DANIEL RILEY
Daniel, a Wiradjuri man from Western NSW, is the current Artistic Director of Australian Dance Theatre (ADT). He is the sixth Artistic Director in the company’s 59-year history, and the first Blak artist to lead the organisation. He also currently sits on the Board of Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, is an Honorary Fellow through the Faculty of Fine Arts (Dance) at University of Melbourne and sits on the inaugural First Nations Board at Creative Australia. He has previously sat on the Boards of Chunky Move as a Member and as a Board Associate at A New Approach (ANA), Australia’s leading cultural think tank.
He began his contemporary dance journey at QL2 (previously Quantum Leap), ACT and since graduating from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in 2006 has danced for Leigh Warren & Dancers (2005-2006), New Movement Collective UK (2014), Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre UK (2014), Chunky Move (2019), Australian Dance Theatre (2022-2023) and was a senior artist with Bangarra Dance Theatre (2007-2018).
Other arts organisations he has worked for are: ILBIJERRI Theatre Company as Associate Producer (2019-2020), and Creative Associate (2020-2021), Moogahlin Performing Arts as a mentor (2021) and was a Board Director for Chunky Move (2019-2022). In 2020 he was appointed as a Lecturer in Contemporary Dance at the University of Melbourne, Victorian College of the Arts, where he launched and led Kummarge, a self-determined mentoring program for First Nations dance students.
Daniel’s choreographic credits include Australian Dance Theatre: The Third (2022), SAVAGE (2022), Tracker (2023, in partnership with ILBIJERRI Theatre Company), THE HUM (2023, in collaboration with The Australian Ballet), Marrow (2024), Victorian College of the Arts: WAX (2021), RISE (2020), Louisville Ballet, USA: Tonal (2020), Sacred Shifts (2015), Melbourne International Arts Festival: Tanderrum (2019), Dancenorth: Communal Table (2019), Bangarra Dance Theatre: Dark Emu (2018), Miyagan (2016), BLAK (2013), Riley (2010), Sydney Dance Company: Reign (2015), Third Row Dance Company UK (2014), QL2 Dance: Hit the Floor Together (2013, 2018), QUT: Twelve Ascensions (2013), Thirteen Ascensions (Twelve Ascension Rework) (2018).
His film credits as Director and Choreographer include: mulunma – Inside Within (2021) for RISING: Melbourne & Yirramboi, and ACT V (2021) for The Australian Ballet’s Bodytorque Digital 2021. As performer: Dan Sultan: Under Your Skin, Stephen Page (Bangarra Dance Theatre): Spear in which he worked as Director’s Attachment.
He has been nominated at the Australian Dance Awards (2010, 2013) and for the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Deadly Awards (2010, 2012 & 2013). Daniel is highly experienced in conducting masterclasses, facilitating workshops and teaching professional company class for a range of organisations, educational institutions and dance companies across Australia and around the world.