The who’s who of Australian dance gathered at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday 9 November to attend the gala awards ceremony for the 2014 Australian Dance Awards.
Hosted by Frances Rings and Kip Gamblin it was a night to recognise and honour excellence in the industry. It was also a showcase of the diversity of dance with performances ranging from Team9Lives parkour to The Australian Ballet’s excerpt from Cinderella and almost everything in between.
Returning to the Opera House for the first time in 8 years, the Australian Dance Awards are the professional dance industry’s pre-eminent annual awards that features 11 categories of achievement covering dance artists, educators and administrators.
The Awards have been running in their current format since 1997 and have become the peak event on the dance industry calendar. In recent years the Awards have toured Australia – being held in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra.
Following an open public nominations process, the Awards were judged by a panel of dance professionals representing many different sectors of the industry from all over Australia.
The 2014 Australian Dance Award Winners are:
Services to Dance
Annie Greig [Artistic Director, Tasdance]
Services to Dance Education
Janet Karin OAM [Kinetic Educator, The Australian Ballet School; President, IADMS]
Outstanding Achievement in Youth or Community Dance
Buzz Dance Theatre for Look the Other Way
Outstanding Achievement in Choreography
Stephanie Lake – Aorta [Chunky Move]
Outstanding Performance by a Company
The Australian Ballet – Cinderella
Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance
Dalisa Pigram – Gudirr Gudirr
Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer
Leanne Stojmenov – Cinderella [The Australian Ballet]
Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer
James Vu Anh Pham – Aorta [Chunky Move]
Outstanding Achievement in Commercial Dance or Musical Theatre
Red Hot Rhythm – Rhythm Junkies
Outstanding Achievement in Dance on Film / New Media
Sue Healey – On View
For more information, visit: www.australiandanceawards.net.au for details.
Image: Tasdance’s Annie Grieg – photo by Jen Brown