Dance Massive Australian Contemporary Dance

Dance Massive, a contemporary dance event spanning 12 days across three venues, commences inMelbourne on March 2009 for the very first time.

Arts House, Malthouse Theatre and Dancehouse in conjunction with Ausdance Victoria and with the supportof the Australia Council for the Arts have joined forces to present this premiere Dance Massive event. DanceMassive will showcase a mix of full length and shorter works, from some of Australia's leading dancecompanies and emerging artists. The program includes: Chunky Move, Splintergroup, Helen Herbertson andBen Cobham, Russell Dumas, Rogue and many more.

The full program will be released mid January.

Initiator of Dance Massive, Arts House Artistic Director Steven Richardson says, "Many of Australia's leadingdance companies and artists are residents here in Melbourne. The first Massive showcases this concentrationof contemporary dance talent through the cooperative programming directions of the presenting partners."Stephen Armstrong, Executive Producer of Malthouse Theatre says, "Programming Australian contemporarydance in Malthouse Theatre seasons has never been more thrilling. Reaching beyond our collaborations withchoreographers and dance companies to Melbourne's most dynamic contemporary performance presenters isthe beginning of something very special. The ultimate beneficiaries of this, of course, are the audiences ofMelbourne."

David Tyndall, Artistic Director and CEO of Dancehouse says, "As Australia's only presenting venue dedicatedsolely to contemporary dance, we are really excited that Dance Massive is coming. The program atDancehouse showcases the diverse approaches of seven outstanding choreographers and we are really proudthat all three venues are presenting work that has been supported by Dancehouse at some stage in itsdevelopment."

Planned as a biennial event, Dance Massive in 2009 will play an important role in showcasing Australian contemporary dance to the world with many international festival directors and venue programmers invited to attend. This key group of carefully selected international dance presenters and potential co-production partners will be hosted with a view to presenting this work internationally.