THE COMPANY
INTRODUCTION
Australian Dance Theatre has been creating exceptional contemporary dance and performing it across the country and around the world since 1965.
Australian Dance Theatre is the country’s oldest contemporary dance company, located on Kaurna Yerta (Adelaide, South Australia). For nearly 60 years Australian Dance Theatre has pioneered new work that has continually redefined dance and pushed the artform.
Australian Dance Theatre is committed to the presentation of work reflective of Australia’s diverse voices, landscapes and histories. Collaborative relationships and a commitment to community engagement are at the core of the company’s values.
HISTORY
Australian Dance Theatre was founded in 1965 by Elizabeth Cameron Dalman OAM, with the aim to ‘open the horizons for provocative contemporary dance’. Critics were divided over the company’s new and adventurous approach, but audiences were enthralled from the beginning.
Over the company’s history there have been many custodians in the role of Artistic Director including Jonathan Taylor (1977-1985), Anthony Steel & Lenny Westerdijk (1986), Leigh Warren (1987-1993), Merryl Tankard (1993-1999) and Garry Stewart (1999-2021).
In 2022, Daniel Riley joins as the new Artistic Director. A Wiradjuri man with cultural ties throughout Western New South Wales, Daniel Riley is the first First Nations director of a non-First Nations dance company in Australia. One of Australia’s leading dancers and choreographers, Daniel Riley leads Australian Dance Theatre into an exciting new chapter with his unique artistic vision.
PEOPLE
Artistic Director
Daniel Riley
Executive Director
Nick Hays
Senior Producer
Eira Swaine
Learning Manager
Adrianne Semmens
Learning Coordinator
Kaine Sultan-Babij
Philanthropy Manager
Ptiika Owen-Shaw
Associate Producer & Company Support
Andrew Searle
Finance Manager
Kerry O’Sullivan
Marketing and Communications Manager
Anthony Nocera
BOARD
Ruth Rentschler OAM, Chair
Nathan Bennett
Jayne Boase
Dean Cross
Kristen Eckhardt
Kate Irving
Chris Mercer
Images, from top:
The Third, 2022 © Sam Roberts
Image courtesy of Elizabeth Cameron Dalman OAM, photographer unknown
The Beginning of Nature, © David James McCarthy
THE HUM © Daniel Boud