trot shows. Even when explained in words, both verbally and in printed form, the ideas are not always visible as strongly as is needed. l often think that emerging choreographers need to consider in greater depth how the body can make concepts visible. I’m sure they do think along those lines but It isn’t an easy task to turn thoughts into movement. The works that always stand out most strongly in Hot to Trot are those where ideas and movement speak as one.

Nevertheless, the 2023 Hot to Trot was a remarkable event. Every work was outstanding in terms of the stagecraft and dancing that emerged.

Michelle Potter, 27 November 2023

Dance diary. July 2023

Gather. The ‘Meet Up’ performance, Canberra, 10 July 2023

Early in July six youth dance companies met up in Canberra to show recent work and share practice. ‘Meet Up’ is a biennial event produced by QL2 Dance as a means of maintaining national connections between youth companies. The event in 2023 marks its return after a postponement due to the COVID pandemic. Circumstances prevented me from reviewing the evening immediately after the show, so what follows is not a review but simply some comments.

The evening began with a calmly beautiful duet from two First Nations dancers, Jahna Lugnan and Julia Villaflor. Unfortunately, no choreographic credit was given in the printed program but the choreography clearly expressed the idea contained in the title of the piece, Connection.

Then followed six works, one each from Austi (Illawarra Coast, NSW), Stompin (Launceston, Tasmania), Fling (Bega, NSW), QL2 Dance (Canberra, ACT), Catapult (Newcastle, NSW), and Yellow Wheel (Melbourne, Victoria). What struck me more than anything was the significance of the relationship between choreography and the space of the stage. The existence of an understanding of the importance of this relationship varied from piece to piece and, as a result, some creations worked better than others. The highlight of the evening for me was Yellow Wheel’s The Dancing Fever of 1518. Performed by seventeen dancers and choreographed by Kyall Shanks, it certainly filled the stage with full-on movement from dancers representing a diverse range of characters. It completely held one’s attention visually and aurally as well with its background sound of NY Lipps Dries Van Notes 2020 Remix by Soulwax and Nancy Whang.

Dancers from Yellow Wheel in a scene from *The Dancing Fever of 1518. Gather*, Canberra 2023. Photo: © Lorna Sim

Gather was a great opportunity to get a glimpse of youth dance as it exists across the country, and to reflect on the talent that youth companies nurture.

Royal New Zealand Ballet

Following the retirement of Patricia Barker as artistic director of Royal New Zealand Ballet early in 2023, the company is currently in the throes of interviewing candidates who have applied to take on the directorship.

In the meantime, the following comment was made by Martin James, former principal dancer with RNZB (and a host of other companies) who is currently teaching in Australia. His comments are published here with his kind permission:

RNZBallet saw the beginnings of my eventual, major international career, so I’ve everything to be thankful for! I hope that the next direction will welcome the heritage and repertoire of its origins from Poul Gnatt! Change is important and relevant, of course, but inheritance and integrity of one’s company of dancers (of my own country or any country with artistic integrity) is essential, in my belief anyway! Please RNZBallet think hard on your decision for the new direction as it is truly important to bring NZ back (without going backwards of course) to our identity and famous roots!

(left) Martin James and Adrienne Matheson in *Mantodea*, Royal New Zealand Ballet, 1984. Photographer not identified. (right) Martin James teaching in Canberra, 2022. Photo: © Tim Potter

We await the outcome of deliberations on a new direction for Royal New Zealand Ballet.

The future of dance writing

Jill Sykes, AM, one of Australia’s most admired dance writers, announced her retirement from that role late in 2022. She wrote her final review for The Sydney Morning Herald in December 2022. Early the following month, January 2023, she wrote an article, also for The Sydney Morning Herald, about the origins and development of her dance writing and, while the whole article was interesting, I couldn’t help being struck by some of Sykes’ closing remarks. She wrote:

I count myself incredibly fortunate to have been working for newspapers when they had so many more pages to fill. Arts stories and reviews were given generous space and there was the opportunity to cover dance groups big and small. Today, to get a review, they need longer seasons than many impoverished dance groups can afford.*

While this unwillingness to receive reviews for companies whose seasons are short is frustrating, it is worse when newspapers, such as The Canberra Times, decline to publish any material by those with expertise in specific areas of the arts, visual or performing. Anything about the arts for that newspaper will now be written by in-house staff. Those who have been writing for the newspaper, some for decades, have been told their work is no longer required.

But we have to keep going, and not just on social media where comments are mostly limited to short, usually uncritical remarks. It’s not time to stop. The future cannot be without dance reviews, dance articles and the like.

Michelle Potter, 31 July 2023

*The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 January 2023. The article is currently available at this link: https://www.smh.com.au/culture/dance/an-ailing-aunt-and-a-spare-ticket-put-jill-sykes-on-a-magical-path-20221222-p5c8c6.html