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Australian Dance Theatre

Australian Dance Theatre is one of the most influential dance companies in the country and has been producing consistently great repetoire since it was formed in Adelaide in 1965.

Under the artistic direction of Garry Stewart since 1999, the company has taken a radically distinct trajectory. ADT dancers train in a number of specific physical disciplines. As well as contemporary dance techniques and classical ballet, they are coached intensively in ashanta yoga, martial arts and gymnastics. The result is a fusion of forms which constitutes a unique choreographic palette for which there is no equivalent in Australia. Garry Stewart’s work is characterised by his ‘no-compromise’ attitude. It’s fast, powerful, technically demanding, fraught with risk and charged with an urgency that is riveting to watch. It is extraordinary dance – critically acclaimed, award winning and thrilling audiences around the globe.

ADT actively promotes audience development and diversification, offering attractively priced tickets to ensure access and equity across the board. It also firmly believes in the importance of a strong youth policy as exemplified by the company’s annual season of Ignition and youth dance workshops.

ADT has developed new works created by Garry Stewart, including the highly acclaimed Housedance, Birdbrain, the multi-award winning The Age of Unbeauty, Nothing, HELD and Devolution. HELD was a critical and popular success in its debut season at the 2004 Adelaide Bank Festival and has since won six national awards, including the prestigious 2004 Helpmann Award for Best Choreography in a Ballet or Dance Work. Devolution won the 2006 Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work and Best Lighting Design.

The company tours extensively, having performed several seasons at the Sydney Opera House along with seasons at Melbourne International Festival, Brisbane, Canberra and Darwin. International tours have seen the company perform at the Galway Arts Festival (Ireland), the Seoul Arts Festival (Korea), the Singapore Arts Festival, the National Centre for the Arts (Ottawa), Harbourfront Theatre (Toronto), Queen Elizabeth Hall (London), the Joyce Theatre (New York) and the Holland Dance Festival. In November 2005 ADT became the first Australian company invited to perform at Theatre de la Ville in Paris. Considered the best dance venue in Europe, this break through performance of HELD sold out three weeks in advance.

In 2004 / 2005 the company toured throughout Europe, the UK and the US, taking in 45 venues with 68 performances which were seen by over 40,000 people. When ADT returned to Australia it joined with Restless Dance Company to develop Vocabulary, a collaborative work that astounded Adelaide audiences with its two part exploration of words and meaning. Nascent, the film created by Gina Czarnecki and choreographed by Garry Stewart, debuted at the 2005 Adelaide Film Festival, won the Ausdance Australian Dance Award for Dance Film.

Following the world premiere season of Devolution in March 2006 the company joined other leading Australian companies for Unified, a dance gala for UNICEF at the Sydney Opera House. They returned to Europe for an extensive tour of The Age of Unbeauty from mid April to early June. Ignition returned to the ADT Studios and metropolitan stages in early August, taking on the challenge of presenting new works “on the world’s smallest stage”. The company will travel to Japan and Europe to perform HELD from September through to November.

Expressions Dance Company

Expressions Dance Company is a company limited by guarantee, founded in 1984 by Founding Artistic Director, Maggi Sietsma and General Manger/Composer, Abel Valls. It is Brisbane’s only professional contemporary dance company.

INNOVATION, ORIGINALITY and ENERGY have been the trademark of Expressions Dance Company since its debut in 1985. Founded under the Artistic Direction of Maggi Sietsma AM, Expressions is acclaimed for its high calibre and compelling brand of dance theatre. Expressions creates works in which speech, dance and visual media combine and confront each other. Radical yet accessible, Expressions pushes the boundaries of dance and theatre, creating meaning with powerful imagery and movement.

Through a hectic program of main stage performances, touring productions in Australia and overseas, schools productions, and school and community dance classes, Expressions keeps itself at the forefront of contemporary dance. The company has toured to over 15 countries in recent years and in 1997 was the recipient of the Sidney Myer Award for excellence in the Performing Arts, Australia’s most prestigious national performing arts award.

The company has achieved national and international recognition through its extensive touring program and has performed at festivals throughout the world. In recent years the company has performed in the USA, Germany, Great Britain, Austria, Switzerland, China, Macau, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Israel, Mexico and New Caledonia. These tours have included the Taipei International Festival, the Ludwigsburg (Stuttgart) International Festival, The Beijing Modern Dance Festival, Tokyo’s Next Wave Festival, Linz (Austria) Dance Festival, and The 2nd Guandong Modern Dance Festival.

The company gave its first performance in Brisbane in 1985 as part of the national conference of the Australian Society for Education in the Arts. The first production was Maggi Sietsma’s Snow Drops and in that first year the company’s commitment to presenting contemporary works by Australian choreographers was clear. Over the years Expressions has featured the work of many Australian choreographers such as Natalie Weir, Rosetta Cook, Graeme Watson and Sue Peacock. Since 1985 Maggi Sietsma has created over thirty-five works for Expressions including the widely acclaimed Alone Together, Rites of Spring and Virtually Richard3. Abel Valls has created original scores for many of the company’s works.

Expressions Dance Company has performed at festivals throughout the world and has earned its reputation as one of Australia’s most dynamic contemporary dance companies, achieving national and international recognition for works in which speech, dance and visual media combine to create powerful imagery and intriguing dance.

The company’s history is defined by a hectic program of main stage performances, touring productions, schools productions and school and community dance classes. By continuing to develop this program and find new ways of engaging audience and artist, Expressions keeps itself at the forefront of contemporary dance.

In January 1985, the company had its debut performance at the Lyric Theatre, as part of the Australian Society for Education in the Arts national conference. Here they performed Snow Drops, choreographed by Maggi Sietsma. Since then, the company’s repertoire has included many original works by Maggi Sietsma as well as works by other prominent Australian choreographers, including Graeme Watson, Jonathan Taylor, Margaret Wilson, Guy Detot, John Nobbs, Jacqui Carrol, Natalie Weir and Don Asker.

The company comprises two dance teams - the largest of these employs eight dancers who specialize in theatre seasons and full evening length performances, This group tours Queensland, performing repertoire from its theatre seasons as well as working in high schools teaching and workshopping. This main part of the company has also toured repertoire both nationally and internationally.

As well as its main company, Expressions has a separate touring team of three dancers that travels throughout the regional centres of Queensland performing primary and high school shows as part of Expressions’ dance-in-education program. In 1987, Expressions was presented with the Australian Society For Education In The Arts Excellence Award. Since its inception, the company has received continuous support from the Federal Government (through the Australia Council) and the State Government (through Arts Queensland).

Ballet - Sleeping Beauty Prince by Daniil Simkin

The Australian Ballet School

The Australian Ballet School is the school of The Australian Ballet and as such is the national centre of excellence in classical dance training.

The Australian Ballet School was established in 1964, just fifteen months after the national company gave its first performance at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Sydney. Founding Director Dame Margaret Scott DBE was to shape the School’s destiny for the next 27 years. Since Dame Margaret’s retirement, the School has seen only two other Directors, Gailene Stock AM (1990-1998), and Marilyn Rowe OBE.

From the moment that a national company was under consideration, so too was the establishment of a national school. The Australian Ballet School was therefore founded as an essential adjunct to the Company. To this day, the School and Company share the same long term goal: a truly unique Australian Ballet with a distinctive style of its own. Nowhere, but in the official school of the national company, can a unique company style be fostered and developed. And no other school is better placed to channel the best talent into the national company.

Approximately 95% of The Australian Ballet are graduates of The Australian Ballet School. Graduates can also be found as principals and soloists in major companies throughout the world. Such is the standard of excellence that within six months of graduating, 90% of students gain contracts. This is one of the highest employment rates of any tertiary institution in Australia.

The School works in close liaison with The Australian Ballet, sharing the purpose-built facilities of The Australian Ballet Centre in Southbank. The centre is adjacent to the Victorian Arts Centre, integrated into a creative environment in which Australian dance is able to flourish.

The influence of the School permeates many other areas relating to dance. The teaching of Benesh Notation was first introduced into Australia by the School, contributing much to the international growth of choreology. Choreographic talent has been nurtured with many graduates establishing distinguished reputations, including Graeme Murphy, Meryl Tankard, Stephen Baynes and Gideon Obarzanek. The School also collaborated in the establishment of the first dance medicine clinic in Australia.

The Australian Ballet School has approximately 90 students in the Senior School (Levels 6-8) undertaking the three year Advanced Diploma. This three year full-time course offers the students a practical, vocational course in classically based training.

The final year of this course is primarily devoted to learning performance skills. The students of the graduate year make up the body of The Dancers Company. The Dancers Company was formed in 1980, and is an integrated part of The Australian Ballet, under the direction of the Artistic Director, David McAllister. It takes the highest quality dance productions to regional areas around Australia for approximately six weeks each year.

The Australian Ballet School’s full training programme offers an eight year course for gifted students from the age of ten.

The Junior School (Levels 1-5) is offered to only a small number of selected students who show aptitude and potential for high quality achievement in dance. Even though the Junior School is Melbourne based, selected students are chosen to participate in the Interstate Junior Programme.

The audition process is stringent, to ensure that the successful applicants have the potential to meet the ultimate vocational goals of the programme. The Junior School programme culminates in the accredited Certificate III in Dance. Level 5 is full time, with Year 10 academic studies conducted at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School. In time we will be able to provide an eight year course of systematic training whereby intensive ballet training runs concurrently with academic studies.

The Academy of Performing Arts Macarthur

The Academy of Performing Arts Macarthur is a centre of enjoyment & excellence for students to gain a love and appreciation of the performing arts.

Located in Narellan, in the Macarthur region of Sydney, the Academy has certainly grown from our humble beginnings in the early 90s, where we started out teaching in a little hall in Camden.

With innovative new programs and enthusiastic, caring teachers, the Academy now provides students with 5 fully equipped studios under the one roof, offering classes 6 days a week in dance, singing and theatre for students aged from 3 years through to professional level.

One of the most important aspects of the Academy is our teaching philosophy - that students learn best when they enjoy what they do. This ethos of enjoying yourself as you learn has been consistently maintained from the very beginning, and one that is shared by all teachers at the Academy, creating a unique and friendly atmosphere of which we are proud.

The Academy of Performing Arts Macarthur has a history stretching back over 25 years.

Pauline Hincks School of Ballet

In 1979, Pauline Hincks opened the first fully equipped studios (Pauline Hincks School of Ballet) in the Macarthur area opposite the Dumaresq Street cinemas in Campbelltown. The studio became a launching pad for a number of young professional performers many of whom got their start at the studio and with the attached Macarthur Youth Ballet which toured extensively throughout NSW.

Learning at the school throughout this time was Pauline’s daughter Danielle. After studying full time at the Victorian College of the Arts, Hallidays Dance Centre, and finally with private tuition from Brett Morgan (rehearsal director for Sydney Dance Company), Danielle was offered a contract with Ballet Omaha in the USA in 1991 at the age of sixteen.

Whilst in the USA, Danielle travelled extensively, attending some of the world’s most famous dance schools and companies including the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and the Joffrey Ballet School then based in New York City.

Academie de Classique

Meanwhile, Pauline had since returned to the Macarthur region after a couple of years classical coaching in Melbourne, and began offering classes in the old church hall next to St Johns in Camden under the name ‘Academie de Classique.’

With a fine reputation for quality training, the academy quickly outgrow the church hall, and fully equipped studios were soon built in the upstairs suites of the Village Court in Argyle Street, Camden.

ADC Performing Arts Centre

Returning to Australia at the end of 1993, Danielle began teaching at the academy and the fledgling school grew even further. Students soon found it easier telling friends that their new found skills were being learnt at ‘ADC’. This led to a change of name from Academie de Classique to ADC Performing Arts Centre.

With Danielle and Pauline both now at the helm, the focus was now set on creating a performing arts school in the Macarthur area which combined a friendly atmosphere with first-rate facilities and teaching.

By 1998, with ADC starting to outgrow it’s Camden studios, the search was on to find a location to house a dream for the area… a first-class performing arts facility where students could feel inspired and supported, and a place which could continue to attract and keep the finest teachers in Sydney.

They were offered the opportunity to move into their current purpose designed location in Narellan in August 1998. At Narellan, the studio continued to grow, adding drama/acting and singing.

The Academy of Performing Arts Macarthur

In October 2002, Danielle officially took over the reigns as sole Academy Director, renaming the studio ‘The Academy of Performing Arts Macarthur’ to signify a fresh new era and beginning for the studio.

Now, the Academy continues to be a dream come true, not just for the teachers, but more importantly for the students who are now learning in a truly wonderful environment.

And with some of the most sought after teachers in Australia passing on their love of the performing arts, they continue to provide the youth and people of Macarthur with the best in performing arts education & facilities.

The Ballet Lubbock

The Ballet Lubbock Company was formed with the goal to present quality ballet performances for the local community and provide advanced ballet students with the opportunity to prepare for a career in dance. It is the official company of the Ballet Lubbock School.

Ballet Lubbock is a 501(c)(3) educational, nonprofit organization. It was founded in 1969 by Suzanne Aker and has since grown into a successful ballet school.

More than 50 Ballet Lubbock alumni have gone on to professional dance careers and teaching posts in the U.S. and abroad. Ballet Lubbock is the only pre-professional school of classical ballet with a performing company in West Texas/Eastern New Mexico. Students from the school are consistently accepted to the nation’s top-ranked professional summer ballet programs and intensives.

The school provides scholarships to students showing artistic merit and financial need. Ballet Lubbock’s mission has always been to provide classical ballet training to students aged 3 through adults and to maintain a pre-professional performing company. Under the direction of Artistic Director Yvonne Racz, all classes are taught with an emphasis on strong discipline and proper technique.

Whether a student wishes to pursue a professional dance career or simply enjoy the beauty and challenge of dance, our ultimate goal is to nurture a love and respect for the art of dance. Ballet Lubbock fulfills its goals by being able to provide Lubbock and surrounding communities with a school of classical dance and community performances that provide an understanding and appreciation of dance as a vital art form.

Ballet Lubbock’s Founder, Suzanne Aker, served as their first Artistic Director and Choreographer. Ms. Aker holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Art from Tulsa University, and has taught professionally for over 50 years. She holds Teacher Certification from the Royal Academy of Dance (England) and was instrumental in the creation of the Department of Dance at Texas Tech University.

Ms. Aker has been honored in many areas, including being named one of the Notable Women of Texas, the Chamber of Commerce Pathfinder Award, Who’s Who of America, Who’s Who of American Women, the National Dance Plaudit Award from National Dance Association and was the 9th person inducted into the Buddy Holly Hall of Fame. In 1998, Ms. Aker was honored as the first recipient of the Founders Award for Outstanding Service to Youth. Texas Tech University has presented Ms. Aker with its Certificate for Outstanding Choreography four times.

Choreography credits include Texas Tech Symphony, Lubbock Symphony, Texas Tech Theatre, Lubbock High School and the Garza Theatre, Post. In addition to her dance accomplishments, Ms. Aker has contributed articles to Dance Magazine, national and state physical education journals, authored a children’s book “What Comes in Two’s, Three’s and Four’s”, and illustrated several children books.

One of only a few icon artists in the Southwest, Suzanne Aker’s icons hang in churches in the United States and abroad. She formally retired as an instructor and as the Director of Community Outreach Program for Ballet Lubbock in May of 2000.

Ballet Alba

Founded in 1991, the Ballet Alba birth from the union of experimented and talented artists who put together all their knowledge in terms of dance, choreography, drama, music and song in order to serve the flamenco expression.

Enriched by its experience, the Ballet Alba has performed in many stages in Paris as well in cafés-théâtres as “Les Divans du Monde”, the “New Morning”, “La Chapelle des Lombards” as in prestigious stages like the “Palais des Congrès”, the “Théâtre Maubel-Michel Galabru”, the “Théâtre 18″.

Well-known artists as Manitas de Plata, El Chato, Serge Lama et Paco Ibáñez have invited the Ballet Alba to perform at their firsts parts in their shows.

The ballet has also traveled trough cities like Nice, Châtellerault, Poitiers, Monaco, Vichy and even across the French frontiers to conquer the Swiss, Belgium, Italian, Danish audiences.

Flamenco vivo, is a generous show, highly colored, emotionally rich, which express the values of an ancestral tradition.

Dancer’s gesture, power of the song, guitars’ chords take the audience trough the flamenco’s vertiginous spirals.

The audience get surprised by the repertoire wealthy juggling with “farruca’s” sobriety, “martinete’s” and “soleá’s” distress, “bulería’s” mischievousness, “alegría’s” freshness, “gipsy tango’s” sensuality.

Soft and nostalgic sequences follow purple passages performed by accomplished artists. Sumptuous costumes, reflecting the atmosphere of each act, will make you get in the magic of the show.

A Lorca, a homage to the great Spanish poet through the performance of his collection “Cantares populares”.

Love, jealousy, pass of the time, death… all these dear themes to Federico García Lorca that Ballet Alba let us discover or rediscover in an original directed play.

First of the 20th century, in a café in Madrid , a young man meet and seduce a beautiful gipsy woman. His jealous fiancée cannot accept such an offence. But the young man knows his nearest end because a fortune teller told him a few months before. He decides to follow his hearth, and, by this way, do not escape from his destiny.

Federico García Lorca is a great and emblematic figure of Spanish literature. Dead in 1936, shot by Franco’s army. Federico know how to touch through his worlds as well the lower class as the intellectual groups. This flamenco lover was at the origin, with the great Spanish compositor Manuel de Falla, of the first Festival de Cante Hondo which took place in Granada in 1927.

De Albéniz a Falla, flamenco’s mystery has fascinated many classical music composers. Their greatest art works are performed by the Ballet Alba’s dancers in a brilliant and refined show.

Five to ten dancers moving around carried by the greatest Spanish classical such “La Habanera” by Bizet, “España” by Chabrier, “La Danza del Molinero” by Falla… at which it mix pasodobles, “zarzuelas’ ” interludes and another philharmonics works.

Prestigious contemporary authors as Manolo Sanlúcar or Paco de Lucía inspire as well the dancers who bring us all theirs skills in the field of dance and theatrical performance.
Castanets sound, shawls’ and caps’ effects, fans’ fluttering ornament the enchantment of the show.

Ballet Alba let you choose of these three creations. It will adjust itself according to your budget and the available space. So, these precedent plays can be presented by 5 to 14 artists.

Ballet Giselle