Schools and Education

119 face-to-face workshops delivered in schools to a total of

3,214 students from four States & Territories across Australia

66 workshops were delivered on National Tour across ten locations to over

1,670 young people

49

4 School matinee performances, attended by

54 26

Pre-Professional Year students

Bachelor of Music (Performance) students, in partnership with Sydney Conservatorium of Music through University of Sydney

25 young dancers attended Youth Summer Intensive

70 workshops were delivered to schools in the Greater Sydney region in seven different dance styles HSC students from Western Sydney participated in the FORM Choreographic Workshops

4 digital workshops delivered to 50 students

47 young dancers formed two youth ensembles, culminating in a Youth Ensemble Performance attended by

132 people in our Neilson Studio

29 in-studio school holiday workshops with 492 attendances by young people

2,893 students and teachers

1 livestreamed schools matinee viewed by more than

1,300 students nationwide

“The contemporary class was well suited to the students and they really enjoyed learning the repertoire for Impermanence. We look forward to engaging the students with composition tasks from the education resource to develop a class work inspired from viewing the live stream and participating in the workshop.” – Secondary School Teacher, SA, following a virtual workshop

Sydney Dance Company’s Education Programs support Primary, Secondary and Tertiary students and teachers with curriculum aligned workshops, matinee performances and bespoke programs. With the return to activities in schools in 2022, Sydney Dance Company delivered workshops to students in Sydney and around Australia, in contemporary dance as well as a range of other dance styles. To ensure schools can continue to engage with Sydney Dance Company regardless of geographical locations, virtual workshops continued, delivering high-quality content to fifty students throughout the year. Twenty incursions, twenty excursions, four virtual workshops and sixty-six workshops on national tour were delivered throughout the year, reaching a total of 3,214 students.

Our programs for younger people still in secondary school include the Senior Contemporary Dance Program delivered at McDonald College Strathfield, and the Youth Ensemble delivered at our own Wharf Studios. Both provide pathways to the Pre-Professional Year and further industry training. This not only feeds the ecosystem of contemporary dance and strengthens the sector in NSW and Australia, but it also puts Sydney Dance Company in a comparable position to leading companies around the world.

Three of the four graduating McDonald College Senior Contemporary Dance students from 2021 joined our Pre-Professional Year 1 cohort in 2022, with the continuing students staying in the McDonald College Senior Contemporary Dance program for 2022. Students in this affiliate program joined Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Year for the afternoon session every Thursday at the Wharf to experience pre-professional training and viewing of company and Pre-Professional Year rehearsals.

Twenty-five young dancers from across the nation spent a week at Sydney Dance Company in January for our Summer Youth Intensive program. They worked with professional ensemble dancers, members from the artistic and Pre-Professional Year teams and industry specialists, to gain an insight into what training in the Pre-Professional Year program might be like. A Q&A was held during the week to support and share information about potential pathways for young dancers.