The Australian Dance Awards was held at the Opera House in Sydney this year and it was a fantastic night of celebration, not just for the winners and nominees, but for the dance community as a whole. Since the inaugural presentation of the Australian Dance Awards in Sydney in 1997, they have been held in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra, and are heading to Adelaide for 2015. This inclusive approach highlights the depth and breadth of dance activity across the nation and Ausdance does well to share hosting honours around Australia.
Gailene Stock AM CBE, who sadly died earlier this year, was posthumously inducted into the Australian Dance Award’s Hall of Fame and Garth Welch gave a moving speech in which he outlined her remarkable achievements over a lifetime in dance. Leigh Warren was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Gabrielle Nankivell won the Keith Bain Choreographic Travel Fellowship. Dalisa Pigram won Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance for her solo work Gudirr Gudirr, a thought provoking work I was fortunate to see earlier this year.
Double winners this year were Chunky Move’s Aorta and the Australian Ballet’s Cinderella which both took awards in two categories. For Chunky Move’s Aorta, Stephanie Lake won the Outstanding Achievement in Choreography Award and James Vu Anh Pham Outstanding Achievement by a Male Dancer. The Australian Ballet’s Cinderella won Best performance by a Company, and principal dancer Leanne Stojmenov Outstanding Achievement by a Female Dancer in the title role of Cinderella.
The presentation of awards was interspersed throughout the evening with entertainment delivered by a total of 92 performers. Notable among these were Andy Dexterity’s translation into movement of a poem by Murray Louis and Ghenoa Gela’s crowd friendly performance that had the audience standing in their seats and participating in a short routine to Michael Jackson’s "Smooth Criminal". Contemporary dance, Indigenous dance, ballet, acrobatic tumbling, jazz and hip hop were all represented but for my money the stand out performance was a black and white recording of Robina Beard from 1963 dancing a comical interpretation of The Dying Swan, in which she was beset by one difficulty after another.
All in all the 2014 Australian Dance Awards were a success. Artistic Director Anton brought together a ceremony with as much pizzazz as award bearer Benjamin Hancock’s Gold Logie inspired costume. It was a long evening but all in good fun, and hosts Kip Gamblin and Frances Rings maintained a relaxed vibe with light banter.
For a full list of the winners of the 2014 Australian Dance Awards click here.
- GERALDINE HIGGINSON
All photos by Pia Moore. Top to bottom: Leigh Warren; the Australian Ballet's Kevin Jackson and Madeleine Eastoe; Kip Gamblin and Frances Rings with Ghenoa Gela.
