Australia Dancing - Perth International Arts Festival (1953

Perth International Arts Festival (1953 - )

Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) is the longest running arts festival in Australia, beginning in 1953 at the University of Western Australia. The Director of Adult Education, Fred Alexander, was inspired to expand the activities of the University summer school program after a visit to the Edinburgh Festival in 1951. He aimed for West Australians to experience world class cultural events in spite of their geographic and cultural isolation.

Formerly known as the Festival of Perth, the event runs annually in February and encompasses music, dance, theatre, literature, visual arts and film. It has become the premier cultural event in Perth, attracting some of the biggest names in the arts world while also providing a platform for local companies to showcase their works and talent. The Festival has also presented many Australian premieres, exclusives and commissions. While venues have traditionally been in Perth, the Festival has recently expanded its reach to include regional areas with the Mandurah International Opera Festival and events in the Goldfields and Kimberley regions.

Since its inception the Festival has introduced Perth audiences to a diverse range of dance forms. The first international dance performance was by a Manipuri troupe from India in 1957. This was followed by the Chitrasena Ballet from Ceylon in 1963. The early years of the festival saw performances by Dances of Singapore, Royal Thai Ballet, National Ballet of Senegal and the Kalakshetra Dancers from Madras, India. For over twenty years the Festival also hosted an annual Ballroom Dance Pageant that was regarded as one of the major ballroom events in the Southern Hemisphere.

Australian companies that featured during this time include The Australian Ballet, making its Festival debut in 1963 with a program of Swan Lake, Melbourne Cup, Les Sylphides and Lady and the Fool. In 1970, audiences witnessed the Australian Contemporary Dance Company perform Beth Dean’s choreography of John Antill’s Corroboree, and in 1981, the Australian Dance Theatre with Maina Gielgud’s Steps, Notes and Squeaks.

The 1987 Festival was a milestone as for the first time the program focussed primarily on dance. This was in part due to the establishment of the Quarry Amphitheatre, a dedicated outdoor dance venue. The festival featured five international companies: Limbs (New Zealand); Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal (Canada); Phoenix (England); Desrosiers Dance Theatre (Canada); and Trisha Brown Dance Company (USA).

Contemporary dance companies from interstate have continued to tour to Perth through the Festival, such as the Meryl Tankard Company with VX18504 (1991); Bangarra Dance Theatre with Ochres (1996); and Chunky Move with Bonehead (1997) and Tense Dave (2004).

The Festival has also commissioned a number of international collaborations. In 1995 Indian choreographer Mallika Sarabhai created new dance works with music by West Australian composers Roger Smalley, Cathie Travers and David Pye under the title Worlds Within and Without. A partnership between Montreal’s Jean-Pierre Perreault and Perth’s Chrissie Parrot Dance Company resulted in the work, Eironos, which premiered at the Festival in 1996.

In recent years audiences have experienced the work of internationally renowned choreographers and companies such as Jiri Kylian and the Netherlands Dance Theatre (2000), the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (2001); and Mats Ek’s production of Swan Lake for the Cullberg Ballet (2002).

Other international dance artists who have appeared at the Festival include Garth Fagan Dance Company, Groupe Emile Dubois, Robert Kovich Company, Grupo Corpo Brazilian Dance Theatre, Twyla Tharp, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker & Rosas Dance Company, La la la Human Steps, Les Ballets C de la B, Lyon Opera Ballet, Compagnie Boris Charmatz, Josef Nadj Company and Black Grace Dance Company. Collaboration with other Australian festivals and organizations has often made it feasible for international artists to make their way to Australia, with the Perth Festival as the starting point for performances in other Australian venues.

Exposure to these national and international artists has helped cultivate dance in Perth by providing a stimulus to local artists. PIAF has also been instrumental in supporting the local dance scene by promoting classical and contemporary dance to the wider community and commissioning works by local choreographers and companies.

The West Australian Ballet Company made its Festival debut in 1954 and has since been a regular fixture. Early Festival commissions include Woman of Andros, Bokhara, Tancredi and Clorinda and Ray Powell's production of Sea Drift to a score by James Penberthy. The company now performs an annual season at the Quarry Amphitheatre as part of the Festival with productions such as Giselle, Earth Angels, A Million Kisses to My Skin, Terra Incognita, Spartacus and Aqua Nova. A new work with international collaboration has been commissioned by PIAF for 2005.

The Chrissie Parrot Dance Company has also been a regular contributor, performing commissions such as Mirror Coda (1989), Off the Wall (1991) and Satu Langit (1994). Other local companies that have featured in the festival include Youth Arts Incorporated with ‘Scapes (1997), Buzz Dance Theatre with Snaphappy (2001), STRUT Dance and STEPS Youth Dance Company.

Directors of the Festival include John Birman (1955 - 1974) ; David Blenkinsop (1975 -1999) ; Sean Doran (2000 - 2003) and Lindy Hume (2004 - ).

Bibliography:

John Birman, 'Festival of Perth: a festival of the arts (1953 - 1976), Part One' Studies in Continuing Education, (No. 5, December 1980), pp. 10-32; John Birman, 'Festival of Perth: a festival of the arts (1953-1976), Part Two' Studies in Continuing Education, (No. 6, June 1981), pp. 47-65.

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