to educate, inspire and support the dance community to reach its potential as a dynamic force within local, national and international communities

Live Movie. Photo: Lachlan Woods

Lucy Guerin IncLucy Guerin Inc is renowned for the skill and originality of its small group of performers. New productions are generated through an experimental approach to creative process and may involve voice, video, sound, text and industrial design as well as Guerin’s lucid physical structures.

TasdanceFrom its beginnings as a dance-in-education company, Tasdance has earned a reputation for its strong, diverse, innovative and accessible repertoire of Australian work. Under the direction of Annie Greig since 1997, Tasdance has continued to present excellent contemporary dance in Tasmania, interstate and internationally.

Trisha Dunn, Tanya Voges and Floeur Alder in Raewyn Hill’s A Dance for the Forgotten. Photo: Paul Scambler

Expressions Dance Company

EDC is commited to the future evolution of contemporary dance in Australia and throughout the world. Their program includes regional, national and international touring; an education program; professional training and development opportunities for emerging performers and choreographers.

Jack Ziesing in Natalie Weir’s When Time Stops. Photo: Dylan Evans

Force Majeure Established in 2002, the company is based around a collective of artists from varying disciplines who are committed to creating stimulating movement-based theatre. Artists include dancers, actors, writers, visual artists, composers and filmmakers.

Vincent Crowley, Heather Mitchell, Kirstie McCracken, Sarah Jayne Howard and Joshua Mu in Never Did Me Any Harm. Photo: Lisa Tomasetti

Ochre Contemporary Dance Company

Established in 2007, the company is deeply rooted in ‘life and heritage’ and continues to build its claim on this as a unique connection to the Western Australian story, which can be told to the rest of the world in deep and emotionally charged performances that go beyond simply ‘dance and steps’ to speak to the human spirit.

William Ward and Justina Truscott-Smith in Dreamtide. Photo: Simon Cowling

Chunky Move Chunky Move constantly seeks to redefine what is, or what can be, contemporary dance within an ever-evolving Australian culture. Currently under the artistic leadership of internationally acclaimed choreographer, Anouk van Dijk, the company’s various programs foster and support a strong and vibrant dance culture both in Melbourne and internationally.

James Pham and Leif Helland in Anouk van Dijk’s 247 Days (2013). Photo: Jeff Busby.

The Australian Dance Awards

The annual Australian Dance Awards recognise and honour professional Australian dance artists who have made an outstanding contribution to Australian dance.

Madeleine Eastoe and Robert Curran in The Australian Ballet’s Divergence. Photo Jeff Busby.

Liz Lea DancePerformer and choreographer Liz Lea specialises in contemporary and classical Indian dance and martial arts. InFlight, a collaboration with the NLA and the National Film and Sound Archive, is based around the early days of aviation and flight.

Alison Plevey and Liz Lea in InFlight. Photo: Lorna Sim

Restless Dance Theatre

Based in Adelaide, Restless is an integrated dance company where the art is made by young people for a diverse audience. The company has three core areas of activity: Community Workshop Education Program, Youth Ensemble and Touring Company.

Lorcan Hopper in Salt. Photo: Sam Oster

Lisa Wilson ProjectsLisa Wilson creates distinctive and original performance works which layer striking visual design, powerful yet intricate physicality and an overall sense of the human condition.

Lisa Wilson and Timothy Ohl in Lisa Wilson’s Lake. Photo: Fen-Lan Chuang

Kage Physical Theatre

More than dance. Not quite theatre. Not circus, or poems, or dreams, but like these ... Kage strike out for new ground; innovating and reconceiving dance theatre to draw humour, humanity and pathos from the physicality of human bodies.

Henna Kaikula in Forklift. Photo: Heidrun Lohr

Francesca ‘La Chica’ Grima in Gypsy Pathways. Photo: Nicola Palmieri.

Red Chair Productions

Celebrating the epic nature of the great gypsy migration, Gypsy Pathways delves into the rich and diverse cultures that the Romani people brought with them, with their kathak traditions from India, and encountered and integrated with their own, during their travels through Persia (now Iran) and North Africa.

Makeshift Dance Collective. Photo: FenLan Photography.

MakeShift Dance Collective

MakeShift is an independent, Brisbane-based collective of dancers and choreographers who create art that moves, grounds, arrests, reflects and questions.

The Ausdance insurance scheme

The dance industry has unique insurance needs, and we have developed a dance insurance product to meet them. The Ausdance insurance scheme provides cover for all types of performance and dance related activities.

QL2 in Landscape (2006). Photo: ArtAtelier

Deluge (Australia/Korea dance collaboration). Photo: Rick Clifford.

Jeremy NeideckJeremy Neideck (Motherboard Productions, QLD) is a director, performance artist, dancer, and composer with a strong focus on transcultural practices and exploring the convergence of extreme physicality with extended vocal techniques.

Madeleine Eastoe in Manon. Photo: Paul Scala

The Australian BalletVersatility, technical excellence and a warm, friendly style are the trademarks of The Australian Ballet; qualities that have earned both critical and audience acclaim. For over five decades The Australian Ballet has been the defining the face of ballet in our country.

Phillip Adams BalletLab

BalletLab aims to create groundbreaking contemporary dance-based works that stimulate and engage audiences, develop choreographic practice, propose new national and international presentation models and provide education opportunities for the next generation of Australian dance artists.

Aviary. Photo: Jeff Busby

BonemapCollaborating with project teams of interdisciplinary and visionary artists, Bonemap creates immersive art and performance with an emphasis on process and presentation.

Rebecca Youdell in Terrestrial Nerve. Photo: Russell Milledge.

Gareth BellingConfrontation as a catalyst for change is explored by choreographer Gareth Belling in his powerful collaboration with Collusion Music and Susan Hawkins. Set within the stark frame of a house, the work uncovers wounded hearts filled with hope amid the strewn remnants of relationships.

Gareth Belling and Rachael Walsh in Transient Beauty, choreographed by Gareth Belling. Photo: David Collins

De Quincey CoDe Quincey Co is committed to the development and empowerment of artists engaged in Bodyweather and body-based performance. The company strives to generate and inspire an environment of exchange and discussion around the performing arts and related disciplines.

Dale Thorburn ‘MistMan’ in De Quincey Co’s Inner Garden. Photo: Wendy Kimpton

National Dance Forum

The National Dance Forum is an event for the whole dance sector. Choreographers, dancers, independent artists, artistic directors, educators, researchers and dance producers meet to discuss and explore the unique qualities of dance as an artform and why we choose it as our mode of expression, communication or storytelling.

Coming again in 2015!

Sue Peacock and Stephan Karlsson in Sprung, choreographed by Sue Peacock. Photo: Christophe Canato. The NDF is a project of the Australia Council for the Arts and Ausdance National.

Six Women Standing in Front of a White Wall (dance/theatre installation). Photo: Silas Brow

Little Dove Theatre Arts

Artistic Director Chenoeh Miller (Motherboard Productions, QLD) is creating a new kind of theatre—a ‘theatre of love’—that uses philosophy, emotional intelligence and biology to make performance that truly connects with audiences and inspires them to make change.

Multiverse by Garry Stewart. Australian Dance Theatre in collaboration with Deakin University Motion.Lab. Photo: Bradley Axiak

Australian Dance Theatre

Constantly in demand for its innovative productions, ADT is Australia’s most active touring dance company. Garry Stewart has been the Artistic Director for 11 years and his distinctive choreography demands enormous versatility and strength from its dancers, who practice martial arts, breakdance, gymnastics, contact improvisation and yoga techniques.

Claire MarshallClaire Marshall’s Slowdive is a unique theatre experience transforming traditional theatre spaces into a night club—complete with a functional bar and door wench. Exploring the agendas of the DJ’s, the bar staff, the club owner and punters, Slowdive is a strangely compelling view of a good time going bad in dubious dealings.

SlowDive by Claire Marshall. Photo: Grant Marshall

Shaun Parker and Company

Shaun Parker & Company creates critically acclaimed dance productions which are renowned for their integration of stimulating choreographic forms, arresting musical scores and theatrical invention.

AM I. Photo: Branco Gaica

Bangarra Dance Theatre

Bangarra is a dance company that embraces, celebrates and respects Australia’s Indigenous people and their culture. Under the artistic direction of Stephen Page since 1991, Bangarra has emerged as Australia’s only national premier Indigenous performing arts company.

Deborah-Brown and Leonard Mickelo in Terrain. Photo: Greg Barrett

Australian Youth Dance Festival

10 – 16 April 2014

Young dancers from across Australia are getting ready to invade Renmark in the South Australian Riverland for the 2014 Australian Youth Dance Festival (AYDF). Supported by the Australia Council for the Arts and Country Arts SA, the AYDF enables young dancers to participate in a program of classes, screenings, performances and workshops. First held in 1997, the festival has a strong regional focus and looks to engage young people from across the country.

The 2014 AYDF is presented Ausdance SA. Dancer: Oshay Everus, Riverland Youth Theatre. Photo: Italo Verdure

Prying Eye Prying Eye work collaboratively with artists from many different art forms to create live contemporary performance works that are visually rich, resonantly sensory and beautifully simplistic. Technology gets carefully crafted to integrate with the work so that the content of the work gets effectively revealed to the audience.

Elizabeth Vilmanis in White Porcelain Doll. Photo: Ryadan Jeavons.

Phluxus2 Dance Collective

Creating socially conscious, boundary bashing and beautifully abstract stories, told through the transforming complexities of contemporary dance, Phluxus2’s recent work de-generator, a post apocalyptic dance installation, is currently available for tour.

Lucy Ingham and Alexander Baden Bryce in de-generator, choreographed by Nerida Matthaei. Photo: Josh Fraser

DancenorthDancenorth: regionally based, nationally respected and internationally desired. Located in Townsville amidst the picturesque tropical north of Australia, Dancenorth is proud of producing quality dance in a regional setting. The company has a strong local presence and a commitment to making art that a global audience wants to see.

Mass, choreographed by Raewyn Hill. Photo: Bottlebrush Studios

BlakDanceBlakDance Australia Ltd is a performing arts company which advocates for Indigenous contemporary dance in Australia with the vision to contribute significantly to the cultural landscape of Australian Dance.

Robert McGuiness. Photo: Victoria Morphy

Australian danceAustralia is home to a diverse range of dance creators, performers and artists who are renowned for their energy andopenness and willingness to experimentand take risks. Discover more of this rich cultural dance experience in Shaping the Landscape—Celebrating Dance in Australia.

Connect with artists, scholars and producers through the Australian Dance Council—Ausdance.

Lisa Griffiths in Sue Healey’s In Time. Photo: Alejandro Rolandi

I think Australian dancers have a certain energy, attack and enthusiasm that set us apart. We are a

particularly physical culture.

David Atkins

Australian dancers and choreographers are dynamic and

articulate in body, mind and spirit.

Stephanie Burridge

Educating, inspiring and supporting

the dance community in reaching its

potential as a dynamic force within

local, national and international

communities.

About usAustralia’s peak body for dance

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Ausdance National is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.