Annette Carmichael Projects receives $90k for large-scale dance project

Award-winning choreographer and Denmark dance artist Annette Carmichael has received a major funding boost crucial to strengthening the region’s arts industry.

Annette Carmichael Projects received a $90,000 boost over three years through the Federal Government’s Regional Arts Fund Recovery Boost program.

The Regional Arts Fund Renewal Program will support the project to provide long lasting benefits for the Great Southern by providing training and employment of regional producers.

Creating community and connection through dance and art, Annette Carmichael Projects brings together professional dancers, artists and community to create performances and exhibitions across Australia.

The Federal program will fund the project Thread 7: Distributed 15 which aims to provide a framework for the training and employment of producers in five regional locations, who will train and work with Carmichael to produce performances.

Distributed 15 is a new dance work facilitated by Annette Carmichael Projects that will be developed over 15 threads of activity from 2020-23.

The community project will explore shared responsibility for people and the natural world created in collaboration with Gondwana Link, Carmichael said.

In 2023, the project is expected to culminate in a large-scale performance distributed across multiple sites and communities in regional WA.

“It will start in Margaret River and travel across the southern part of WA, each performance with dance and music is unique to that part of the community,” Carmichael said.

“This funding is the very start, these people help decide different artists and bring together dancers, musicians, visual artists. We’ll start creating the performances in the second half of next year with the final one happening at the beginning of 2023.

“At this time it’s the arts happening in the regions that’s really making a difference to people’s happiness and to how connected they are feeling, this type of community arts activity is really essential for communities to be more resilient during this time with uncertainty around COVID-19 and the economy.”

Expressions of interest are open to artists who are culturally diverse or have strong connections with regional communities.

Federal Arts Minister Paul Fletcher said the investment in the long-term development and sustainability of regional arts was crucial for the recovery of the State’s cultural and creative sector.

“We understand the extreme disruption to the arts and cultural sector in WA from the pandemic, which is why the Government acted quickly to introduce our $10 million targeted measure, as part of the Relief and Recovery Fund,” he said.

Regional Arts WA chief executive Paul MacPhail said the funding would have a long-lasting impact in regional communities.