The Saturday Night Social

The Saturday Night Social is a community engagement project involving workshops with dancers, culminating in a community event involving a live local band.

A “spin-off” of DMC’s immersive dance hall meets dance theatre performance The Rivoli, The Saturday Night Social is a low-footprint, fully immersive dance event bringing together a live band, highly skilled dance facilitators, and the local community to dance together.

This project emerges at a time when social cohesion is at its lowest on record, as an antidote to depressed levels of connectivity impacted by cost-of-living pressure and cultural divison in a post-COVID world. DMC have developed this project specifically to aide in bringing people together, from different backgrounds and generations, to spark joy and foster community-building, what better way to do that than a social dance?!

GREEN PROGRAMMING

Dance Makers Collective and Dubbo Regional Theatre won a joint PAC Australia Impact Award in 2024 for The Saturday Night Social, in recognition of the innovativeness of its touring model and the long term impact of the work in the community. In addition to this positive impact, this work has a low emissions footprint, due to the small touring company size and zero freight. We are delighted to tour this work for the second year in a row and for The Saturday Night Social to be one of five productions in our 2025 Touring Program under AOT’s Green Programming banner. AOT seeks out productions that have been made according to sustainability principles; utilise a low emissions touring model; and/or communicate environmental themes to audiences. 

ABOUT  THE COMPANY

Dance Makers Collective is Western Sydney’s professional dance company and the only collective-led dance company in Australia. Established in 2012, the company comprises nine professional dance makers who have worked for major dance and theatre companies from around Australia, touring major productions internationally. Together, Dance Makers Collective create exciting contemporary dance works with “imagination, thoughtfulness and even a sense of humour” (Jill Sykes, Sydney Morning Herald). Their touring production, Dads, was shortlisted for Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance at the Australian Dance Awards.

DMC’s mission is to build dance communities, and the work we create focuses on bridging gaps between contemporary dance, social dance, community and storytelling through deeply moving dance experiences. DMC is committed to developing appreciation for dance by making dance accessible to as many people as possible, we make shows, run workshops and regular programs, skills development and training for children, adults, preprofessional and professional artists and senior members of our community.

Touring 2025

Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre, NSW | Land of the Tubba-Gah & Wiradjuri People
13-15 February | BOOK

The Roxy Community Theatre, Leeton NSW | Land of the Wiradjuri People
28 June | COMING SOON

Tamworth Town Hall, NSW | Land of the Gamilaraay People
26 July | BOOK

Bellingen Memorial Hall, NSW | Land of the Gumbaynggirr People
15-16 August | COMING SOON

City Hall, Bathurst NSW | Land of the Wiradjuri People
15 November | BOOK