10th ‘Sharp Short Dance’ crowns winners

The 10th Annual Sharp Short Dance festival presented by FORM Dance Projects declared its 2017 award winners at an exciting final event held at Riverside Theatres on the evening of Saturday, November 18.

A competitive dance festival, Sharp Short Dance invited young dancers and choreographers aged 21 years and under to compete for awards and a share in prizes and highly sought-after industry secondments with major professional dance companies.

This year the judging panels included Thomas Egan (The Boy from Oz in 1995, Fame the Musical in 2010 and Tap Dogs), Catherine Goss (Academy of Music and Performing Arts, prev. Assoc. Artistic Director for West Australian Ballet, Rehearsal Director for Sydney Dance Company and Bangarra Dance Theatre) and Lee-Anne Litton (Co-Artistic Director for Legs On The Wall). Hosting the festival was renowned professional contemporary dance artist Kay Armstrong.

See the winners listed below. Congratulations to all awardees! For more information, head to www.form.org.au.

The 2017 Sharp Short Dance Award Winners are:
 

Most Innovative Choreography – 

To Which We Are Blind by choreographer and performer Jessica Hewett 

Outstanding Male Dancer – 

Hatching by choreographer and performer Alexander Borg 

Outstanding Female Dancer – 

Resistance by choreographer and performer Karlia Cook 

Outstanding Solo Performance – 

Worth It by choreographer and performer Caylan Spendlove 

Outstanding Duet Performance – 

Freedom by choreographer and performer Eden Zerk and performer Rore Rutene 

Outstanding Ensemble Performance – 

Silent Disruption by choreographers Litia Matilla and Shonei Aloese; and performers Nataly Fellow, Natalija Mihailovic, Emma Nguyen, Karen Nguyen and Jenny Huynh 

Audience Choice Award – 

An Expression of the Classics by choreographers and performers Paul and Frank Barbara (aka DoubleDigits)

Sydney Dance Company, Pre-Professional Year Secondment – 

Olivia Callaghan and Mikayla Bayliss, Listen Carefully 

Legs On The Wall Secondment –

Karlia Cook, Resistance 

Phly Crew Secondment – 

Paul and Frank Barbara (aka DoubleDigits), An Expression of the Classics

Dream Dance Company Secondment – 

Rore Rutene, Freedom

Dance Makers Collective Secondment –

Sabrina Muszynski, Unknown Identity 

Excellence in Dance Education –

Amy Ciocca

Photos: Jessica Hewett in To Which We Are Blind (top); Silent Disruption by Litia Matilla and Shonei Aloese (left); and Alexander Borg in Hatching (right). Photos by Dom O’Donnell, courtesy of FORM Dance Projects.