Adelaide Festival dance highlights

In what promises to be a memorable program, the 2023 Adelaide Festival is presenting some outstanding dance, including two international attractions.

One is Verdi's Messa da Requiem, which will bring the dancers of Ballett Zurich from Switzerland together with local musicians and choristers: 200 artists in all. The choreographer is Christian Spuck, the artistic director of Ballett Zurich, who in recent years has extended his artistic reach to film and opera. He has recently been appointed artistic director of the Staatsballett Berlin in Germany. 

Another highlight is Revisor, a dance theatre work created by the much-sought-after choreographer Crystal Pite and theatre maker Jonathan Young (who also collaborated together on Bettrofenheit, seen at the Perth and Adelaide festivals in 2017). Revisor is based on farcical world of Nikolai Gogol’s The Government Inspector, and will be brought to life by Pite's company, Kidd Pivot, who delve into the play's underworld of corruption and greed.

Also on the program is the specially commissioned Tracker, a production by Australian Dance Theatre in collaboration with Melbourne's Ilbijerri Theatre Company. Choreographed by ADT's artistic director, Daniel Riley, it follows the story of his great-great-uncle, Alec “Tracker” Riley, who served the NSW police force for 40 years. Co-directed by Rachel Maza AM and co-written with Ursula Yovich, performers Tyrel Dulvarie, Rika Hamaguchi, Ari Maza Long and Kanie Sultan-Babij will show the path this Wiradjuri elder carved through colonial systems and Indigenous lore.

In a similar vein is Jurrungu Ngan-ga (Straight Talk), by Marrugeku, a passionate piece of dance theatre that confronts Australia's shameful fixation with incarceration. Jurrungu Ngan-ga has received rave reviews wherever it is performed. 

The Adelaide Festival runs from March 3 to 19.  For more information, go here.