The winners of the 14th Australian Dance Awards were announced last night in front of a warm and enthusiastic audience at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
Amy Hollingsworth received the award for Most Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer for her "incredible technique, outstanding articulation, clever variation of dynamics and powerful stage presence".
In her acceptance speech, Hollingsworth thanked Sydney Dance Company director Rafael Bonachela, who choreographed the solo which clinched her win: Irony of Fate.
Bonachela was the winner of the Most Outstanding Achievement in Choreography award, for his 6 Breaths.
The winner of the Most Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer went to Daniel Gaudiello, a principal dancer with the Australian Ballet, for his "dashing, elegant and mature portrayal of Franz" in Coppelia. "I don't know if you realise how much this award has affected me," an emotional Gaudiello told the audience,"I feel I've had a bad year and I this has really lifted me up."
Ten awards were given in all, as well as the special induction of Keith Bain into the Hall of Fame.
Ruth Osborne, Artistic Director of QL2 Dance in Canberra received the Services to Dance Education as well as the award for Outstanding Achievement in Youth or Community Dance.
Valda Craig, one of Australia’s leading dance educators and advocates for over 40 years, received the award for Services to Dance Education.
Local contemporary company, Expressions Dance, was a popular choice for Outstanding Performance by a Company (for Where the Heart Is).
Narelle Benjamin won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance (for In Glass) and Alinta Chidzey won the award for Outstanding Performance in a Stage Musical (for West Side Story). Robina Beard received the Lifetime Achievement Award (see separate item).
The ceremony also featured outstanding performances by the Queensland Ballet, Expressions, Dancenorth, the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts (all from Queensland), Sydney Dance Company and Sue Peacock with Stefan Karlsson from Western Australia.
As Hollingsworth said: "They grow 'em good in Australia."