Table of contents for January-February-March 2022 in Dance Australia

WHEN you’re a dancer, you’d do almost anything to perform. Especially as you have spent years in training, especially when it is your life-long passion, especially when you’re starting out and need experience, especially if you want to be seen. You’d even dance for free. But you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t choreograph for free either. In this issue, we have published the first-hand account of one dancer who lost her job because she dared to question her employment conditions (see p.26). We have published it anonymously, as she requested. What she experienced was wrong and left her feeling traumatised and uncertain about her future. It’s hard to stick to your principles when there are always many more dancers than jobs and when you desperately want to work. It’s even harder if…

SELDOM have the words “end of an era” been so aptly chosen when Bangarra Dance Theatre announced that Stephen Page will step down as Bangarra Artistic Director in early 2023. Page’s resignation marks the end of a 32-year tenure at Bangarra, during which he has developed a unique body of works, many of which are now milestones in Australian performing arts history. He has established Bangarra as a critical part of the Australian cultural ecosystem and one of this country’s most lauded dance institutions. Stepping into his giant footsteps will be Kokatha woman, Frances Rings. She has a long association with Bangarra, firstly as a dancer when she joined in 2002, then as Resident Choreographer and most recently as Associate Artistic Director. Bangarra’s main program for 2022 is a double…

IN such a competitive profession, how do you hold the line on pay and conditions when there are other dancers lined up to take your place? It is a slippery slope for pre-professional and early career dancers. According to Julie Englefield, from Ausdance Queensland, dancers are the lowest paid profession within the performing arts. This just simply does not tally with the years of training, hard work, perseverance and dedication it takes to “make” it. But what happens if “making it” becomes a nightmare? One young dancer and graduate from a full-time pre-professional dance program has come forward to share her experience of what happened when she asked questions about her contract and stood up for herself in her “dream job”. This is her story: I am trying to make…

14 February 2022 • Launch of national dance survey on pay and conditions, including harassment, bullying and body shaming, to determine areas for change and improvement. Open to all dancers whether members or not. • Establishment of digital community for discussion and education. • Establishment of dance activist group who will meet regularly. • Establishment of public forums. Mid-May 2022 • Launch of report based on survey results. Mid-May 2022 • Launch of Dancers Australia union to define professional standards, pay and behaviour, and provide a safe place to interact. For around $7/week (TBC) • Dancers Australia benefits will include: • Contract review • Representation for pay and personal safety issues • Professional indemnity insurance https://www.meaa.org/download/ equity-minimums-2020/ Live Performance Award: https:// www.meaa.org/download/ ecs-malive-performance-award-v150626-pdf/…

IN March 2021, following Sydney Dance Company’s long postponed premiere of Impermanence, Barton Barton retired from the company as a dancer. She has continued to be as involved as ever – just now in different capacities. She was involved behind the scenes with the development of the made-for-digital Dreams; worked as Content Producer for Classes on Demand (the streaming service SDC launched earlier this year); and also in the temporary (maternity leave cover) full-time role as Rehearsal Associate. Barton has been one of SDC’s longest running dancers in recent times, joining roughly the same time as current Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela in 2008. Prior to SDC, she had been living and working in London where she danced with the Russell Maliphant Dance Company. One of the notable roles she danced…

Reach Out, an online mental health resource for teenagers and their parents: https://about.au.reachout.com/home Raising Children Network, an Australian parenting website: https://raisingchildren.net.au. Emerging Minds: https://emergingminds.com.au. The Kids Helpline provides 24 hour telephone or webchat support and email contact for children & teenagers and parents: https://kidshelpline.com.au. The NSW Department of Education provides links to numerous agencies: https://bit.ly/3FYD7q0.…

Have examinations changed over the years? I have been part of the Comdance examination system for 70 years, first as a student, then as a teacher and now as the most senior examiner. Over this time the society has grown from a small number of teachers in four Australian States with the examinations covering Classical Ballet, Tap Theatrical, Ballroom and Highland Dancing to a worldwide organisation with examinations now including Modern Jazz, Contemporary Dance, Hip Hop, Performing Arts, Latin and even Line Dancing. Many students do multiple examinations in the various styles. The work being produced by some of the young dancers today is quite amazing. In the early days the visiting examiner would give the teachers information verbally at the conclusion of the examination session. Today all information is…

AN exhibition celebrating the life of ballerina and Queensland local luminary, Lisa Bolte, is being held at the Redland Museum, south of Brisbane. Titled “Redland to Russia, Lisa Bolte, My Ballet Career”, it will highlight some of her most remarkable and memorable moments and run from March 12 to May 28. Lisa was principal dancer with The Australian Ballet between 1986 and 2002 and still appears as a guest artist. (Watch out for an excerpt from Lisa’s memoirs on our website.) Here she is pictured in one of her most notable roles: Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, photo courtesy The Australian Ballet. “Ballet speaks to those who comprehend the silent eloquence of limbs in motion.”— Edgar Degas…

LET’S not mention pandemics and lockdowns and vaccinations, cancellations and postponements. Let’s forget about the past nearly two years of Covid-19. Companies are returning to the stage, with fabulous programs on which to feast in the year ahead. To start with our national ballet company. The Australian Ballet’s 2022 season, the second under artistic director David Hallberg, is a mix of both traditional and groundbreaking dance that brings together top choreographic names from around the world. (See interview with Hallberg on p.20.) It opens with the a new Anna Karenina, which made it onto stage last year in Adelaide before the season was put on hold. A co-production with America’s Joffrey Ballet, choreographed by Russian-born Yuri Possokhov, it was lauded as “a triumph” by Dance Australia critic Maggie Tonkin. Melbourne…

M.D. Where can dancers turn if they have concerns or questions about employment conditions and rights? Ausdance: If they are a member of Ausdance, they can contact us via our website (https://ausdance.org.au) or call us. If they’re not a member, they can also join via our website. The Fair Work Ombudsman offers resources and guidance on their website (https://www.fairwork.gov.au /). M.D. What rights do dancers have in relation to employment agreements and contracts? Ausdance: It will depend on the terms of their contract, and particularly whether they are an independent contractor or employee. Depending on these terms, they may be entitled to a number of things under a modern award or legislation (i.e. Fair Work Act 2009), including minimum rates of pay; paid or unpaid leave and minimum and/ or…

NEGOTIATING employment contracts and conditions of work as independent artists can be a minefield. Yet the “gig economy”, according to the Actuaries Institute, has seen a nine-fold increase in Australia in the past six years. Many performers and workers in the arts sector are familiar with the concept of working as a freelance operator or contractor – engaged on project work or productions on a short-term or temporary basis. Pay and conditions are very different for performers working as a contractors rather than employees. While there are some benefits, including freedom, travel and the chance to engage in a wide variety of interesting projects or productions, these positives come at the cost of security and stability. For young early-career dancers who are facing the possibility of a future as an…

Barton’s early movement training was in callisthenics, which she did at a national level for 10 years. She started ballet at 16 at Terri Charlesworth Ballet School (then associated with the Graduate College of Dance in Perth). She later moved to WAAPA, “and discovered I was much more interested in contemporary dance”. “I enjoyed learning ballet, but it probably was a good thing that I came into it quite late. Because it can be quite crushing for young girls when they really, really want it and they can get a bit burnt out.” There’s also the matter of her height. Barton has remarkably long slender limbs which give her distinctively elongated lines. And at 180 cm, Barton says she doesn’t think she’s ever met any female dancers taller than herself.…

GIVEN that the final two programs of the Australian Ballet’s planned 2021 Sydney season had been cancelled due to pandemic restrictions, the unexpected introduction of the AB’s Celebration Gala, held in Sydney and Melbourne at the end of the year, was most welcome. The gala program in Sydney (reviewed November 25) comprised a series of 10 pas de deux ranging from classical to contemporary, from serious drama to joyous abandon. On opening night these were danced by a cast of 14 dancers, giving Sydney audiences a chance to see a selection of principals, senior artists and soloists under the spotlight in full costume but without sets. In the opening duet, La Favorita (choreographed by Petal Miller-Ashmole), soloist Yuumi Yamada confidently held her own, dancing alongside experienced principal dancer and virtuoso…

Have examinations/assessments changed over the years and what is different now? Our mission at Acrobatic Arts is to be at the forefront of the AcroDance industry in safety, progressional development, teacher support and inclusion. One feature of our exams is that students can expect a class setting with the examiner directing the class. They give dancers helpful tips and encouragement throughout the exam in addition to evaluating them. We revise our syllabus periodically to provide the most current and highest standard of excellence. In the Pre-Professional levels, we added a performance piece that allows dancers to showcase their talent in a choreographed routine of their choice. Pre-Professional 3 includes an interview portion, giving dancers this experience as they transition into the professional industry. The recent addition of our Pin Program…

What do you enjoy about your job? I think the most enjoyable part of my job is being able to share my passion for dance and to see students succeed and grow, whatever their individual ability levels. From a syllabus point of view, it is so exciting and rewarding to see them progress from struggling with new challenges early in the year to the confidence and strength they display at exam time. What was the procedure to qualify to be an examiner/assessor? Many years ago, as I ran a large and successful dance studio with a very high standard of student passes, I was invited and trained to become an examiner (already being the holder of formal teaching qualifications). In more recent times trainee examiners not only have to have…

AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF CLASSICAL DANCE  e: president.aicd@ballet.org.au w: www.ballet.org.au BBODANCE  e: info@bbo.dance w: https://bbo.dance/ & https://bbo.dance/australasia BRITISH DANCING ASSOCIATION  e: info@bdadance.com.au w: www.bdadance.com.au CLASSICAL DANCE AUSTRALIA (CDA )  e: info@classicaldanceaustralia.com.au CHOREOCRAFT  e: choreocraft@icloud.com w: www.choreocraft.com DANCERHYTHMICS  e: kmaile@bigpond.net.au GLENN WOOD TAP  e: office@glennwoodtap.com w: www.glennwoodtap.com IMPERIAL SOCIETY OF TEACHERS OF DANCING (ISTD)  w: www.istd.org MOVEMENT AND DANCE EDUCATION CENTRE  e: jane@laurelmartyndance.com SOUTHERN FEDERATION OF DANCE  e: info@dancesfd.asn.au w: www.dancesfd.asn.au…

OPERA Australia has announced that its much awaited production of Phantom of the Opera will now be presented at the Sydney Opera House from August 19 and Arts Centre Melbourne from October 30. This new production broke box office history at the Opera House when tickets went on sale in 2021, but the show was postponed for obvious reasons. The choreographer is Simone Sault, who danced the main dance role of Meg Girys herself in the 1998 Australasian tour and has had a career spanning Sydney Dance Company to films such as Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. She now lives in New York but will be returning to Australia to work with director Simon Phillips on Phantom. Opera Australia is also presenting the Tony-Award winning production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s…

ENDING exploitation can be difficult because often it has become so entrenched and accepted that those involved may not realise they are being exploited. There is a Catch-22 in the scarcity of adequately paid dance work, which is filled by the elite of the elite. Those who can’t pick and choose resort to rationalising the remaining underpaid jobs as “opportunities”. Some may believe they are making a willing choice that will benefit them, now or later – experience or exposure, anybody? But nobody should have to discount their skills to gain either. For example, when university graduates in academic-based fields enter the workforce, they’re not paid under the minimum wage. Yet pro dancers are constantly faced with this situation – even those who have well and truly “paid their dues”.…

Have examinations/assessments changed over the years? One of ADV’s stand out features is its approach to assessments. While still a formal examination environment, students are assessed in a more welcoming fashion. Nametags are preferred over numbers, a wholistic approach is taken to dance education with theory including history, safe dance, music and terminology assessed alongside the practical work, and students can elect to be assessed with or without a grade. There is a place for the aspiring professional and the recreational dancer. What is the purpose of exams/ assessments and why do you think they are beneficial? Exams and assessments set benchmarks for achievements and standards. They give us a “measuring stick” for the dancer to assess what skills they have achieved, and where their capabilities should be at. They…

What was the procedure to qualify to be an examiner/assessor? After I finished dancing professionally, I was drawn to teaching. I knew I wanted to share my love of dance and pass on my knowledge so this is where this journey began. I was trained in the Cecchetti Method, so I went back to my roots. Cecchetti Ballet Australia has a rigorous system of examinations for professional teaching qualifications. When I was training there were five levels: Associate, Associate Diploma, Licentiate, Licentiate Diploma and Fellowship. It took eight years for me to acquire these qualifications. I was then invited to apply for the position of examiner. I went through an interview process and started training. The Categories of examiner are: Level 1 able to examine at Pre-Primary to Intermediate; Level…

What was the procedure to qualify to be an examiner? When I applied in 1998, I had to pass two auditions to be accepted onto the training course. The first consisted of teaching a class in my own school in Harare, Zimbabwe, in front of an examiner and then having an interview with that examiner. The second required me to fly to Johannesburg in South Africa and undertake a syllabus exam, where I had to perform selected exercises/ dances from all the male and female graded syllabi, conduct a mock exam (including writing a report), and then have a final interview with the Head of Examiners, plus two other examiners. On passing that audition, I flew to the RAD headquarters in London for six weeks for a training course –…