Darwin

Throughout the year, 2015

Tracks Dance is exploring new ways to place performances into public spaces, making them come alive to performers and audiences alike.

Dance in Cool Spaces began in the build-up of 2014. In the Wet Season, the search for COOL takes on a significance bordering on survival tactics! 

Creative Team

Dance Animateur: Kelly Beneforti

Program

Waterfront Convention Centre

Alter Ego was a high-end fashion event to transport you momentarily out of Darwin and to the couture capitals of the world. Presented by leading Northern Territory designer Matilda Alegria, Tracks were invited to open the spectacular event with an edgy, high-paced contemporary performance. A 9m by 26m catwalk set the stage for the dancers, while the soundtrack was created and performed live by acclaimed producer and instrumentalist James Mangohig. The evening’s fashion and performance were inspired by the Sin City graphic novels and local artist Franck Gohier, filling the large halls of the convention centre with a bold, sexy and powerful energy. 

Music: Alter Ego by James Mangohig

Creative Team

Choreography: Kelly Beneforti in collaboration with Ruttiya McElroy and Chloe Lauverjon
Participants: Kelly Beneforti, Ruttiya McElroy, Chloe Lauverjon

Frog Hollow Park

The Tracks school holiday program, Gone Rogue!, concluded with a delightful performance that brought together the two groups of participants with their family and friends under the shade of the Frog Hollow trees. Both the Primary and High School students worked hard to develop their material during the week of workshops around ideas and themes of the natural environment, secret gardens, camping, and adventure. All the participants performed the pieces with beautiful commitment, expression, and group connection- a credit to them all after only a week of working together.

Creative Team

Choreography: Kelly Beneforti and Natalie Hafsteins in collaboration with the dancers
Primary School Participants: Jessica Nelen, Maria Borras-McCrorey, Mia Hawkes, Sophie Hawkes, Suryani Sumendra, Vashti Fitzsimmons, Vina Armand
High School Participants: Alex Meng, Alicia Taziwa, Arianna Baldieri, Danika Zamolo, Georgia McAllister, Iselle Grosskopf, Lily Galbrieth, Lily McConnel, Madison Otto, Ruby Michael

See Photos

Marrara Indoor Stadium

The Tracks crew were given the perfect opportunity to revisit our Night Fever phenomenon at the Roller Derby bout between the Darwin Roller Girls Revolution team and the W.A. WayWARDS. This time, however, we were also flash-mobbed by a group of enthusiastic derby competitors who touted their flawless disco moves on skates. The Darwin Roller Girls won the bout convincingly, proving that they were the true stars of the evening both in competition and on the d-floor.

Music: Night Fever by The Bee Gees

Creative Team

Choreography: Kelly Beneforti
Participants: Leanne Eltagonde, Chloe Lauverjon, Danica Walker, Venaska Chelliah, Natalie Hafsteins, Kelly Beneforti

Karawa Restaurant, CDU Palmerston Campus

As guest performers at the VET Hair and Beauty showcase, the Tracks crew willingly transformed themselves into a finger-pointing, pelvic-thrusting dance troupe ala John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever. The evening, which presents the work of CDU hair and beauty students, was themed for 70s frivolity with many great costumes and hair-dos to be seen, and of course, an obligatory disco ball to help create that dazzling night fever feeling.

Music: Night Fever by The Bee Gees

Creative Team

Choreography: Kelly Beneforti
Participants: Leanne Eltagonde, Venaska Chelliah, Ruttiya McElroy, Natalie Hafsteins, Kelly Beneforti

Brown's Mart Theatre

Darwin Fringe Festival 2015 was an incredible success, featuring 10 days of new, engaging and at times provocative art, performance and workshops. Darwin audiences were treated to a feast of work by local and emerging artists, including a performance by a group of passionate young people who are part of Project21- an initiative of the Down Syndrome Association of the Northern Territory.  They presented a dance piece created by Tracks Dance Animateur, Kelly Beneforti, with the theme ‘Celebrating Being Me in the Territory’.

Music: Lantern by SBTRKT

Creative Team

Choreography: Kelly Beneforti in collaboration with participants
Participants: (Project21 students) Alex, Lisa, Rebecca, Rebecca, Megan, Kyle, David, and Molly (Support Dancers) Isobel, Sarah, April, Cassandra, and Kelly

Darwin Entertainment Centre, Studio Theatre

Tracks were invited as guest performers at the NT Pole Dance Fitness Championships, so we dusted off our well-loved funk routine and showed the crowd what the 'Dance' in Pole Dance really means.

Music: Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars

Creative Team

Choreography: Kelly Beneforti, Ruttiya McElroy, and Chloe Lauverjon
Participants: Leanne Eltagonde, Venaska Chelliah, Danica Walker, and Donna Grossule

Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin City

13th National Rural Health Conference

The Dance in Cool Spaces project came to an extravagant close with our largest performance yet, featuring 32 dancers in an hour-long show. The main stars were the ever-delightful Grey Panthers, who brought the beauty, courage, humour, and glitter of living in their later years to the stage. Conference delegates were witness to dance as a whole-of-life creative activity, especially with the younger Tracks crew coming together to perform alongside the Panthers in Jump Around - a ‘fresh’ intergenerational collaboration that reminds us that everybody needs to let loose sometimes.

Music: Sway - Michael Buble, Fly Me to the Moon - Astrud Gilberto, Only Time - Enya, Let's Get Physical - Olivia Newton-John, Cabaret - Liza Minnelli, Fever - Peggy Lee, Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars, Ballin' the Jack - Danny Kaye, One - A Chorus Line, Librarians - Beethoven, Jump Around - House of Pain, I’m Too Sexy - Right Said Fred

Creative Team

Choreography: David McMicken, Julia Quinn, Joanna Noonan, Jess Devereux, Kelly Beneforti, Ruttiya McElroy, Chloe Lauverjon

Participants: Antonietta Vanzella, Carmel Alderson, Darryl Butler, Diane Lucas, Dianne Mount, Gwen Varney, Jan Hastings, Jenni Sanderson, Judith Allen, Judy Markwell, Judy McKerr, Lillian Mann, Marg Lee, Marge Duminski, Maria Vlastuin, MaryAnn Hinton, Pam Smith, Patricia O'Neill, Shirley Somers, Val Hristova, Zenaida Ballesteros, David McMicken, Kelly Beneforti, Chloe Lauverjon, Ruttiya McElroy, Leanne Eltagonde, Venaska Chelliah, Tully Doole, Danica Walker, Donna Grossule, Christopher Kocksch, Aallyson Malpartida

Northern Centre for Contemporary Art

With its beginnings in a Studio Residency at Tracks, this performance was programmed as part of the Artmart Exhibition opening at the Northern Centre for Contemporary Art.

"Working with small lights attached to the body, the dance explores the ideas of existing points of light that can be turned on and off, moved and shaped; focusing that light to highlight specific moments; and (as a secondary outcome) influencing surrounding landscapes/environments through incidental and deliberate use of shadows. The nature of this concept allows for diverse and personal interpretation of light on one individual and what they can and choose to do with it." - Choreographer Lizzi Webb

Music: A1 - Olafur Arnolds & Nils Frahm

Creative Team

Choreography: Lizzi Webb
Performance: Kelly Beneforti

Nightcliff Foreshore

The beautifully positioned and community-minded Seabreeze Festival was the perfect opportunity for Tracks to present a trio of short dance pieces as the sun set over the Nightcliff foreshore. Festival crowds were even treated to the debut of a new collaboration between the Tracks Pop Up Mob and the Grey Panthers, which saw everyone (young and old) donning caps for a somewhat tongue-in-cheek Hip Hop number! Also featured was a piece created for the Tracks Choreographic Program earlier this year, and a recently revived classic from the Grey Panthers’ repertoire.

‘The Struggle Within’
Music: Lacrimosa - Jason Graves

Creative Team

Choreography: Darren Edwards
Participants: Kelly Beneforti, Will Nery, Chloe Lauverjon

‘Sway’
Music: Sway - Michael Buble

Creative Team

Choreography: Julia Quinn and David McMicken
Participants: The Grey Panthers: Antonietta Vanzella, Darryl Butler, Ellen Hankin, Helen Mannion-Esparon, Jan Hastings, Janine Sutter, Jenni Sanderson, Judith Allen, Judy Markwell, Lillian Mann, Marg Lee, Marge Duminski, Maria Vlastuin, MaryAnn Hinton, Mavis Waddell, Patricia O'Neill, Shirley Somers, Val Hristova, Zenaida Ballesteros, David McMicken

‘Jump Around’
Music: Jump Around - House of Pain

Creative Team

Choreography: Kelly Beneforti and Ruttiya McElroy
Participants: Donna Grossule, Danica Walker, Christopher Kocksch, Aallyson Malpartida, Kelly Beneforti, Ruttiya McElroy and the Grey Panthers (as above)

Darwin Civic Park, Darwin City

The Darwin City Council LAUNCH Festival set up camp in Civic Park as part of National Youth Week. The Festival featured local and interstate performers and a range of exciting workshops and activities. The Tracks dancers spiced up their funk routine with some contemporary floor work and presented alongside Darwin's premier breakdance crew, the D-city Rockers. The performances were hosted by Funk Jungle DJ Ciella Williams, who put audiences in the mood for dancing with her jungly good vibes.

Music: Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars

Creative Team

Choreography and performance: Ruttiya McElroy, Kelly Beneforti and Venaska Cheliah

Birch Carroll & Coyle Cinema

Birch Carroll & Coyle Cinema, Casuarina Square Shopping Centre

Audiences at the Chicks At The Flicks event screening of Cinderella were treated to pre-film entertainment by the Tracks crew. This performance featured the 12 strokes of midnight, our very own Cinderella with tiara and glitter sneakers, and a group of sassy step-sisters. There was of course some great dancing thrown into the mix, finished off with a desperate tussle between dancers to claim said shoe!! Then it was time to settle back with popcorn and enjoy the movie.

Music: Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars

Creative Team

Choreography: Ruttiya McElroy and Kelly Beneforti
Participants: Venaska Cheliah, Ruttiya McElroy, Danica Walker, Donna Grossule, Chloe Lauverjon, Leanne Eltagonde, Kelly Beneforti

Eva’s Botanical Gardens Café

George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens, The Gardens

A tropical Wet Season evening played host to a funked up surprise performance at the launch of the new design Off The Leash magazine. Popping up in Eva’s Café in the midst of a function in full swing, Tracks dancers entertained the guests with a cool, fun, upbeat routine that unravelled into Thriller-esque, creature-of-the-night goodness, in line with the theme of the March edition of Off The Leash "I wish some nights lasted forever…"

Music: Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars

Creative Team

Choreography: Ruttiya McElroy and Kelly Beneforti
Participants: Venaska Cheliah, Ruttiya McElroy, Kelly Beneforti and Leanne Eltagonde

Sponsors

Darwin City Council

Funding Bodies

Tracks Inc is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body; and is proudly sponsored by the Northern Territory Government.

Tracks 2015

Artistic Co-Directors: David McMicken and Tim Newth
General Manager: Susan Congreve
Administrator: Clancy Breasley
Production Manager: Kelly Blumberg
Dance Animateur: Kelly Beneforti
Bookkeeper: Heather Van Anholt
Geek in Residence: Jeffrey Withaya Campbell

Committee Members: Michael Grant (Chairperson), Glenn Bernardin, (Treasurer) David Taylor, Ken Conway, Stephanie Cvirn, Mary Durack. David McMicken, Tim Newth, and Susan Congreve (Ex-Officio Members)

Public Fund Trustees: Rev. Steve Orme, Dr Anita Toth, Ippei Okazaki

Patron: Her Honour the Honourable Sally Thomas AC, Administrator of the Northern Territory