Contemporary dance in Australia is diverse with

dance companies This is a list of notable dance and ballet companies. Notes References See also * List of folk dance performance groups *List of ballet companies in the United States {{Dance Companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a leg ...

performing a broad range of what elsewhere may be termed contemporary and

modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

dance styles. The two largest companies are Sydney Dance Company and Bangarra Dance Theatre, both based in Sydney and touring nationally. Other notable contemporary dance companies based in different parts of Australia include Australian Dance Theatre, Chunky Move and

Dancenorth Dancenorth is a contemporary dance company based in Townsville, North Queensland, Australia. Founded as the North Queensland Ballet Company in 1969, Dancenorth performs for regional, national and international audiences. Dancenorth has prese ...

. Contemporary arts centres like

Arts House Arts House is a centre for contemporary performance and interactive artforms in Melbourne, Australia. Established in 2006, it is a program of the City of Melbourne. It supports and presents a range of experimental theatre Experimental theatre ...

in Melbourne and

Carriageworks Carriageworks is a multi-arts urban cultural precinct located at the former Eveleigh Railway Workshops in Redfern, Sydney, Australia. Carriageworks showcases contemporary art and performing arts, as well as being used for filming, festivals, fa ...

in Sydney regularly feature contemporary dance in their programs. Major performing arts festivals, like the

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

Sydney Festival Sydney Festival is a major arts festival in Australia's largest city, Sydney that runs for three weeks every January, since it was established in 1977. The festival program features in excess of 100 events from local and international artists an ...

and

Perth Festival Perth Festival, named Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) between 2000 and 2017, and sometimes referred to as the Festival of Perth, is Australia's longest-running cultural festival, held annually in Western Australia. The program features ...

, often commission and present contemporary dance. Contemporary dance-specific festivals include

Dance Massive Dance Massive is a festival for Australian contemporary dance. It is held in Melbourne every two years, generally in March. Dance Massive was first held in 2009, originally established by Arts House, Dancehouse and the Malthouse Theatre. It has sin ...

in Melbourne. Most companies work on a project basis with artists contracted for a set period of time, ranging from days to months, with no guarantee of further employment. Other funding sources include project specific funding for a dance work by example by a festival or performance venue to raise the expenses required to bring it to fruition.

Dance film

Dance film provides one mode of contemporary dance in Australia with the ReelDance Festival, being the main avenue, with other opportunities being through installations at venues such as night clubs, back alley's to art galleries, shown as part of a live performance, or sometimes purchased for home viewing.

On television

So You Think You Can Dance Australia ''So You Think You Can Dance Australia'' is an Australian version of the American reality dance competition ''So You Think You Can Dance''. The show is hosted by Carrie Bickmore, with judges Paula Abdul, Shannon Holtzapffel, Jason Gilkison and ...

has drawn criticism for poorly representing dance as an art form. ABC1 broadcasts contemporary dance as part of its

Sunday Arts Sunday Arts is a weekly program on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in Australia every Sunday. It gives a broad view of the various artists working in Australia today ranging from theatre, music, visual art, film, literature, to ind ...

programming.

Companies

Australian contemporary dance companies include: * Australian Dance Theatre (based in Adelaide) * Bangarra Dance Theatre (based in Sydney) * Chunky Move (based in Melbourne) * Co3Co3
/ref> (based in Perth) *

(based in Townsville) *

Force Majeure In contract law, (from Law French: 'overwhelming force', ) is a common clause in contracts which essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such ...

(based in Sydney) *

Expressions Dance Company Expression may refer to: Linguistics * Expression (linguistics), a word, phrase, or sentence * Fixed expression, a form of words with a specific meaning * Idiom, a type of fixed expression * Metaphorical expression, a particular word, phrase, ...

(based in Brisbane) * Dance Hub SA (formerly Leigh Warren & Dancers, based in Adelaide) *

Restless Dance Company Restless Dance Theatre, formerly Restless Dance Company, is a dance theatre company based in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Founded in 1991, Restless works with people with and without disability. History The Restless Dance Company w ...

(based in Adelaide) * SCIMM Dance Company (based in Melbourne) * Sydney Dance Company (based in Sydney) * Tasdance (based in Launceston) *

Tracks Inc Tracks is a dance theatre company based in Darwin, Northern Territory. History Tracks dance company was founded in 1994, although its beginnings lie in a community dance program in 1988. It has completed residencies in Lajamanu (1989 and 1990) a ...

(based in Darwin)

References

External links

Contact QuarterlyReal Time Arts MagazineWritings on DanceCritical PathDancehouseStompin Youth Dance Company
Dance in Australia Contemporary dance {{contemporary-dance-stub