Dance News

Inspired Dance Youth Film Festival invites young dancers and filmmakers to come together in July for a unique celebration of dance, film, creativity, artistic growth, and personal development. This is a dance film festival with a difference. The Festival’s mission is to inspire, engage and educate the young through a program of dance masterclasses, film workshops and talks from experts in the personal skills needed to thrive.

Fuser Production presents INTACT 26 May to 27 June at Woodburn Creatives, Redfern. An exhilarating new physical theatre company debuts with a work both evocative and compelling. Fuser Production was born out of a desire to merge the disciplines of live performance. INTACT is a tangibly intense performance of few words, driven by themes of inward exploration and re-invention.

Five short dance works. Artists from four continents. Three International Choreographic Competition Hannover winners. Two local Indigenous choreographers, including ADT’s 2021 Associate Artist, Adrianne Semmens, and the South Australian First Nations Dance Collective. One spectacular Convergence. See the performance at The Odeon, from 5-8 May 2021 for Convergence.

Global Creatures revealed this week, the Australian cast of its Tony-nominated production, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, playing at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre from 13 August 2021. Alinta Chidzey (Chicago, West Side Story) will star as the sparkling diamond, Satine, opposite newcomer Des Flanagan as bohemian dreamer Christian. Simon Burke AO will play legendary club impresario Harold Zidler and Andrew Cook will play The Duke.

Australian theatre show guide and theatre ticketing platform, STAGECENTA have officially released their industry first, nationwide FREE mobile Theatre App to help close the gap between theatre productions and their audiences.  The App launched live on both Apple and Google Play stores over the Easter weekend, with actors, creatives, theatre companies and venues flocking to register their information and shows. Audiences can now locate Every Show, Everywhere, Every Day, across Australia with a swipe of a finger.

NAISDA Dance College is seeking its next intake of standout dance and performing arts students and invites First Nations applicants aged 16 to 26 with a passion for dance and culture to apply online today. NAISDA Head of Dance, Deon Hastie, outlined the unqiue opportunities at Australia’s only national arts training organisation specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

Brett Lucas, the reinvented founder of The Academy of Music Dance Drama, runs his school with this in mind: “I am on a mission to empower the creative minds and create more creative markets.” Brett has run The Academy of Music Dance Drama since 2018 and has continuously worked to transform it into the South Coast’s leading performing arts school, refusing to let a global pandemic stand in his way. Brett has increased student enrolment despite the standstill that COVID-19 has created for most people. In his three years of owning The Academy of Music Dance Drama, Brett took enrolment from 75 to over 250 students, with most new additions within the past year.

Arts production around the world might have slowed right down but that didn’t stop dancer, actress and choreographer Lara Bianca Pilcher from kicking creative goals, with a slot secured in the World Monologue Film Festival Semi-Finals. The finals will be screened physically at Dendy Newtown in Sydney on Wednesday 21 April, with a free virtual Finals and Awards Night for a global audience on Saturday 24 April. The Semi-Finals will be screened virtually the night before on Friday 23 April.

Reference Material, a new dance work from choreographer Alisdair Macindoe exploring the process and history of dance making in the age of narcissism, debuts as a part of Darebin Arts Speakeasy season at the Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre from 14 to 24 April.

Hayes Theatre Co and Luckiest Productions are thrilled to be presenting Merrily We Roll Along this year from 24 June – 31 July. This Sondheim classic will be directed by Dean Bryant (Sweet Charity, Assassins, Little Shop of Horrors) and choreographed by Andrew Hallsworth (Muriel’s Wedding, Sweet Charity). Keep an eye out over the coming weeks for the cast announcement!

FORM Dance Projects and Riverside Theatres will present NARCIFIXION, a dark and humorous dance work  about narcissism, at Riverside Theatres from 13th to 15th May. It will also be available to watch online on  15th May. Led by high-profile Australian independent dance artists and powerful performers, Anton (Legs On The Wall,  Australian Dance Theatre, Bangarra Dance Theatre) and Brianna Kell (TasDance, Dance Makers Collective,  DirtyFeet), NARCIFIXIONis a pertinent, highly detailed and expansive contemporary dance duet, examining  identity in the digital age. 

Inspired Dance Film Fest Australia was born last year to offer a place where dance on film can thrive and be seen. Where dancers, choreographers and filmmakers can meet to create exciting new work and show it to a new audience. It starts in July with Inspired Dance Youth Film Festival, a stand-alone event this year that will run from 9-11 July. It will feature outstanding opportunities for young filmmakers to learn from leading industry professionals in the lead-up to a red-carpet Gala Screening and Awards Presentation on 11 July at Sydney’s Entertainment Quarter.