C01 Tree of Life

Australian Dance Party is a collective of contemporary dance artists creating joyous, bold and urgent site-specific dance work in Canberra and beyond. We harness the universality, power and playfulness of the human body to connect to the ordinary and extraordinary spaces around us, inspiring thinking, feeling and action in today’s world. Through a focus on creative practice, we are creating and presenting new work, developing and sustaining careers for dance artists in our region. And we have fun….it’s a Party!

Gelareh Pour is an Iranian born classically trained multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer and music instructor, largely performing on the Kamancheh (Persian spiked fiddle). Currently based in Ballarat, Australia, Gelareh leads two experimental groups, Gelareh Pour’s Garden and ZÖJ, and regularly collaborates with artists from all walks of life. Gelareh’s music explores the duality of multiculturalism and true cross-cultural experimentation. Since her arrival in Australia she has produced six independent albums, composed music for various ABC Radio programs and has appeared in some of the most respected Australian and international music festivals and venues. She has become a finalist for Art 2020 Music Awards for Excellence in Experimental Music and nominated for industry voted Music Victoria Awards 2020 & 2021 for the Best Intercultural Music Act.

Melbourne-based percussionist Kaylie Melville is a soloist and chamber musician dedicated to new music performance. Noted for her “extraordinary ability to impart a sense of musicality to even the smallest gestures” (Partial Durations), Kaylie is an Artistic Associate with new music pioneers Speak Percussion, co-Artistic Director of the contemporary ensemble Rubiks Collective and frequently works with leading Australian ensembles and orchestras. In addition to performing, Kaylie's practice incorporates improvising, directing, curating and teaching. As a passionate advocate of new music Kaylie has performed in the world premieres of major Australian works, including Kate Neal's 'Semaphore' (Arts House 2015) and as the percussion soloist in Jack Symond's 'Double Purity' double concerto (BIFEM 2016). Her festival appearances include the Metropolis New Music Festival, Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music, Melbourne Festival, Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Salihara Festival (Indonesia), and the Percussive Arts Society’s International Convention (US). Kaylie has also participated in a number of prestigious new music courses including the inaugural Eighth Blackbird Creative Lab (USA, 2017), Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music (Germany, 2016), Bang on a Can Summer Festival (USA, 2015) and So Percussion’s Summer Institute at Princeton University (USA, 2013). Kaylie’s awards include an Ian Potter Cultural Trust Grant for study in the US, an Australia Council ArtStart Grant, the University of Melbourne’s Professional Pathways Scholarship, and the Australian National Academy of Music’s John and Rosemary MacLeod Traveling Fellowship. Kaylie was Speak Percussion's Young Artist in Residence in 2014, was selected as a finalist in the ANAM Concerto Competition in 2015, and was a finalist for the Freedman Classical Fellowship in 2016. In November 2016 she was featured in ABC Classic FM's '40 Under 40' as part of Australian Music Month.

Theo Carbo (b. 1999, Melbourne, Australia) is a guitarist, composer, electronic musician, producer and sound engineer. Growing up as an astute student of jazz, Theo’s proficiency as a guitarist has seen him working in groups of Australia’s most important improvising musicians including Barney Mcall, Andrea Keller, Sam Anning, Nadje Noordhuis, Joseph O’Connor and Paul Williamson. A keen philosopher of music and a student of composition at the Victorian College of the Arts, Theo has recently been developing a broader practise which involves elements of experimental composition, electronic processes, solo and ensemble improvisation and studio engineering. "Theo is a naturally gifted artist with a unique and refined take on things. His musical maturity is a great argument for the collective unconscious" - Barney Mcall