Shortlist announced for the 2016 Australian Dance Awards in Perth

Three months after the longlist was announced in April, the shortlist has now been officially revealed for the 2016 Australian Dance Awards, coming to Perth’s Heath Ledger Theatre on Sunday, September 18.

Presented by Harlequin Floors and Ausdance as part of the MoveMe Festival, the 2016 Australian Dance Awards will be a night-of-nights for professional dance, with 12 awards being bestowed, including the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, the coveted Outstanding Performance by a Company Award, and the highly-desired Outstanding Performances by Female and Male Dancers Awards.

The shortlist for the hotly-contested Awards features dancers and choreographers from major Australian dance companies, including Bangarra Dance Theatre, The Australian Ballet, Force Majeure, West Australian Ballet, Lucy Guerin Inc. and Sydney Dance Company. Dance filmmakers and youth dance organisations are well represented in the shortlist as they vie for their elusive trophies.

As always, the night will be a celebration of the best in Australian dance, with a performance showcase set to feature dancers from West Australian Ballet, Force Majeure, Co3, Strut, Ochre Contemporary Dance Company and Lucy Guerin Inc. The evening will also include the awarding of the Keith Bain Choreographic Travel Fellowship.

Ausdance has gratefully acknowledged the assistance of Ausdance WA and the State Theatre Centre of WA; the backing of national supporters Harlequin Floors, Equity, AON Risk Services and Gaynor Minden; and West Australian supporters like Margrete Helgeby, K2Dance, Kindy Dance Time, The Good Store, The Chapel Space and APS Physio.

For further information, visit www.australiandanceawards.net.au. Tickets for the awards ceremony go on sale beginning Friday, July 22. See the 2016 shortlisted nominees below.

Services to Dance

– Geoff Cobham (VIC, production manager & designer)

– Jennifer Irwin (NSW, costume designer)

– David Page (NSW, musician, composer & performer)

– Djakapurra Munyarryun (NSW, elder, performer & consultant for Bangarra)

Services to Dance Education

– Sally Chance (SA, founder of Restless Dance Theatre)

– Joan Pope OAM (WA, president of Dalcroze Australia)

– Katrina Rank (VIC, education & training manager for Ausdance)

– Kim Walker (NSW, NAISDA director)

Outstanding Achievement in Community Dance

– Bangarra Dance Theatre for Rekindling Youth Program

– Dancenorth for Twilight

– Rawcus for Catalogue

– Tracksuit (DADAA WA) for Small Fortunes

Outstanding Achievement in Youth Dance

– Catapult Dance for The Flipside Project

– Force Majeure & Powerhouse Youth Theatre for Jump First, Ask Later

– Slide Youth Dance Theatre for Time

– QL2 Dance for Reckless Valour

Outstanding Achievement in Choreography

– Waangenga Blanco & Deborah Brown for I.B.I.S. (Bangarra Dance Theatre)

– Kate Champion with Ghenoa Gela for Nothing to Lose (Force Majeure)

– Lucy Guerin for Motion Picture (Lucy Guerin Inc.)

– Frances Rings for Sheoak (Bangarra)

 Outstanding Performance by a Company

– Bangarra Dance Theatre for Lore

– Dancenorth for Spectra

– Sydney Dance Company for Frame of Mind

– West Australian Ballet for Ballet at the Quarry: Zip Zap Zoom

Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance

– Gareth Belling & Collusion for Desirelines

– Antony Hamilton for NYX (Antony Hamilton Projects)

– Sue Healey for On View: Live Portraits

– Victoria Hunt for Tangi Wai… the cry of water

Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer

– Madeleine Eastoe for Giselle (The Australian Ballet)

– Amber Haines for Syncing Feeling (Dancenorth)

– Elma Kris for Lore (Bangarra)

– Brooke Widdison-Jacobs for Cinderella (West Australian Ballet)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer

– Chengwu Guo for The Dream (The Australian Ballet)

– Kevin Jackson for Giselle (The Australian Ballet)

– Alisdair Macindoe for Motion Picture (Lucy Guerin Inc.)

– David Mack for Frame of Mind (Sydney Dance Company)

Outstanding Achievement in Commercial Dance, Musicals or Physical Theatre

– Opera Australia & John Frost for Anything Goes (Producer: Andrew Hallsworth)

– Marko Panzic & Stephen Tannos for Genesis (Dream Dance Company)

– Michael Ralph for Georgy Girl

– Circa for Il Ritorno

Outstanding Achievement in Dance on Film or New Media

– Stephen Page for Spear (Bangarra)

– Pippa Samaya for Dancing in the Now (Ubuntu Samaya)

– Meryl Tankard & Kate Croser for Michelle’s Story (Hedone Productions)

– Stephen Tannos for The Process

The 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award will be announced next month.

Photo: Ochre Dance Company in performance. Photo by Dana Weeks.