Celebrating 40 years of contemporary Indigenous arts, NAISDA Dance College will commence its biggest year to date with a USA tour, starting at the 28th Annual International Conference and Festival of Blacks in Dance.
As part of a Cultural Exchange and teaching arrangement, four delegates from NAISDA will be traveling to Denver and Castle Rock Colorado, the University of Virginia, UArts Philadelphia and New York, where they will showcase Australian Indigenous Contemporary Dance and culture.
As part of the tour, NAISDA alumni Mr Thomas ES Kelly, Ms Taree Sansbury and Mr Hans Ahwang, as well as artistic director emeritus and founder of NAISDA, Ms Carole Y Johnson, will share the unique style of Australian Indigenous Contemporary Dance for which the college has become renowned. Based in Kariong, NAISDA Dance College is Australia’s premier Indigenous dance training college and has a proud reputation of producing the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performers and creators.
Ms Johnson said that the tour is an opportunity to showcase NAISDA’s vast contributions to contemporary dance on an international stage. “Today NAISDA Dance boasts more than 100 independent professional dance artists creating, performing and touring dance throughout Australia and abroad,’ Ms Johnson said. “The College is also a catalyst and stimulus for the preservation of traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance,” she said.
“We are honoured to represent NAISDA and the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance community as part of the Conference, which will host the broadest gathering of Black Dance professionals in the US and Internationally, from January 20 to 24 this year. “This is a perfect opportunity to celebrate Australian Indigenous Contemporary Dance as NAISDA has spread this unique art form to performers, choreographers, artistic directors, teachers and many more members of the international dance community for 40 years,” added Ms Johnson.
CEO of NAISDA, Ms Kim Walker commented that this wonderful start to the 40th anniversary celebrations could not have taken place without the creative insight of the Department of Foreign Affairs Canberra, Arts NSW and NAISDA.
Media release, Alison Orren, Brilliant Logic