“I thought it was the best dance show I've seen in a long time!”
David Pledger; Not Yet It’s Difficult
Part theatre performance, part ‘get up and dance’, The Inaugural Annual Dance Affair is an all ages performance event that immerses everyone in an evening of old time and new time dance floor magic.
Inspired by the rise and fall (and rise again) of the social dance scene, IADA as we affectionately call it, celebrates that the dance circuit is well and truly alive and ready to kick up the dust again!
The show features a cracking live band, a charming MC, light footed guest stars and heart-warming real stories from local community legends. This is an a funny, exhilarating and energising performance spanning across generations, connected by the knowledge that people love to dance.
Put on your dancing shoes, your party frock or best clobber and get ready to hit the floor for a two-step or a twerk, a waltz,
cha cha and your funkiest freestyling grooves
By the end of the night your dance card will be full. You will be armed with the ultimate tool kit of essential dancing moves. Plus together we will create the newest social dance to hit the circuit full of partner dances and pop solos that people love.
There will be prizes, supper and of course, the meat tray raffle.
No dance experience necessary, this is a great night out for everybody.
ABOUT
DEVELOPMENT + CREATION
This project has been inspired by the ecology of dance floor – the relationships, stories, traditions, history and connections that intertwine at a social dance and the undeniable human expressions that are exposed by watching people dance together.
Originally commissioned by Bleach* Festival on the Gold Coast Queensland, the work premiered as a keynote festival project over a four night sell out season in March 2015, attracting a diverse all ages audience in the hundreds. The work has since been presented in communities around Australia and we are passionate about continuing to discover great dancing stories and people across the globe.
The show is a project of Everybody NOW, an Australian performance collective, led by Co-Directors Kate Baggerson, Ian Pidd and Bec Reid.
The work is created via a community residency, where the lead artists research local dance history, record interviews with locals and recruit a large cast of community dance champions. Enlisted to share their stories and dancing styles the cast can involve everyone from the 84 year old tap dancer, to the champion ballroom couple, seniors burlesque group, old time country dance committee, to baby ballerinas and the vibrant teenage dance troupe. It's truly an inclusive snap shot of your town.
The touring work is about process and presentation. The show has an overarching script and framework which throughout the community engagement process becomes specific to the presentation location, ensuring each presentation is full of the stories and people unique to that place. The work has the capacity to accommodate a large community and audience participation.
Dancing has always been a part of Australia’s cultural fabric, from country-dances, to city ballrooms and lavish dance clubs. In their heyday, attending dance nights was a vital form of community expression, an engine room for romance and a hot spot for local business. There are rich cultural stories to be discovered right across the country.
Ultimately, this show is a celebration of not only who dances but why we dance. The wordless language of dance means it is the very act of dancing that speaks for itself.
The joy, inclusivity, complexity, connectivity, exhilaration, charm and vitality that comes through dancing is humans at their best – this is The Inaugural Annual Dance Affair.
WATCH THE MAKING OF
The Creative Team talk about the development process and how it can be created in other communities as a touring production.