Past Program
About
Established and governed by independent dance artists in Melbourne over three decades ago, Dancehouse is Australia’s only presenting and producing house dedicated solely to the year-round presentation of contemporary dance by independent dance artists and communities. Dancehouse represents a diversity of visions, practices, and generations committed to the expression, development and celebration of dance artists, and the artform itself.
In partnership with InPlace, Dancehouse is piloting a new residency program: On Residence, offering Australian independent dance artists time, space and cash to create and connect with a network of dance loving organisations and their communities in outer-metropolitan and regional Victoria and NSW. On Residence supports any stage of a dance project or work’s development from initial research through to creative development and is a direct pathway to future presentation or realisation of projects with Dancehouse from 2022. Locally and globally, our collective experience of COVID and climate emergency demand we connect and form stronger networks and deeper relationships locally.
Supported Project: On Residence
Take time. Create. Play. Practise. Make Art. Travel. Connect. Circulate. Exchange. Be alone. Be together. Be with. On Residence.
In 2021, Dancehouse piloted a new residency program, On Residence, which offered Australian independent dance artists time, space and cash to create and connect with Dancehouse’s network of dance-loving organisations and their communities in outer-metropolitan and regional Victoria and NSW.
On Residence will become a key pathway for artists to develop work and/ or establish relationships and connections to communities, practices and partners across Victoria and interstate. The program draws on Dancehouse’s experience cultivating similar meaningful, long-term alliances internationally.
Locally and globally, our collective experience of COVID and climate emergency demand we connect and form stronger local networks and deeper relationships. Finally, On Residence is a direct pathway to presentation with Dancehouse from 2022 onwards.
Selected Artists
Running Machine
A collaboration between Sam Mcgilp (Australia), Harrison Hall (Australia), Kazuhiko Hiwa (Japan) and Makoto Uemura (Japan), Running Machine is a promenade towards the future of human movement – A hybrid digital performance work.
Deanne Butterworth
This residency will be a continuation of a working process Deanne set up while artist in residence at The Fitzroy Gardens Pavilion in early 2021. For her residency at Garambi Baan, titled ‘Open Effort’, Deanne will continue this open-ended process of exploration and experimentation to include informal performances influenced by the natural and built environment of the local area, with a specific focus on the creative communities which thrived in this region post war. Deanne’s process will involve consultation with local communities from across the region.
Supporters
On Residence has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, Office for the Arts through the Rise Fund, and Playking Foundation.
Australian Art Orchestra
Amos Roach, a proud Ngarrandjerri/Djab Wurrung/Gunditjmara man.
About
With an emphasis on improvisation, The Australian Art Orchestra (AAO) explores the meeting points between disciplines and cultures and imagines new musical forms to reflect the energy and diversity of 21st century Australia. Founded by Paul Grabowsky AO in 1994 the AAO is one. Of Australia’s leading contemporary ensembles. Now led by daring composer/ trumpeter/sound artist Peter Knight, its work constantly seeks to stretch genres and break down the barriers separating disciplines, forms and cultures. It explores the interstices between the avant-garde and the traditional, between art and popular music, between electronic and acoustic approaches, and creates music that traverse the continuum between improvised and notated forms.
The Australian Art Orchestra nods to the hugely influential, Art Ensemble of Chicago in its name, as do a number of other famous groups including the Vienna Art Orchestra, and in doing so it builds on a set of ideas that stretch back to the beginnings of jazz. These ideas in turn drew on an extraordinary collision of cultures, ways of thinking, and folk traditions that are so old that their beginnings are untraceable. The AAO’s music may sound very little like American jazz these days but the restless energy that made jazz such a force in the twentieth century still drives the projects it makes, including with the traditional songmen from Ngukurr in Arnhem Land (Crossing Roper Bar), with Bae Il Dong, the Korean p’ansori singer (The Return of Spring), with Guru Kaaraikkudi R. Mani from Chennai (Two Oceans), with Nicole Lizee, Alvin Lucier (Exit Ceremonies) and with an extraordinary range of Australian artists from a range of disciplines.
Supported Project: 2022 Residency Co-Commission
The 2022 AAO X InPlace artist in residence is Amos Roach, artist and proud Djab Wurrung/Gunditj Mara and Ngarrindjeri man, who will be undertaking an extended residency to continue composition of an ambitious song cycle based around the seasons in South-eastern Australia.
‘Six Seasons’ is a major new commission by Amos Roach and is a cross-disciplinary work for musicians of the Australian Art Orchestra (AAO) and dancers and evolved from the AAO’s First Nations Artist Residency Program in 2021.
Supporters
Australian Art Orchestra residencies have been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, and Office for the Arts through the Rise Fund.
Footscray Community Arts
Photo: Footscray Community Arts
About
Footscray Community Arts Centre is a hub for cultural expression, community-led art and important conversations, and has been around since 1974. It caters to everyone, from the curious to the established artist, working closely with focus communities: First Nations, culturally and linguistically diverse, LGBTIQA+ and artists with disability to ensure a safe and creative environment for both artists and audiences.
It’s Artist Program includes art exhibitions, theatre shows, talks, live music, creative workshops, school holiday programs, and much more. Located by the banks of Maribyrnong River, and boasting stunning city views – Footscray Community Arts Centre is the perfect place to explore creativity with family and friends.
Supported Project: Tarnuk-ut Baany
Led by the Footscray Community Arts’ Indigenous Advisory Group, Elders in Residence and Indigenous Cultural Programs staff, Tarnuk-ut baany welcomes a new cohort of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists into their Artist Development Programs.
Tarnuk-ut baany is a personal and professional development program facilitating cultural knowledge exchange through creative mentorship.
The program takes its name from the BoonWurrung phrase ‘wooden vessels holding water’, meaning an invitation to share food, sit around and tell stories.
Through Tarnuk-ut baany Footscray Community Arts ensures the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists are guided by the knowledge and experience of Elders and community leaders. With self-determination at its core, the program will be tailored to the needs of the group.
Supporters
Tarnuk-ut baany have been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, and Office for the Arts through the Rise Fund.
ILBIJERRI Theatre Company
Trevor Jamieson starring in Coranderrk by ILBIJERRI Theatre Company. Image: James Henry
About
ILBIJERRI is one of Australia’s leading theatre companies creating innovative works by First Nations artists. The longest established First Nations theatre company in Australia, ILBIJERRI creates, presents and tours powerful and engaging theatre by First Nations artists that gives voice to Indigenous Cultures.
ILBIJERRI is committed to growing a sustainable and vibrant First Nations arts ecology and is investing in the next generation of First Nations theatre makers and industry professionals.
Deep listening with and for Community and Country is central to their work. They take seriously their role as cultural leaders, continuing to make work that speaks to the truth of this country, celebrating the extraordinary resilience and strength of First Nations Peoples.
With 2021 marking 30 years since incorporation, ILBIJERRI continues to bring the brilliance and sophistication of bold, black voices to audiences in country halls, community spaces, prisons and major venues, across Australia and the world.
ILBIJERRI (pronounced ‘il BIDGE er ree) is a Woiwurrung word meaning ‘Coming together for Ceremony’.
Supporters
ILBIJERRI Theatre Company residencies have been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, and Office for the Arts through the Rise Fund.
Sissy Screens
Nakhane. Photo: Sissy Screens
About
Sissy Screens is a Melbourne-based digital magazine dedicated to queer screen and digital culture. It is produced entirely by gender and sexuality diverse (LGBTQIA+) artists who are passionate about producing a curated platform for queer creatives to showcase, discuss and premiere their work and ideas.
Sissy Screens is a not-for-profit organisation supported by Creative Victoria, City of Melbourne, Darebin Arts & Yarra Arts. We have collaborated with Footscray Community Arts, The Wheeler Centre, Midsumma Festival, Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Abbotsford Convent amongst other arts & cultural organisations. We’ve also worked with renowned brands such as Champion.
Visibility is power. Our goal is to amplify and celebrate the voices of LGBTQIA+ people and bring our experiences, perspectives and work to the fore. We champion queer film and screen culture and create original content that provides a nuanced and evolving representation of LGBTQIA+ people, culture & experiences.
NextWave
The Birrarung (Yarra River). Photo: Eugene Howard.
About
Next Wave is an engine room for art making and experimentation, dreaming and doing, exchange and connection. We support artists from across this continent, amplifying ambitious ideas, experimental practice and critical storytelling that reflects the zeitgeist of our times. We present, advocate, develop and collaborate.
From a strong home-base in Melbourne at the Brunswick Mechanics, we are looking to outer-metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria, and across the continent. We prioritise processes that start with elders, community and place.
We continue to support emerging artists through programs like Kickstart. We are building an intergenerational focus through an Artistic Directorate of experienced practitioners and commissions for mid-career artists. We foreground a collegiate approach, engaging artists as self-determined and equal partners, developing projects on terms that best serve each work.
Supported Projects: TIDAL
TIDAL is a suite of large-scale commissions that take the provocation of “art as public space” and responds to the locality, community and cultural context of current times through long-form research and development, iterative outcomes, and artist-led responses and interventions to civic infrastructure.
This extends on commissioning opportunities framed outside of the Kickstart and/or festival models, and further opportunities as artists mature in their practice. Currently supported by City of Melbourne, TIDAL focuses its support on mid- career artists, curators and producers to work within the locality and boundaries of the local government authority over a two-year period. TIDAL acknowledges existing bodies of work, and fosters new collaborations between practitioners, and between arts and non-arts institutions. TIDAL prioritises outcomes that occupy a larger footprint over a longer lead time – challenging artists to work in ways that may directly impact, influence and change structures, policies and systems in civic space.
