Ausdance WA

18/06/2025

This EOFY, consider a tax-deductible donation to Ausdance WA. As the peak body for all forms of dance in WA, your support means that we can increase our capacity to give more back to the dance sector. 🧡

As a not-for-profit organisation, all funds raised go directly back into building capacity for dance. Your donation helps us give back to the sector, and do more for our community - like providing more professional development workshops. 📚

Over the past 12 months, we delivered SIX professional development days - led by industry experts - that provided employment opportunities for independent artists and teachers, and were attended by 94 dance teachers.

Help us continue this work. Donate to Ausdance WA at https://www.ausdancewa.org.au/donate/ 📲

17/06/2025

Very exciting opportunity for pre-professional and professional artists, right here in Perth! 🤩

15/06/2025

Learn how to enhance flexibility, strength & movement integrity in dancers with the West Australian Classical Ballet Teachers' Association workshop 🩰

Join them for a dynamic PD workshop designed to give dance teachers practical tools and insights to:

⭐️ Improve flexibility to gain higher extensions, whilst maintaining strength
⭐️ Help students find, maximise, and maintain their rotation
⭐️ Adapt movement safely for dancer with limited mobility or hyperextension
⭐️ Explore structural alignment through floor-based movement (EBAS)
⭐️ Gain insights in to injury rehabilitation from a dance-specialist osteopath.

Led by three expert presenters in dance physiology, rehabilitation, and movement technique, this is an event not to be missed!

📲 To read more about these impressive presenters and to book your place, head to https://wacbta.org.au/events-2025/

📅 Sunday 22 June
⏰ 9:00am–12:00pm (8:45am arrival)
📍 Youth Ballet WA, Burswood

13/06/2025

At our AGM last Thursday, we were delighted to present the legendary Gabrielle Sullivan with an Honorary Life Membership with Ausdance WA. 🧡

Gab commenced her role of Director for Ausdance WA in September 2015 (her second time with the organisation across her extensive career as an arts manager), joining the organisation at a challenging time.

Through vision, resilience, and sheer dedication, Gabrielle championed Ausdance WA during its toughest years. When the organisation temporarily closed its office in 2020, she continued to apply for project grants, deliver small initiatives such as Dance in Country Week, communicate regularly with the national Ausdance network to advocate on key national issues at a state level, and maintain relationships with major stakeholders and local dance community alike - all on a volunteer basis - for the next four years.

Gab's resilience and ingenuity were integral to the survival of Ausdance WA and has allowed us to get back to where we are today.

Her dedication, integrity and collaborative approach are iconic Gab. A loyal advocate for the dance sector for decades across all ages, and at all levels, Gabrielle is so deserving of this acknowledgement.

Please join us in congratulating her and welcoming her as our newest Honorary Life Member! 👏

📲 To read an extended version of the presentation for Gab from our AGM, head to https://www.ausdancewa.org.au/blog/2025/06/13/gabrielle-sullivan-life-membership/

12/06/2025

In case you missed it!

Detailed guidance to help complete a nomination form is available here. Before beginning you will need to gather some key information:

10/06/2025

We would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to one of our Life Members, Joan Pope, who is turning 90 today! 🎉

Dr Joan Pope was a founding member of Ausdance WA. Her specialisation has been in Dalcroze Eurhythmics as a private teacher, and for many decades was a part-time lecturer-tutor in Music through Movement with various tertiary organisations including Curtin, UWA, ECU and Notre Dame. She gained her PhD with historical research on the topic of teachers of the Dalcroze method in Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s.

In 2001, Joan was awarded an OAM and Centenary of Federation medal for services to children, community and the creative arts. ⭐

Joan shared these images with us of her as Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion at the Playhouse in 1960, and also in the opening show at the Old Dolphin Theatre at UWA, which she also directed. It was the UWA University R***e of 1960 and this particular item was Joan as an aspiring ballet dancer to a script written by Lyle Bowden. 🩰

We're sending lots of love to Joan and hope she has a wonderful day! 🧡

04/06/2025

West Australian Classical Ballet Teachers' Association invites you to another exciting professional development opportunity! 📚

They're presenting the second of their “Classical Connections” series of workshops. Learn how to enhance flexibility, strength & movement integrity in dancers. 🩰

Join them for a dynamic PD workshop designed to give dance teachers practical tools and insights to:
⭐️ Improve flexibility to gain higher extensions, whilst maintaining strength
⭐️ Help students find, maximise, and maintain their rotation
⭐️ Adapt movement safely for dancer with limited mobility or hyperextension
⭐️ Explore structural alignment through floor-based movement (EBAS)
⭐️ Gain insights in to injury rehabilitation from a dance-specialist osteopath.

Led by three expert presenters in dance physiology, rehabilitation, and movement technique, this is an event not to be missed!

📲 To read more about these impressive presenters and to book your place, head to https://wacbta.org.au/events-2025/

📅 Sunday 22 June
⏰ 9:00am–12:00pm (8:45am arrival)
📍 Youth Ballet WA, Burswood

Welcome to our 2025 events ! We are still finalising some elements of the latter part of our exciting 2025 programme, so keep an eye on this page as we update the information!

03/06/2025

"The support for this community performance was marvelous – you could see and feel how joyous it was for the performers and audience to share this experience...I know that through the project the participants have fostered and strengthened relationships with each other, which ultimately was the goal of the project. It is a testament to how dance can connect, inspire and enrich peoples lives."

We recently spoke with Talitha Maslin about her involvement in the regional dance performance 'Flow', choreographed by Chrissie Parrott AO as part of the Nannup Music Festival in March 2025.

Read the full interview via the link below 📲
https://www.ausdancewa.org.au/blog/2025/05/26/finding-flow/

01/06/2025

DOs and DONTs: Stretching Edition 🤸‍♀️

❎ Do not stretch cold muscles. Make sure the body is warm first!
❎ Do not hold your breath; breathing should be slow and easy
❎ Do not make stretches competitive
❎ Avoid partner stretching where possible, as your partner cannot judge your pain
❎ Any ballistic (i.e. bobbing, bouncing) types of stretching should be avoided. It is a sure-fire way to damage muscles or tendons.

✅ Do stretch before AND after exercise (active stretching during the warm up, static stretching during the cool down)
✅ Do stretch all muscle groups
✅ To increase flexibility, stretch when your body is thoroughly prepared (in contrast to stretching whilst relaxed to increase range and mobility as you might do in a warm-up)
✅ Do stretch gently and slowly
✅ Do stretch gently to the point of mild discomfort, never pain

‼️Remember: pain is not progress but a signal that you have gone too far.

Are you following these rules in your regular warm ups??

For more information on stretching, head to: https://ausdance.org.au/articles/details/stretching-rules-for-dancers

21/05/2025

AllPlay are hosting another Professional Development series in Perth!

AllPlay are a team of dancers, psychologists, and researchers devoted to making dance more accessible and inclusive for children of all abilities. They're reimagining dance, helping the community to embrace inclusion, and researching the many benefits of dance.

📅 31 May & 1 June
📍The West Australian Ballet

This research project is supported by the NDIS. There is no cost to participate in the program.

📲 To find out more, head to https://www.monash.edu/allplaydance/join-allplay-dance

19/05/2025

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY!

🌟 Safe Dance® practice - Online Professional Development Course 🌟

If you're on our mailing list, you would have recently received information about an exciting online PD! Designed by Ausdance VIC for dance teachers, studio owners, pre-professional and professional dancers, the Safe Dance® online course outlines the core principles of safe dance, covering anatomy basics, injury prevention strategies and legal obligations.

Topics Include:
📚 What is Safe Dance?
🦵 Anatomy basics and injury prevention
✅ Safe physical environments
👧 Supervision and monitoring of children
🧡 Working with seniors and elders
⚖️ Legal obligations

Ausdance WA Members can access the course for $135. Non-members can access the course for $150. Find out more at our website: https://www.ausdancewa.org.au/safe-dance-online-course/

Become an advocate for safe dance practices and teaching methodologies and help ensure dancers enjoy sustainable and thriving careers!