Ausdance ACT’s much-loved Youth Dance Festival returns this month, transforming the Canberra Theatre into a galaxy of creativity as more than 700 students from 25 schools take to the stage for Life on Mars.
Creative Director and Executive Director of Ausdance ACT, Dr Cathy Adamek, says this year’s theme has ignited both imagination and introspection. “The idea of alienation seems to have really sparked them,” she reflects. “Some of the interpretations coming through are quite dark – a lot have run with sci-fi and horror film-inspired iconography. There are quite a few zombies.”
For Adamek, this fascination makes sense. “I think this cohort were particularly affected by the COVID stay-at-home and stay-away-from-friends but online-is-okay messaging that hit them at a formative time,” she explains. “It’s great that they can draw on pop culture and interpret this brave new world we live in.”
Running 28 and 29 October at Canberra Theatre, the festival’s non-competitive format continues to set it apart. Founded in 1984, Youth Dance Festival (affectionately known as “Dance Fest”) has long been a creative hub where school communities come together to choreograph, design, and perform original works on a professional stage.
Adamek says this openness is what keeps the festival so vital. “You don’t necessarily have to be doing dance as a subject to enter YDF,” she says. “That inclusivity has allowed new genres to emerge from different cultural groups who didn’t have a performance or training platform through the conventional studio system. It’s how a lot of Canberra’s super-successful hip-hoppers and street dancers first got their break.”
Over the decades, the festival has grown into a powerful bridge between arts and education, supported by a unique collaboration between Ausdance ACT, Canberra Theatre Centre, and ACT schools. “It provides less well-funded schools with an opportunity to connect and present in a major theatre,” Adamek notes. “We have Black Mountain School, an ACT specialist school catering for students with additional needs, perform every year since 2005. Marist College is boys-only and have re-emerged since COVID. We’ve even had kids in burkas dancing to Beyoncé.”
The freedom to explore diverse influences, from ballet to TikTok choreography, is part of the festival’s enduring appeal. Students are responsible for every aspect of production – choreography, lighting, costume, and set – giving them real-world creative agency. “What you get is a very authentic and moving interpretation of young people’s experiences and influences at a particular time,” says Adamek. “I’ve watched very disconnected and unmotivated kids suddenly pull together to work as a team because of that deadline. No one wants to go onstage and not know what they’re doing. You have to learn to work together and get over yourself because the audience are coming at 7pm!”
That sense of purpose and community has shaped thousands of Canberra students, many of whom have gone on to careers in dance and theatre. For others, it’s a chance to express themselves and find connection in an increasingly complex world. “There’s nothing like putting on a show to make friends for life,” says Adamek.
Youth Dance Festival: Life on Mars runs 28–29 October at the Canberra Theatre.
Tickets via Canberra Theatre Centre.