The Australian Youth Dance Festival (AYDF) is a week-long festival of forums, workshops, choreographic activities and performances. The Festival provides a unique opportunity for young people to learn collaborative and choreographic skills in a non-competitive environment.
The 2012 AYDF took place from 8 – 14 April at NAISDA Dance College in Gosford, NSW. Festival participants worked with choreographers Sue Healey, Philip Channells, Anton, Kay Armstrong, Matt Cornel, Adelina Larsson, Lee Pemberton, Vicki Van Hout and artistic director Rowan Marchingo to create Shades of Us, a site-specific performance responding to the landscape architecture of Mt Penang Gardens.
If you’ve ever wondered what happens each day of the festival, this video diary gives you a taste of the festival experience. How does it feel to perform in a professional theatre before your peers? What type of dance will we make with the choreographic mentors? What are the other dancers like? What will I learn? What is site-specific performance? What is it like being a choreographic mentor? Young dancers and their choreographic mentors answer these questions and more.
The 2012 AYDF was produced and presented by the team at Ausdance NSW (Director, Cathy Murdoch and Marketing Coordinator, Gina Shrubsall), and the 2012 Festival Project Manager was Sarah-Vayne Vassallo.