Image: Shaun Gladwell.
Phillip Keir considered creating an Australian dance award for a number of years before he approached Melbourne’s dedicated contemporary dance organisation Dancehouse, and Australia’s largest multi-arts institution Carriageworks, Sydney.
After spending some time in the United Kingdom and inspired by international prizes, Keir has founded the Keir Choreographic Award, with the financial support of The Keir Foundation, a private ancillary fund he established with his wife a decade ago.
The first of its kind in Australia, the Keir Award has commissioned eight artists to develop a choreographic idea, from concept to presentation.
Keir said that in Australia, contemporary choreography doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. With finalists Sarah Aiken, James Batchelor, Tim Darbyshire, Matthew Day, Atlanta Eke, Jane McKernan, Shaun Gladwell, and Brooke Stamp, this is about to change.
While there are many arts prizes and even a number of performing arts prizes, the Keir Award aims to begin filling the gap in the contemporary dance sector by offering the nominees exposure and coverage as the first, dedicated prize in the discipline.
The Keir Award is also unique in that each of the artist’s creations will be presented together – sequentially – in front of an audience and jury. Most of the choreographers will be performing their own works so the award integrates all skills from creation to performance.
In the spirit of the Turner Prize, the exhibiting artists have been selected prior to the performance season based on a compelling choreographic idea they proposed to the jury, in the form of a short video with the concept behind each work as the primary selection criteria.
Keir said there has been some debate within the dance world about already having to compete for grants and funding, but this award offers eight artists a prize with the opportunity to create and showcase new choreographic ideas.
Artistic Director and CEO of Dancehouse Angela Conquet, said this competitive element is also really attractive to new audiences, giving those new to the dance scene an opportunity to try something out while being part of an exciting and innovative stride in Australian dance culture.
Carriageworks Director Lisa Havilah feels the Award will provide an exciting platform for the creation of new Australian work and engage audiences in that creative process. The Keir Choreographic Award has received support from the Australia Council for the Arts to assist with the development of each new work.
Real-time judging also allows for a more even ground on which to decide a winner, Keir said.
The local and international judges including Mårten Spångberg, Matthew Lyons, Josephine Ridge, Becky Hilton, and Phillip Keir himself, bring expertise in a range of fields from choreography to programming, giving artists the opportunity to present their works to industry peers.
Keir said the consensus among the jury as to which concepts provided the greatest intrigue was ‘refreshing’ given the jury’s different backgrounds. And instead of following any particular dance or movement tradition, they chose to ‘look above and beyond’ such strictures, seeing each tradition as being of equal value.
The selected artists come from a range of disciplines. While many have tertiary dance training, Keir said the single condition was that they were practicing artists.
‘We wanted [finalists] to have a practice, but that’s really the only requirement we had,’ Keir said.
While there will be a final winner, all eight semi-finalists will present works of a high standard, and the diversity offers both the artists and audiences an unprecedented opportunity to experience a breadth of fresh choreographic ideas for the price of a single ticket.
Tickets are accessible, making the performances a risk-free outing, even for those experiencing contemporary dance for the first time.
Keir said the excitement for him is that what the artists have created for the showcase is completely new, and he is particularly keen to see how each of the artist’s personalities and original concepts evolved through the development process.
Each new work is between 20 and 25 minutes, and audiences will experience a real variety of works, concepts and approaches. Conquet said this also makes the program less intimidating to first-time dance audiences, because there will be something for everyone.
Keir hopes some of the works will develop beyond the Award, with some expanding in duration or scale based on the artist’s vision and competition experience. The jury’s ties to international names and institutions will also help to establish the foundations for further exploration at home and abroad.
Each artist has been working with up to five collaborators including visual artists, performers, lighting designers, and live sound designers, compromising a truly multidisciplinary contemporary approach.
Each artist has had two months to develop their work at either Dancehouse or Carriageworks, with 100 in-studio hours to build their concept and ideas.
Unlike some of the more established performing arts awards, the performances will be more than just an ‘industry event’. Without any company or marketing agenda to adhere to, the Keir Award showcase promises to be something completely new in Australia, and will assist individual artists to find dedicated and new dance audiences.
Keir suggests the experience will be ‘a bit like going to a Biennale’. The esteemed jury has alleviated some of the risk involved in attending ‘the unknown’ through their selection process, as Carriageworks, Dancehouse and The Keir Foundation have with their support and resources.
The Keir Choreographic Award promises a unique opportunity to experience contemporary choreography. For tickets, please contact Dancehouse or Carriageworks.
The Keir Choreographic Award Season is at Dancehouse Melbourne 3 – 6 July & 10 – 13 July with the finals at Carriageworks 16 – 19 July.
Visit the Dancehouse and Carriageworks websites for more information.
