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| "Enter the Doll House" - UC Senior Secondary College Lake Ginninderra. |
Canberra Theatre Centre 6th – 8th November 2024.
Opening night performance on 6th November reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.
Ausdance ACT has been staging its annual Youth Dance Festival in the Canberra Theatre for a remarkable 40 years.
Countless potential dancers, choreographers and theatre technicians received their first experience of dancing on the Canberra Theatre stage while representing their school in one of these festivals.
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| "Obession" - Hawker College |
Under the Creative Directorship of Ausdance ACT’s current Director, Dr. Cathy Adamek, this year’s festival celebrating that achievement carried the title “What Do You Dream?” with each participating school being tasked with producing a short work responding to that theme for its presentation.
The festival is proudly non-competitive, and such is the popularity of the festival that three nights are required to present the resulting works.
On the opening night dance works from ten schools and colleges were performed with teams from UC Senior Secondary College Lake Ginninderra, The Woden School, Marist College, Kingsford Smith School, Lyneham High School and Hawker College, each contributing a unique work while Melrose High School, Mount Stromlo High, and St Francis Xavier College and Caroline Chisholm School contributed two works each.
Following an Acknowledgement of Country performed by the Buchanan, Laverty and Rix families, the program proper commenced with an inspirational commemorative work, commissioned by Adamek in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Youth Dance Festival.
Created by Youth Dance Festival alumni and star teachers and choreographers, KG from Passion & Purpose, Caroline Wall from Fresh Funk and Francis Owusu from Kulture Break it was entitled “What Do You Dream”.
Presented in a seamless flow of segments representing the myriad dance styles represented in the festival, “What Do You Dream” offered an innovative introduction to the theme of the festival and received a stylish performance by the large team of dancers from participating ACT schools, and repeated each performance of the festival.
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| Enter the Doll House - UC Senior Secondary College Lake Ginninderra |
Some schools interpreted the “dream” aspects of the theme quite literally, with nightmares, zombies, and sleeping bodies featuring in quite a few of the works.
Others chose more abstract interpretations, and although the performance level and presentation varied between the various offerings, the imagination and enthusiasm of the participants shone through in every case.
Because every work was supported with professional lighting and production the resultant works impressed with the standard of presentation achieved, while the variety of ideas on display in the works ensured a stimulating and entertaining evening of dance.
The fact that it requires three evenings of performances to accommodate the schools and colleges that wish to participate augers well for the future of the Ausdance ACT Youth Dance Festival.
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| "Obsession" - Hawker College |
Images - ART ATELIER PHOTOGRAPHY
