Northern Queensland contemporary dance company Dancenorth’s ‘foundation is a deep sense of devotion to the regions – regionality is at the core, at the heart of what Dancenorth is,’ according to its Artistic Director and Co-CEO, Kyle Page.
Equally key is the company’s connection to community, Page tells ArtsHub: ‘I think that 40 years ago, community was really central to the vision … and community today is really critical too. Like, it forms part of the heartwood of how Dancenorth operates. Providing full-time employment for dancers in a place like Gurambilbarra/Townsville back then was really critical, and so it is now – so those are some of the central threads that have lasted the 40 years.’
Dancenorth: quick links
Dancenorth: the company’s origins and impact
Originally known as the North Queensland Ballet and Dance Company, under which name its first performance was staged in 1970, Dancenorth was reborn as a professional company – Dance North – in 1985, during the tenure of Artistic Director Cheryl Stock.
On the eve of Dancenorth’s 40th anniversary production, A Live Moment, Page credits Stock for ushering the company we know today into existence.
‘Really, 1985 was a moment in time – that was when Cheryl really stepped in and had a vision for a company that would share stories in particular ways; to really transform the capacity for contemporary dance to have a foothold in North Queensland,’ he tells ArtsHub.
In doing so, Stock opened the door for Dancenorth to become an important contributor to the national contemporary dance, landscape, Page believes.
Cheryl Stock – whose ‘significant service to the performing arts as a choreographer, educator and administrator’ was recognised in 2014, when she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) – acknowledges that there was some pushback from the Townsville community about the decision to pivot the newly named Dance North away from ballet.
‘People would say “we’d like to see more ballet” and we’d say “Ok, go to a ballet company”,’ Stock said in a recent interview with Dancenorth, adding that continuity with ballet – and communication with Townsville’s ballet schools – was maintained through the newly established company’s youth wing, Extensions, which practised both ballet and contemporary work.
‘I made it my business, along with the dancers, to go out to Townsville’s three main ballet schools, run by Neil Walker, Robin Croft and Ann Roberts and ensure they felt welcomed into Extensions. We really did work very hard at bringing the community with us, but we didn’t go, “Oh, we’re going to do ballets because that’s what you want”. We made that very clear from the beginning, that this was going to be a completely different company, and there are still outlets for what it had previously been.
‘I guess, yes, we did have kickback. Everyone has kickback. I mean a lot of people embraced us, other people were a little wary, and some made up their mind without even going,’ Stock explained.
Page calls Stock and her General Manager Lorna Hempstead, as well as North Queensland Ballet and Dance Company founder Ann Roberts, ‘pioneers and visionaries’.
‘These incredible women had a vision for creating something in North Queensland to ensure that the extraordinary artists and performers from this part of the world could remain here, and that there would be employment and possibility and opportunity,’ he says.
‘We are standing on the shoulders of these giants, here. There are literally thousands of people who have danced in this building, who have held us up and created the conditions through which Dancenorth has continued to thrive over many iterations, with many artistic directors and many incredible performers who have spent chapters of their careers here and gone on to do extraordinary things all around Australia and all around the world.’
Dancenorth: creating a world of possibility in regional Queensland
Together with his life partner, Dancenorth’s Co-Artistic Director Amber Haines, Page has been at the creative helm of Dancenorth for 10 years – a quarter of Dancenorth’s lifespan.
‘It feels like it’s been the blink of an eye and it’s been an eternity; it feels like home and it feels fresh and new all at the same time,’ Page says of moving back to North Queensland a decade ago.
His and Haines’ time at Dancenorth began with a conscious attempt to dissolve the company’s existing hierarchies. ‘We stepped into the roles with a sense that we didn’t have all the answers, with a sense that we wanted to co-create a world of possibility up here with the dancers, with the production team, with all of the artistic collaborators that came to work on the many shows that we have co-created over our time. Because Ams and I had worked for a number of different companies, we really understood that the most extraordinary things arise when we work with open hearts and a true collaborative paradigm within the way that we meet one another.’
Page describes the decade he and Haines have been Dancenorth’s custodians as ‘a really joyous time. It’s led to some extraordinary work being created … We recognise that, like an ecosystem, this organisation is continuing to unfold and to change and to grow, and that the many inputs, the many diverse inputs from all of these humans that we share the world with, share the creative space with it, the ecosystem thrives in that energy.’
Dancenorth: A Live Moment
To commemorate and celebrate Dancenorth’s 40th anniversary, the upcoming production – an immersive roving performance titled A Live Moment – takes over Dancenorth’s home, the historic School of Arts building in Gurambilbarra’s (Townsville) CBD from 24-27 September.
Co-Artistic Director Amber Haines says of the work and its underpinning concepts: ‘Thousands of artists have passed through Dancenorth since its inception. It’s undeniable that the walls are imbued with the energy of that continual flow of new ideas, artistic expression and creative exchange.
‘A Live Moment is about cultivating all of that past energy to create one powerful, present moment of celebration and togetherness,’ Haines explains, adding that the production is not a retrospective of past works (nor is it a literal remixing of earlier choreographies by former artistic directors, in contrast to Australian Dance Theatre’s 60th Anniversary production A Quiet Language earlier this year). Instead, it is a reimagining of the things that remain – both tangible and intangible.
Page adds: ‘We understand that the body is a kind of archive of incredible, textural, visceral, physical capacity – the building is also, in and of itself, an archive … We also have the physical archive of incredible old costumes from previous works, amazing set pieces, incredible posters and photographs and those relics of the past. So we’re really kind of throwing all of that up in the air and creating a world that’s breathing new life into these physical objects from the past, breathing life into the various chapters that the company has contributed to.’
A Live Moment also acknowledges 65,000 years of dance on Country as well as Dancenorth’s 40 years of existence, and has been created in collaboration with First Peoples dance collective the Wulgurukaba Walkabouts, who will perform in the production with the Dancenorth Ensemble. Several special guests will also perform, including Aunty Rosalind Sailor, dancer Bella Hood, and musicians Costa Hagiaglou and Naomi Jean.
‘Aunty Ros has had such an effect on me and how I perceive the world,’ says Haines. ‘Usually she’s chaperoning performances into fruition through her role at Big Eye Theatre, but this time we really want her voice, her presence and her magic. She has graciously accepted our invitation to perform – that is going to be an absolute highlight for me.’
Dancenorth and the importance of touring
Touring has been a key component in Dancenorth’s creative arsenal ever since its inception as a professional company, according to Stock, who was Artistic Director from 1985-1995.
‘We toured a lot – across Queensland and interstate. I counted it up once and we went to 200 places over 11 years. The model was to be on tour for six months of the year – three weeks on the road, three weeks at home. So I guess the audience evolved and we got more confidence,’ she said.
‘The audiences grew with us – first of all, we were worried and people walked out in early days … But we also got a lot of fabulous accolades, and we were invited to incredible places around the world, so in the end, I guess we were rewarded for those risks,’ Stock recalled.
Read: How to make your tour greener
Touring remains ‘really critical’ for Dancenorth today, Page adds. ‘We are isolated up here, and we create these beautiful works of art that want to be seen and shared and experienced. It’s a wonderful thing performing a work in a major international arts festival, and we’ve been very blessed to have been presented in and commissioned by every single one of Australia’s major international arts festivals, all the CAIAF [Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals] festivals – and that’s remarkable for a regional contemporary dance company.’
He tells ArtsHub that ‘some of the most rewarding touring experiences we’ve had have been where we’ve shared our work in regional locations. And I think it’s really critical that regional audiences have the opportunity to see regional stories on stage and to recognise the power and the creative contributions that regionally based artists make to the national landscape.’
Dancenorth: the next 40 years
Page and Haines have been in their current roles at Dancenorth for a decade. So what does the future look like, for them personally as well as the company?
‘I recognise how blessed we are to be here as custodians, really, for this brief chapter, because there will be another 40 years after Amber and I, another 40 years into the future,’ Pages acknowledges.
‘So we sense that, you know, we’re in this kind of liminal space, where we deeply honour all those who have come before us, and we hope that we leave the organisation in a really extraordinary position, so that the framework for the next chapter, the next artistic voices and staff that come together to co-create what Dancenorth looks like in another 10, 20, 30, 40 years, has the very best ingredients to ensure the company can continue to thrive.’
In the company’s 40th anniversary year, one of those key ingredients is the community Dancenorth has worked with and entertained for four decades. The financial support of donor Philip Bacon AO ensured Dancenorth was able to offer all of its community workshops and dance class this year free of charge, resulting in a huge swell of interest.
‘In the first couple of weeks last year, we had 70 people all told register for the various classes we offer. This year, as soon as we announced that they were free, within that first week we had 350 people register. So the volume of interest was astronomical,’ Page says.
‘And that says a few things. It says to me that price can be a real barrier for participation, so we need to do whatever we can to dismantle that barrier. And secondly, that people want to dance, that people want to move and be moved. They want to connect with a sense of community. They want to build friendships. They want to be embodied. And this is part of the gesture towards our community that we have chosen to gift for the 40th anniversary, and something we would really very dearly love to hold on to into the future.’
Will Page and Haines still be part of Dancenorth in the immediate future? He answers that question thoughtfully.
‘It is such a precious thing, this company, and to have an opportunity to be part of the leadership team for a company like Dancenorth is precious and fleeting, and it is such a gift … And there are so many amazing makers, amazing choreographers, amazing directors, amazing visionaries and creative individuals and groups in this country,’ Page says, adding that the idea of handing Dancenorth on to its next custodian in due course ‘fills me with joy; it fills me with a sense of delight and curiosity’.
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He continues: ‘And I don’t think the time is right now, but I think that over the next little while, it will be the right time to hand over this incredible organisation. That will be the right time to sit in the audience and support and cheer and show our devotion to Dancenorth in a different way, from the other side of the seating bank. And I really delight in that idea.
‘We’ve had an incredible 10 years collaborating and co-creating work. And my hope is that we know the right time to leave, that we leave with a sense of grace, and that we leave when the company is in an incredibly strong position, creatively, financially, and with … an incredibly full ensemble of amazing dancers who choose to call Townsville their home.
‘Because the story of Dancenorth is not the story of Amber and Kyle, it’s the story of many, many people who pour their hearts and souls into something that’s bigger than anyone, really. And it’s a great privilege to play a small part in that very big story,’ Page concludes.
Learn more about Dancenorth. The company’s 40th anniversary production A Live Moment runs from 24-27 September.
