If you were ever planning to try a dance class in Sydney, it’s time to step up in March. March Dance is a brand new festival aiming to bring together the Sydney’s artists, studios and performers within the contemporary dance scene and share their work with the city.
Close to 100 choreographers, dancers and creatives from the industry will be involved in more than 80 events throughout the month. There’ll be performances in venues across Sydney, forums and talks to discuss the evolution of the art form and the creation of dance, and workshops and classes for those who learn best by doing.
Performance highlights include the percussion-dance double-act Recital (Mar 1), an exploration of multi-sensory nostalgia by emerging performers in Pact Salon: Slurp! (Mar 16), and a celebration of the vibrancy of dance for Happy Hour (Mar 2). Talks will cover topics like the modern creation of dance in Bodies, Space and the Anthropocene (Mar 6), and the challenges faced by senior female choreographers for the discussion Women’s Work (Mar 17).
Workshops and classes will be open to to the general public as well as industry professionals. For those not yet ready to lead a class, look out for the Right Foot (March 16), which is a creative dance class for people of all abilities; the $10 dance sessions called Independent Dance Classes, which will run at ReadyMade Works in Ultimo every Tuesday; or a workshop led by award-winning First Nations choreographer and dancer Amrita Hepi and New Zealand-born artists Jahra ‘Rager’ Wasasala (Mar 1).
This festival of movement has been devised by the Independent Dance Alliance, which is led by three Sydney dance organisations; Critical Path, DirtyFeet and ReadyMade Works. Each has a specific focus in supporting dancers, choreographers and creatives of all abilities and stages in Sydney.