InReview InReview

SA QLD
Support independent journalism

InReview

Fresh direction for Leigh Warren Dance

InReview

Comments
Comments Print article

Leigh Warren hopes arts funding bodies will see the changing of the guard at his South Australian dance company as an opportunity to invest in the future.

Warren announced this morning that former Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) dancer Daniel Jaber will take over as resident choreographer at Leigh Warren Dance (LWD) in 2014 and as artistic director from 2015.

“It’s the right time and Daniel is the right person,” he told InDaily of the move, which comes as the company celebrates its 21st birthday.

Leigh Warren Dance has won accolades for its impressive body of work, including Pari Passu – Touch, which was performed at the Edinburgh International Festival, and last year’s OzAsia Festival production, not according to plan.

However, LWD was struck a blow in 2011 when it was one of several South Australian arts companies to lose their triennial funding from the Australia Council – a move which Warren said at the time had left it in limbo.

Asked how he felt now about the future of LWD, the choreographer said he hoped the Australia Council and Arts SA would see Jaber’s appointment as an “amazing opportunity” to invest in the future.

“I sincerely hope we will get that Australia Council funding back.

“It should be about the future and not just the status quo. I’m hoping they’ll see the incredible talent Daniel has and the importance of having a second major company here [alongside the Australian Dance Theatre].”

Adelaide-born Jaber choreographed last year’s acclaimed ADT production Nought, and has spent 18 months working with dance companies in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, France and the Netherlands.

Warren said as well as talent, the young choreographer had a hunger for new opportunities and a commitment to dance in South Australia.

Two works helped convince Warren that Jaber was the right person to lead Leigh Warren Dance: a trio he choreographed and danced in for Ausdance’s Choreolab, and the ADT work Nought.

“It [Nought] was truly beautiful, without gimmicks. Just the body and the light and music … the dancers revelled in it and everything was just right.”

Jaber has an interest in classical dance, and says audiences are likely to notice a change in style and themes in future Leigh Warren Dance work. However, he anticipates there will also be a strong sense of continuity.

“My work will be informed by the same dance literacy, dance styles and dance technique foundation I’ve always admired in Leigh’s work.”

Warren will remain at Leigh Warren Dance for the rest of the year as a mentor to Jaber, but says his future career will see him working as an independent director and choreographer pursuing collaborations that are both cross-genre and cross-cultural.

The next of these will be the Philip Glass Trilogy, which opens at Her Majesty’s Theatre on August 5. The same month, Jaber will choreograph, direct and perform in Reassessment – Double Bill  at the Adelaide Festival Centre.

 

Make a comment View comment guidelines

Support local arts journalism

Your support will help us continue the important work of InReview in publishing free professional journalism that celebrates, interrogates and amplifies arts and culture in South Australia.

Donate Here

Comments

Show comments Hide comments
Will my comment be published? Read the guidelines.

. You are free to republish the text and graphics contained in this article online and in print, on the condition that you follow our republishing guidelines.

You must attribute the author and note prominently that the article was originally published by InReview.  You must also inlude a link to InReview. Please note that images are not generally included in this creative commons licence as in most cases we are not the copyright owner. However, if the image has an InReview photographer credit or is marked as “supplied”, you are free to republish it with the appropriate credits.

We recommend you set the canonical link of this content to https://inreview.com.au/inreview/2014/04/07/fresh-direction-leigh-warren-dance/ to insure that your SEO is not penalised.

Copied to Clipboard

More InReview stories

Loading next article