Wednesday 4th Nov (I know I am so behind! I've been busy) - I met with Phil Callaghan from Ausdance at AC Arts (fantastic perfroming arts space/theatre/studios - reminded me a little of Laban). I spoke with him and his third year degree students about career pathways and courses. The vast size of Australian kept coming up - as a barrier in some ways, to collaboration of the sharing of skills/performances. The sheer size of this country puts constraints on how professional companies tour, highlighting how lucky we are in the UK to have each other and Europe on our doorstep really.
I met up with Phil again the next day at the Ausdance offices where the discussion centred on the 2012 Dance Plan coming into action here and the future of dance in Australia. Some ideas are aspirational but then they need to be in order to inspire a nation. Phil spoke about the cultural barriers, especially as Australia is a big sporting nation, and the how the nature of dance progression will depend often on the technological advancements and the country's next steps in health issues (obesity), mind set and funding pools.
On Thursday I also dropped in to see the third year students rehearse at AC Arts. They were being taught by Peter Sheedy, a well known dance figure and choreographer who has performed with the Australian Dance Theatre. nearing the end of their course the material was more free but still very technically difficult. The students have great agility, projection and extension, commanding presence in the space they were extremely engaging as they danced beautifully challenging material that works in multiple directions. A treat! These students are already being selected by outside companies to dance with them and some were already missing due to being on tour. The course is perfomance based with a strong focus on technique and some choreographic modules.
(Pic is of Festival Centre in Adelaide)
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