The Keir Choreographic Award is a national biennial award dedicated to commissioning original works and promoting innovative, experimental and cross-artform practices in contemporary dance.
See the final works vying for this prestigious award in a strictly limited season this March.
Eight commissioned works will be presented at Dancehouse, 3-7 March 2020. Four of the works will be selected by jury to be performed at Carriageworks 12-14 March 2020. The jury will then select the 2020 Keir Choreographic Award recipient. See eight commissioned artists below.
Image: Zan Wimberley 2018
Exclusive Pre-Sale performances:
Thu 12 Mar, 8pm
Fri 13 Mar, 8pm
Tickets $45 + fee
A transaction fee of $4.40 applies to all bookings.
Paola Balla
Serge Laurent
Mette Edvardsen
Takao Kawaguchi
Claudia La Rocco
Presented by Carriageworks, Dancehouse, The Keir Foundation and the Australia Council for the Arts.
The project partners acknowledge the support of creative development partner HOTA – Home of the Arts.
Alison Currie & David Cross
Alison Currie and David Cross are co-directing a commissioned work. Alison Currie is an Adelaide-based artist whose practice examines the connection between inanimate forms and performers. Her works engage audiences, performers and objects in various ways. David Cross is a Melbourne-based artist, curator and writer. His work extends across performance, installation, sculpture, public art and video and is known for its examination of risk, pleasure and participation. Individually, they have presented work at Performance Space Liveworks, Dance Massive and OzAsia Festival in Australia and at various festivals and events in Singapore, India, France, Prague, Poland, Croatia, New Zealand, England and The Netherlands. Alison Currie & David Cross are finalists, their work 'Delimit' will be presented at Carriageworks.
Angela Goh
Angela Goh is a Sydney based dancer and choreographer working with dance in theatres, galleries, and telepathetic spaces. Her work considers the body in relationship to commodity, materiality, technology, and feeling. Angela’s works have been presented across Australia as well as the USA, the UK, France, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Taiwan, Norway, Estonia, Denmark and the Netherlands. She received the 2019/20 Create NSW Emerging Artist Fellowship and won Best Artist in the 2017 FBi Sydney Music Arts and Culture awards. Angela Goh is a finalist, her work 'Sky Blue Mythic' will be presented at Carriageworks.
Riana Head-Toussaint
Riana Head-Toussaint is a multidisciplinary artist with disability, who uses a manual wheelchair for mobility. Her practice spans a variety of areas; including dance, theatre, acrobatics and film and often involves interrogating dominant systems, structures and ways of thinking. Her solo and ensemble work has been presented at ATYP, WOW Festival, and Shopfront Arts Co-Op. As well as being an artist, Riana is a qualified lawyer, access consultant and disability activist.
Amrita Hepi
Amrita Hepi is a Choreographer and Dancer from Bundjulung (AUS) and Ngapuhi (NZ) territories. Her practice at present is interested in forms of historical fiction and hybridity - especially those that arise under empire. In 2019 she was a commissioned artist for The National: New Australian art 2019 and the recipient of the danceWEB scholarship. In 2018 she was the recipient of the people's choice award for the Keir Choreographic Award. Amrita Hepi is a finalist, her work 'Rinse' will be presented at Carriageworks.
Jo Lloyd
Jo Lloyd is an influential Melbourne dance artist working with choreography as a social encounter, revealing behaviour over particular durations and circumstances. Her work has been presented in gallery spaces and theatres internationally. Her recent work 'OVERTURE' (Arts House 2018 and Melbourne Festival 2019), received three Green Room Awards and a Helpmann Award nomination. In 2018 Jo received an Australia Council Dance Fellowship. Jo is a Resident Artist at The SUBSTATION.
Zachary Lopez
Zachary Lopez is a contemporary dancer and emerging choreographer. A Filipino-Australian, he explores the duality between his identities to understand cultural lineage and nationality within his practice. He has been awarded an Australia Council Artstart Grant in 2015 and a Young Creative Leaders Fellowship (Create NSW) in 2019, where he began creative work with young people at Western Sydney’s Migrant Resource Centre.
The Farm
Based on the Gold Coast with roots in Berlin, The Farm creates live performances that push ideas of what dance can be and how and where it should be viewed. A network of highly respected artists, The Farm’s recent works have taken them around Australia and the world. Their performance TIDE received a Helpmann award in 2018. The Artistic Direction is led by Gavin Webber and Grayson Millwood. The current farmers are Gavin Webber, Michael Smith and Kate Harman. The Farm are finalists, their work 'Hold Me Closer Tony Danza' will be presented at Carriageworks.
