Following a high volume of applications received from choreographers around the nation, The Australian Ballet is pleased to announce the successful recipients of its annual Residency Program – Prue Lang and Deanne Butterworth.
As part of The Australian Ballet’s commitment to nurture creative talent, support the dance community and provide pathways for choreographic collaboration, the Residency Program offers Lang and Butterworth access to a rehearsal space and facilities at the Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre in 2024/2025. The Australian Ballet will also provide a grant of $18,000 to both choreographers to support them over their residency period.
Hailing from Melbourne, Lang is an experienced performer and choreographer and will move into the Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre in April, while The Australian Ballet is on tour for the Sydney seasons of Carmen and Études / Circle Electric.
She will use this opportunity to commence the creation of her new work POESIS, which brings together two exceptional award-winning performers Amber McCartney and Benjamin Hancock, with renowned composer and DJ Chiara Costanza.
POESIS aims to explore dance that celebrates the virtuosic and the exquisite, drawn from a vibrant array of physical movement.
“The Australian Ballet’s Residency Program opportunity is an absolute gift. Being in residency at The Australian Ballet, renowned for its rigorous and profound dance practices, perfectly aligns with my urgent need for the crucial resources to explore and share exciting new artistic territory with my dancers on a new creative development,” said Lang.
“I want to thank David Hallberg and the team at The Australian Ballet for this wonderful opportunity, which creates a new bridge to the Independent Dance Sector, bringing vital support to mid-career and established dance artists to continue our choreographic craft,” she continued.
Melbourne-based dancer and choreographer Butterworth will commence her residency in 2025 to crystalise her new work Half Half. A contemporary production juxtaposing rigorously complex dancing with a slowing down of movement, Half Half will investigate the multiplicity of dancing, examining attention, duality, and opposition in physical and mental states of being.
“The Australian Ballet Studio Residency at the Primrose Potter Centre will provide me with much needed studio space and resources to experiment and develop new work with other dancers in a supported environment,” said Butterworth.
“I know this residency will have a profound impact on my practice now and into the future with its effects extending beyond the studio period. I feel a sense of buoyancy already and can’t wait to start! Thank you to David Hallberg and The Australian Ballet for initiating this vital program,” added Butterworth.
“The Australian Ballet is committed to supporting Australia’s rich and diverse dance ecosystem, and we are delighted to welcome Prue Lang and Deanne Butterworth to the Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre create their new works,” said The Australian Ballet’s Artistic Director, David Hallberg.
Lang and Butterworth were selected by a panel comprising of The Australian Ballet’s Artistic Director David Hallberg, internationally renowned choreographer Bebe Miller, multi-award-winning choreographer Stephanie Lake and CEO and Artistic Director of Dancehouse, Josh Wright.
Launched in 2022, previous successful recipients of The Australian Ballet’s Residency Program include established choreographer and former Artistic Director of Danceworks, Sandra Parker and Artistic Director of the Northern Territory Dance Company, Gary Lang.
For more information about The Residency Program, visit: www.australianballet.com.au for details.
Image: Deanne Butterworth and Prue Lang – courtesy of The Australian Ballet