All In

ABOUT THE SHOW

Dance exists on stages, at weddings, in clubs and at cultural gatherings. Why is it so universal? What are the boundaries between ballet and backyard parties? Can dance build bridges and ignite collective joy? 

Award-winning contemporary dance company Dance Makers Collective tackles these questions with dance makers from a cross-section of dance styles and communities, to celebrate movement as a unifying force.

All In is a full body experience, the dance event to end all dance events. Witness some of the best dancing you’ve ever seen, up close and personal, and if the mood hits right, the dance just might infect you.

Led by Director/Choreographer Miranda Wheen and co-created with a diverse artistic team, All In builds bridges and helps us find common ground, utilising the universal language of dance.

ENGAGEMENT process

For its premiere, All In featured performances by a core ensemble of DMC artists (8), DMC’s youth company Future Makers (12), and members of Jannawi Dance Clan (4), Las Flamenkas (3), Riddim Nation (4) and Agal Dance Company (1). 

For the tour, DMC will recreate sections of the work with the local communities it tours to, rather than tour with 32 performers. This involves a breadth of local engagements, negotiated in bespoke ways with our presenting partners, to genuinely respond to the local communities, and to marry the aspirations of our presenting partners with their capacity. Each bespoke iteration of All In will involve a combination of local collaborations, including:

• Engaging a local First Nations dance group to recreate the show's opening (originally created/performed by Jannawi);
• Engaging a local cast of young dancers to replace Future Makers, teaching them choreography from the show to perform with DMC;
• Platforming local dance group/s practicing other dance forms, replacing the section created/performed by Las Flamenkas and Agal;
• Interviewing members of the group/s and incorporating their voices in the audio of the local production.

To localise the work, DMC will undertake a pre-tour with two lead creatives to work with these groups, host workshops, record interviews, and then recreate and perform the work with them and our company of 8 dancers.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Founded in 2012, Dance Makers Collective (DMC) is an award-winning national leader in dance. DMC is the largest collective-led dance company in Australia (with 11 Co-Directors) and the only Creative Australia Four Year Funded dance company in NSW. With a mission to build dance communities, DMC unites people by working with and between dance theatre, contemporary dance, and social dance.

From DMC’s home on Dharug Nura in Seven Hills, our Artistic Directorate (“The Collective”) co-create opportunities for people from diverse identities, backgrounds, ages and experiences to exchange, bond, and grow, using dance as a medium to build these connections.

Since 2012, DMC has produced no less than 83 dance works performed in theatres, halls, galleries, parks, on street corners, balconies, YouTube and Instagram.

Learn more: https://dancemakerscollective.com.au

Production photography by Nat Cartney.