The Ballet Bible

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.