Australia’s finest honoured at dance industry’s night of nights
In a great night of celebrating Australian dance, the who’s who of our Industry gathered at the Sydney Opera House last night to attend the gala awards ceremony for the 2014 Australian Dance Awards.
Hosted by Frances Rings and Kip Gamblin it was a night to recognise and honour excellence in the industry. It was also a showcase of the diversity of dance with performances ranging from Team9Lives parkour to The Australian Ballet’s excerpt from Cinderella and almost everything in between. A particular favourite of mine was the collaborative effort by three of Sydney’s most well-known studios – Ev & Bow, Village PAC and Brent Street – under the choreographic guidance of Stephen Tannos which formed the Finale to the evening. It was so good to see these dancers working so hard on stage together for the very first time.
Returning to the Opera House for the first time in 8 years, the Australian Dance Awards are the professional dance industry’s pre-eminent annual awards that features 11 categories of achievement covering dance artists, educators and administrators.
The Awards have been running in their current format since 1997 and have become the peak event on the dance industry calendar. In recent years the Awards toured Australia, being held in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra.
The Awards were judged by a panel of dance professionals representing many different sectors of the industry from all over Australia, following an open public nominations process.
2014 Australian Dance Award Winners
SERVICES TO DANCE
Annie Greig [Artistic Director, Tasdance]
SERVICES TO DANCE EDUCATION
Janet Karin OAM [Kinetic Educator, The Australian Ballet School; President, IADMS]
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN YOUTH OR COMMUNITY DANCE
Buzz Dance Theatre for Look the Other Way WA
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHOREOGRAPHY
Stephanie Lake for Aorta [Chunky Move] VIC
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A COMPANY
The Australian Ballet, for Cinderella VIC
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN INDEPENDENT DANCE
Dalisa Pigram for Gudirr Gudirr WA
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE DANCER
Leanne Stojmenov for Cinderella [The Australian Ballet] VIC
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE DANCER
James Vu Anh Pham for Aorta [Chunky Move] VIC
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMERCIAL DANCE OR MUSICAL THEATRE
Red Hot Rhythm for Rhythm Junkies
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE ON FILM/NEW MEDIA
Sue Healey for On View NSW
