The nominees for one of the country’s most prestigious performing arts awards, the Australian Dance Awards (ADA), have been announced ahead of the Awards Ceremony at Arts Centre Melbourne on Sunday 24 September 2017.
Celebrating twenty years in 2017, the Awards are the pre-eminent event on the dance industry calendar. They recognise and honour dance artists, educators and administrators in 12 categories of achievement. Presented by Ausdance Victoria and Arts Centre Melbourne, the Awards are judged by a panel of dance professionals representing numerous sectors of the industry, following an open public nominations process, managed by Ausdance National.
“Ausdance Victoria is thrilled to be presenting the Australian Dance Awards in 2017,” said Michelle Silby, Executive Director Ausdance Victoria and NSW. “The Awards ceremony is an important celebration of the astonishing work that occurs both on and off the stage in dance across Australia.”
“We’re putting together an amazing array of performances and we can’t wait to welcome everyone to Melbourne. With the National Dance Forum following the Awards, September is the month to celebrate dance in Melbourne!”
Nominations were spread across the country, highlighting the depth and diversity of the national dance scene, with The Queensland Ballet and The Australian Ballet receiving three nominations each, and Melbourne’s Chunky Move and Lucy Guerin Inc, Townsville’s Dancenorth and the Darwin-based Tracks Dance Company all receiving two nominations each. The Lifetime Achievement Award and Hall of Fame recipients will be announced in August.
In recent years, the Awards have toured Australia, taking place in a different state each year; 2017 sees Melbourne host the event for the first time in seven years. Hosted by cabaret star Yana Alana, and dance sensation and 2017 ADA-nominee Benjamin Hancock, the Awards Ceremony will feature performances from Stephanie Lake Company, Raw and Rugged Dance Crew, The Australian Ballet and more.
To coincide with the 2017 Australian Dance Awards, an exhibition Ancestors and Anecdotes, 40 years of Australian Contemporary Dance – will open on 21 September at Lulu Gallery in North Melbourne – and pays homage to the invaluable work of Australia’s dance pioneers and the manner in which their legacy endures today.
The exhibition focuses on five legendary dance pioneers, Carole Johnson, Cheryl Stock AM, Margaret Lasica (via the perspective of her daughter Shelley), Shirley McKechnie AM and Elizabeth Cameron Dalman OAM.
The 2017 Australian Dance Awards will be presented at the Playhouse – Arts Centre Melbourne on Sunday 24 September. For more information, visit:
Image: The Australian Ballet’s production of Nijinsky – photo by Jeff Busby
Nominees for the 2017 Australian Dance Awards are:
AWARD FOR SERVICES TO DANCE:
Ben Cobham
Nicolette Fraillon AM
Jennifer Irwin
Philip Piggin
AWARD FOR SERVICES TO DANCE EDUCATION:
Sally Chance
Lesley Graham
Katrina Rank
Kim Walker
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMUNITY DANCE:
Liz Lea & collaborators – Great Sport!
Country Arts SA – Dance Jungle Gym
Tracks Dance Company – Landed
Sprung Integrated Theatre Inc. – Encounters
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN YOUTH DANCE:
Catapult Dance, The Flipside Project – In Search of the Lost Things
QL2 Dance – Connected
Slide Dance – Secrets
Tracks Dance Company – Milpirri (Kurdiji)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHOREOGRAPHY:
Anouk van Dijk – Rule of Thirds (Chunky Move)
Lucy Guerin – The Dark Chorus (Lucy Guerin Inc)
Kyle Page & Amber Haines – Rainbow Vomit (Dancenorth)
Natalie Weir – We Who Are Left (Queensland Ballet)
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A COMPANY:
The Australian Ballet – Nijinsky
Bangarra Dance Theatre – OUR Land People Stories
Queensland Ballet – Strictly Gershwin
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN INDEPENDENT DANCE:
Australian Dance Artists – Seven Impossible Pieces for Four Dancers
Dance Makers Collective – DADS
Praxis – Dark Matter
Liesel Zink – The Stance
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE DANCER:
Natalie Allen – Decadence Perth 2016 (STRUT Dance)
Amber Haines – Syncing Feeling (Dancenorth)
Ako Kondo – Coppélia (The Australian Ballet)
Clare Morehen – Lest We Forget (Queensland Ballet)
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE DANCER:
Richard Causer – Black (Expressions Dance Company)
Benjamin Hancock – The Dark Chorus (Lucy Guerin Inc)
Kevin Jackson – Nijinsky (The Australian Ballet)
James Vu Anh Pham – Rule of Thirds (Chunky Move)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMERCIAL DANCE OR MUSICAL THEATRE:
Sarah Boulter – Dance Academy (ABC TV)
Jack Chambers – Singin’ in the Rain (Stage Entertainment & Chichester Festival)
Company 2 – Scotch & Soda
The Dream Dance Company – The Secret Society
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE ON FILM:
Juliet Burnett, Nicholas Robert Thayer & Gabrielle Adamidis – Letting Blood
Lucy Doherty – Mandala (One Dance Collective)
The Samaya Wives – The Knowledge Between Us
Sally Wicks & Dan Crestani – Empathy is the Devil (Sumi Productions)
Sydney Dance Company – Untamed