An introduction
Guest curator
Kath Papas, freelance producer and consultant, introduces us to some of the key issues in community dance in Australia
Image: Kath Papas. Photo: Chester Dent
It has been a great pleasure to work
with Ken Bartlett at the Foundation for Community Dance to 'curate' this
Australian-focused edition of Animated, a publication I have long
admired and enjoyed.
I am a creative producer and dance
consultant working freelance for two years now, since I ended my
seven-year directorship of Ausdance Victoria, the Victorian office of
Australia's dance advocacy and support network. This edition has been an
opportunity to explore questions and ideas that have long interested
me, and which I have sought to influence in various ways through my
professional practice of the last decade. I have been concerned to give
Animated readers an insight into some bigger picture issues and trends
in Australia, as well as a window into specific and unique practices and
projects. In the process I have made some observations I would like to
share here.
Practices and aesthetics that fall outside the
Western-dominated 'professional' mainstream are still largely
undervalued in this country. I still don't quite understand why this is
still the case when choreographing and dancing with a rich variety of
people offers such a wealth of opportunities for both the individuals
involved and the development of the art form. There also persists a
substantial division in the minds of many between 'professional' and
'community' practice, when the reality is that many practitioners work
in many modes at different times - or concurrently - as they piece
together a livelihood.
The five articles that follow reveal that a
wide variety of practices are thriving around the nation, both in urban
and regional settings. Practitioners are not overly concerned with
definitions or overarching banners, and are making very individual work
that is deeply informed by location, environment and the make-up of
their community. Dance participants aren't really concerned with
definitions either, and large numbers of people are taking up
opportunities to express themselves and connect to community through
dance projects offered by organisations and festivals large and small.
New training initiatives are raising standards across the dance sector.
Dance is becoming richer for the development that is occurring.
I hope you enjoy this insight into Australian community dance.
contact kp@kathpapas.net
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Animated: Autumn 2011