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International Dance Day

Year 2004 - International Dance Day Message

By Stephen Page

29 April 2004 - Dance is the original most ancient form of human expression. Through the body and physical language, dance has a powerful connection with the emotional and spiritual worlds.

In traditional Aboriginal culture, dance is the core, like a kind of sacred medicine. Dance is grounded, connected to the spirit of Mother Earth. Unless you surrender to the dance you can't hunt quietly. It is an integral part of human existence.

When I create a new dance work I ask the dancers to swallow and digest the traditional seed, to sense the innate code within so that we can transform the traditional essence to the contemporary world.

Dance is the universal language. It represents human identity and a celebration of the human spirit. Dance is the artistic heart of kinship. It is a sacred universal remedy.

You are invited to use the International Dance Day texts and to circulate them. When you do so, please include the following mention, and, if you display the material on Internet, we ask you to add a link to the ITI Internet site : http://iti.unesco.org

Background

In 1982 the International Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute, UNESCO, created International Dance Day to be celebrated every year on the 29th April.

The date commemorates the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727 - 1810), the creator of modern ballet.

Every year a message from a well-known dance personality is circulated throughout the world. The intention of International Dance Day and the Message is to bring all Dance together on this occasion, to celebrate this art form and revel in its universality, to cross all political, cultural and ethnic barriers and bring people together in peace and friendship with a common language - DANCE.

The International Dance Committee of ITI is collaborating with World Dance Alliance and the International Dance Council for the celebration of International Dance Day.

Stephen PAGE - Choreographer

Born in 1965 in Brisbane, Stephen Page is descended from the Nunukul people of Stradbroke Island and the Munaldjali clan of the Yugambeh nation of South-East Queensland. He danced with the Sydney Dance Company until 1991 at which time he was appointed artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theatre. With his works he has created milestones for the company and Australian dance.

In 1996, Mr. Page made his creative debut with the Australian Ballet, choreographing the short work Alchemy. The following year, he brought The Australian Ballet and Bangarra Dance Theatre together in Rites, to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Rites premiered at the 1997 Melbourne Festival and was performed two years later at the Sydney Opera House and New York's City Center.

Among his many other achievements, Mr. Page and Bangarra received the coveted Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work and Best Dance Work in 2000. He choreographed the Awakening segment of the 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony and is Artistic Director of the 2004 Adelaide Festival.

For more information on Stephen Page and the Bangarra company , please visit this website: http://www.bangarra.com.au

Authors of the International Dance Day Message 1982 - 2003

• 1982: Henrik NEUBAUER
• 1983: anonymous
• 1984: Yuri GRIGOROVITCH
• 1985: Robert JOFFREY
• 1986: Chetna JALAN
• 1987: Dance Committee Board
• 1988: Robin HOWARD
• 1989: Doris LAINE
• 1990: Merce CUNNINGHAM
• 1991: Hans VAN MANEN
• 1992: Germaine ACOGNY
• 1993: Maguy MARIN
• 1994: Dai AILIAN
• 1995: Murray LOUIS
• 1996: Maïa PLISSETSKAÏA
• 1997: Maurice BEJART
• 1998: Kazuo OHNO
• 1999: Mahmoud REDA
• 2000: Alicia ALONSO, Jirí KYLIÁN, Cyrielle LESUEUR
• 2001: William FORSYTHE
• 2002: Katherine DUNHAM
• 2003: Mats EK
• 2004: Stephen PAGE

• Also available in FRENCH , in SPANISH and in bilingual English- French PDF brochure format (514 kb)
  

Source: ITI-UNESCO

related links :

• International Dance Council
  Helpful suggestions from our sister organisation for celebrating International Dance Day and special messages from its President.
• International Theatre Institute
• International Dance Committee of the ITI
  
• United Nations section of ENIAR
• The Bangarra Dance Company
• Stephen Page profile from the Australia Council’s website
• Adelaide Festival
• Wellenbrecher
  March 25 2004 - Frankfurter Rundschau (Germany) - Oper, Tanz und Aborigenes-Kunst: Das Festival im australischen Adelaide brachte Inszenierungen aus aller Welt ins Städtchen.
• Kinship and Creativity: The Phillip Parsons Memorial Lecture
  24 August 2003 - The Philip Parsons Memorial Lecture commemorates the life's work of Dr. Parsons, AM (1926-93), co-founder of arts publishing house Currency Press and influential scholar, teacher and mentor. Stephen Page delivered the lecture for 2003.
• Page's great leap into Euroculture
  October 15, 2003 - The Adelaide Festival's new artistic director has resisted the temptation to put his Aboriginal heritage at centre stage, writes Penelope Debelle. "See, it's not an indigenous program, is it?" says the 2004 Adelaide Festival's artistic director, Stephen Page, at the unveiling of his mainly white and European festival program.
• Interview with Stephen Page: Maintaining Culture Through Dance
  7 August 2002 - Brisbane-born Stephen Page is the Artistic Director and Choreographer of the Bangarra Dance Theatre. He spoke to Fenella Kernebone about the history of Bangarra and his vision as Artistic Director of the Adelaide Festival, 2004-5. He also discusses his commitment to maintaining indigenous cultural values by evolving the visual and physical aspects of Aboriginal storytelling, through dance, music and song.

Further information: culture issues page - includes news index and external links

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