The tenth season of Delving into Dance is presented in partnersip with Ausdance Victoria, in conjunction with the Australian Youth Dance Festival (AYDF). This special season features Australian and international youth dance practitioners: Daniel Riley, Anna Kenrick, Adam Rutherford, Cadi McCarthy, Adam Wheeler, Aparnaa Nagesh, and Isabella Stone. Interviews were conducted by the amazing AYDF2019 Youth Ambassadors – Paige Carr, Patricia Hayes Cavanagh and Piroska Voljay, interviews explore youth dance practice, taking place both in Australia and further afield. The Youth Ambassadors were mentored with regards to interviewing, they wrote the questions, online profile and conducted the interviews.

The Australian Youth Dance Festival (AYDF) was founded in 1996 by Ausdance National to provide youth dance practitioners the opportunity to connect with their peers and to provide them a forum for healthy exchange, mentored by a network of dance industry leaders in a supportive and non-competitive environment. AYDF is a biennial Festival and was held in regional centres across Australia. AYDF2019 was the first time it was presented with international collaboration, with young dancers and dance leaders from the UK, Singapore, Ghana, Denmark, Finland and more.

AYDF ran between the 7th and 12th of July 2019.

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Bios

Piroska Voljay

Piroska is dancer/artist from Narrm/Birrarung, currently in their second year at the Victorian College of the Arts. They have performed in works by Adam Wheeler, Daniel Jaber and Rebecca Jensen and was a member of the Yellow Wheel company in 2016 and 2018. At the 2019 Dance Massive, Piroska performed in SIMULCAST as a younger leader. Dance has deeply impacted their life in a multitude of ways, some of which are fundamental to their values and navigations of the world.

Patricia Hayes Cavanagh

Patricia has been dancing since she was 4 years old. She did classical ballet for many years, then transitioned into contemporary dance. She has been dancing with QL2 since 2015 and has taken part in many projects with the company. One thing that excites her most about dancing with QL2 is the endless opportunities, and she has helped choregraphed some their works. Patricia is currently participating in Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-professional year.

Paige Carr

Paige is trained in tap, jazz and ballet from the age of two. Although she enjoyed performing, she discovered that the eisteddfod and competition side of dance wasn’t something she truly enjoyed. She discovered Catapult dance and joined its youth company, Flipside, in 2014. Working with Flipside has helped her with her confidence and expanded her views of the world. She calls Catapult Flipside her home, and never felt more comfortable being herself when surrounded by amazingly talented and loving people there that she can call her friends, family and inspirations.

Australian Youth Dance Festival Podcast Season

Archive

Cadi McCarthy

“every human has a body and bodies tell stories”

Adam Rutherford

“Dance, it has a tribal background, everyone does dance, initially, as kids, and we will do it socially. So I think there's a very powerful message there that can be utilised by choreographers when they're creating their works.”

Aparna Nagesh

‘you have to make everyone go at their own pace’

Anna Kenrick

"In term of my career, I've spent most of it - if not all of it - in youth dance."

Isabella Stone

“Dance can provide a space for people to have a kinesthetic response to something and to be given a place to meet their body in watching another body move.”

Daniel Riley

"I really loved the freedom of expression, and just realising that... I don't need to use my mouth if I wanna tell a story."

Adam Wheeler

“some of the best advice that I ever got, as a young student, was make the dance that you want to watch”

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Australian Youth Dance Festival Podcast Season

Photo gallery photos by Shuttermain (Rachel Main)