The Catalyst Dance Masterclass Series (2013) features the work of some of Australia’s leading dance practitioners. Set across three weekends at the Bangarra Dance Studios in Sydney artists Sue Healey, Dean Walsh and Philip Channells will work with 24 dancers from around the country to devise three short dance works for the SECOND SKIN studio showing.

The works will traverse duets between camera and dancer, sub-aquatic space and states of revealing individual identities. Second Skin is the public outcome of Accessible Arts’ latest commitment to the development of dance in NSW. The disability-inclusive dance masterclasses breaks new ground for Australian contemporary arts and puts Sydney on the map again for this new work in the dance community.

Sarah-Vyne Vassallo (Project Officer, Accessible Arts) and Philip Channells (Creative Director, Dance Integrated Australia) are part of the dynamic team that have worked tirelessly together to instigate and develop this masterclass series since its first conception in 2011. Continually discovering new territories to engage people from different life experience in Australian contemporary dance, they have worked together to include opportunities for dancers with physical and sensory impairment and learning disabilities to engage in this professional development project.

The Catalyst Dance Masterclass Series continues to push the boundaries for dance and provides significant pathways for people to engage in the profession in a supported and nurturing environment. All three choreographers (Healey, Walsh & Channells) return for this years incarnation of the program, each bringing with them an entirely different experience for the emerging and professional artists of the 2013 ensemble.

Below is a poem written by one of the performers during the first weekend of Catalyst (2013).

I wrap your patchwork of words around my torso, I absorb them into my skin, Let them soften my frayed hostility, Like a cloak I can hide myself in. Georgia Cranko

Joining the collaborators in the role of choreographic assistants are Darren Green, Chanel Leaudais, Katina Olsen, Robyn Seiboth, Tanya Voges and Trish Wood; custume designers Sean Campbell and Sheldon Boger Moffat (17eightynine) and Scott Bobako (aka Digital Assassin) composing and playing live for Second Skin.

In addition to the the Catalyst program, there will also be a guest performance from Sunnyfield in Blue sky open door, choreographed by Kay Armstrong and a screening of Matthew Massaria’s film, Dance is Friendship.

Where: Bangarra Theatre, The Wharf, Pier 4 Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay 2000

When: 6.30 – 8.00pm on Sunday 15 September 2013.

For tickets to this event, click here. Bookings are essential (tickets selling fast).

Visit the Accessible Arts website to learn more about the Catalyst Dance Masterclass Series.

Photo: Robyn Seiboth / Dancer: Stella Barton