![[GAMEBOY] from choreographer Amy Zhang tours as part of ORBIT 2026. Photo: Supplied.](https://www.artshub.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/7.-ORBIT_ARTWORK_gameboy-by-Amy-Zhang.webp?w=1200)
For many independent choreographers, the life of a dance work can be frustratingly short: a handful of performances in one city, followed by an uncertain future.
A new touring initiative hopes to change that.
Spanning three states, Australian Dance Theatre in South Australia, Dancehouse in Victoria and Sydney Dance Company in New South Wales have joined forces to launch ORBIT, a program supported by Creative Australia and designed to create more sustainable touring and audience development pathways for independent dance.
The inaugural 2026 program will take four independent choreographers and their works on a fully supported multi-city tour across October and November, creating opportunities for works to reach audiences well beyond their original presentation.
ORBIT dance touring initiative – quick links
Breaking the one-city, one-season cycle
The selected works for the 2026 ORBIT program are Agitato by Melbourne-based choreographer Jo Lloyd, [GAMEBOY] by Sydney-based movement director and choreographer Amy Zhang, Future History by South Australian choreographer, director and performer Gabrielle Nankivell, and Charcoal by Githabul, Migunberri and Gomeroi choreographer Keia McGrady.
The four works will travel as two double-bills, bouncing between Sydney Dance Company’s Neilson Studio, Dancehouse’s Sylvia Staehli Theatre, and Australian Dance Theatre’s home at The Odeon in Adelaide. The program will also extend into outer-metropolitan Victoria, with presentations at Bunjil Place and Burrinja Cultural Centre.
For the artists involved, the significance of ORBIT goes beyond simply adding more dates to a season. The initiative is responding to one of the persistent challenges facing independent dance: getting work in front of audiences in the first place, and finding the resources to make touring viable once it has been created.
More than half of the applicants to ORBIT had never previously been able to tour their work, with limited presentation opportunities and rising touring costs among the barriers.
Dancehouse CEO and Artistic Director Josh Wright says that independent choreographers are responsible for much of the innovation and international reputation of Australian dance, despite often working outside the infrastructure of the country’s major companies.
‘For generations, the Australian dance scene has been recognised internationally for its boutique brilliance,’ he says. ‘ORBIT is a chance to experience a selection of the celebrated but rarely seen dance works that often only [those in] one city, for a couple of nights, have had a chance to witness.’
Four works, four distinct perspectives
The program brings together emerging, mid-career and established choreographers, with works spanning very different ideas and aesthetics.
Lloyd’s Agitato explores the precarity of the human body and natural world, while Zhang’s [GAMEBOY] draws on the visual language and energy of Japanese game shows. Nankivell’s Future History stages a century-spanning conversation between choreographer and classical composer, while McGrady’s Charcoal is a meditation on connection to Country.
Together, the works offer a snapshot of the breadth of contemporary independent dance practice in Australia, but also demonstrate why touring infrastructure can be crucial to ensuring that work is not confined to its original season.
Building a more sustainable touring pathway
For Sydney Dance Company Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela, the partnership is an opportunity for larger dance organisations to play a role in strengthening the independent sector.
‘Together with Australian Dance Theatre and Dancehouse, we can broaden this support, sharing their creativity and vibrant impact to even more audiences,’ he says.
ADT Executive Director Nick Hays similarly points to the increasing difficulty of creating and touring work for independent choreographers.
‘Independent artists lead the sector and consistently expand the idea of what it means to create contemporary dance in this country,’ he says. ‘But creating and touring work is getting more challenging, especially for independent choreographers.’
