ARTERY
ARTERY believes everyone should have the opportunity to experience the power of dance, creativity, and art-making. Through bespoke programs delivered across Tasmania, ARTERY connects professional artists with communities of all ages, creating meaningful pathways into movement, imagination, and connection.
More than a dance education program, ARTERY extends Tasdance’s practice beyond ASSEMBLY 197, bringing contemporary dance into schools, regional communities, and diverse community settings. From young people discovering their creative voice, to intergenerational groups reconnecting through movement, each program is designed to build confidence, wellbeing, and a lifelong relationship with dance.
ARTERY PROGRAM
DANCE WORKS 4 SCHOOLS: Tasdance in the classroom
PATTERN BREAK: Using dance as a means to create new pathways
REGIONAL EXCHANGE: Community and professional artists creating together
PATTERN BREAK
USING DANCE AS A TOOL FOR CONNECTION, SELF-EXPRESSION, AND PERSONAL GROWTH, THIS PROGRAM CREATES MEANINGFUL OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE TO EXPLORE CREATIVITY, BUILD CONFIDENCE, AND DEVELOP NEW SKILLS THROUGH MOVEMENT.
Dance with Adam
Dance with Adam is led by Tasdance Artistic Director Adam Wheeler and welcomes participants of all ages and abilities for dance classes focused on fun, fitness, and creative movement. These classes provide an inclusive environment where participants can build confidence, improve mobility and coordination, and connect with others through dance.
Through a partnership with The Smith Family's SmArts program, Tasdance delivers contemporary dance workshops for students in Years 8–12. The program uses creative movement to build confidence, develop creative skills, and foster self-expression while connecting young people with professional dance artists. Together, we create inclusive opportunities for students to explore dance, strengthen social connections, and discover new creative pathways.
Through our work at Ashley Youth Detention Centre (AYDC), the ARTERY Team provides young people with opportunities to participate in weekly dance and circus classes that promote confidence, self-expression, creativity, and connection. These workshops create meaningful opportunities for young people facing barriers to participation, supporting them to explore new skills, build self-belief, and experience the positive impact of creative movement.
The SmArts program
aydc dance program
dance works 4 schools
CONNECTING STUDENTS WITH PROFESSIONAL CONTEMPORARY DANCE THROUGH PERFORMANCES, WORKSHOPS, AND CREATIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES IN THE CLASSROOM.
double slink
Creative team
DANCE WORKS 4 SCHOOLS brings professional contemporary dance directly into schools, connecting students with high-quality artistic experiences that inspire creativity, curiosity, and movement literacy.
DOUBLE SLINK
Where a professional duet meets community and uncoils our instinct for play and connection.
Led by Tasdance Executive Director Adam Wheeler, DOUBLE SLINK is a contemporary duet that explores play, connection, and human interaction through the use of Slinkys as tactile partners. The work invites students to experience dance as a creative and playful form of communication, exploring themes of connection in a world increasingly shaped by screens.
School experiences include:
A professional contemporary dance performance
Post-show Q&A with the artists exploring the creative process, choreography, and careers in dance
Interactive dance workshops led by Tasdance teaching artists
Practical exploration of movement ideas, themes, and choreographic processes from the performance
Designed for primary and secondary students, DANCE WORKS 4 SCHOOLS supports creative learning, encourages participation, and provides insight into the world of contemporary dance.
CHOREOGRAPHY: Adam Wheeler & Dancers
DANCERS: Izzy Lockett, Lily Alcock
REGIONAL EXCHANGE
BRINGING TASDANCE ARTISTS INTO REGIONAL COMMUNITIES TO COLLABORATE, CREATE, AND PERFORM ALONGSIDE LOCAL PARTICIPANTS.
double slink Northwest Exchange
Creative team
The Northwest Exchange brought Tasdance artists into regional communities to create, connect, and perform alongside local children and young people. Through school residencies and community workshops, students collaborated with professional artists to develop original works that are shared alongside Tasdance’s touring production, DOUBLE SLINK.
The program creates meaningful opportunities for children and young people in regional communities to experience contemporary dance not only as audiences, but as creators, performers, and collaborators. Through movement, creativity, and connection, the regional exchange supports young people to share their ideas, build confidence, and contribute their own voices to the artistic process.
CHOREOGRAPHY: Adam Wheeler & Dancers
DANCERS: Izzy Lockett, Lily Alcock, Students of King Island District School, and Students of Stanley Primary School
COMMUNITY CHOREOGRAPHERS: Adam Wheeler, Sarah Groth & Izzy Lockett
PRODUCTION MANAGER & LIGHTING DESIGN: Chris ‘Wolfe’ McBride
PROJECT COORDINATOR: Sarah Groth
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Lucy Forge
Supported by Arts Tasmania, Creative Australia, RANT Arts, the Regional Arts Fund, Stanley Primary School, King Island Council, King Island District High School, and Circular Head Council.
ARTERY PORTFOLIO
THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS WITH SCHOOLS, COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS, AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES, ARTERY HAS MADE DANCE MORE ACCESSIBLE, INCLUSIVE, AND CONNECTED FOR PEOPLE OF ALL AGES FOR YEARS.
LITTLE GEM
Creative team
Tasdance spent seven weeks at St Thomas More's Catholic School working with 170 Kinder to Grade 2 students to create Little Gem. A dance and multimedia work exploring Gratitude, Empathy, and Mindfulness. Little Gem's creative process was based on the Can Dance Programs that run in Alice Springs and Launceston in partnership with GUTS Dance.
CREATED AND LED BY: Adam Wheeler and Sarah Groth
FILM EDITED BY: Adam Wheeler
SOUND CREDIT: Everything Now, Arcade Fire
LAUNNIE CAN DANCE 2023
Creative team
In its inaugural year, 150 incredible young dancers from across Launceston’s northern suburbs have come together with Tasdance and their team of collaborators from the island and beyond to bring you LAUNNIE CAN DANCE. This year’s theme is FUTURE. A deep dive questioning when, where, and what our future holds, this year’s project illuminates through dance and screen how the young people of this place feel about our collective potential futures. From personal destinies to the fate of the planet, from time travel to cyber cities, and with moments of apocalypse leading to regeneration, LAUNNIE CAN DANCE is an evening full of hope and joy - reminding us of our power to shape the future… from now, and now, and now, and beyond.
CREATIVE TEAM: Gabriel Comerford, Ashleigh Musk, HK Vermeulen, Adam Wheeler
ARTERY COORDINATOR: Tanya Lanham
PRODUCER: Emma Porteus
GUTS DANCE: Madeleine Krenek, Frankie Snowdon
TROLLS
TROLLS is a dance-in education project that aims to give school students awareness and skills in relation to cyberbullying. One in four Australian children aged eight to 15 has experienced cyberbullying. Just as shocking is the fact that three-quarters of all Australian schools reported cyberbullying last year.
Tasdance has developed a high-impact dance theatre work that involves school students in fun, participation-based activities that examine the consequences of our actions online. The work uses cause-and-effect choreographic devices to demonstrate that every word we type online has an effect on whoever it is directed at. Equipped with a large-screen portable television and computer on a stand, TROLLS can be presented in any gym, hall, multipurpose space or theatre.
WANT MORE?
Tasdance is dedicated to offering exciting and new ways to connect to communities and schools across Tasmania. We can offer anything from once off workshops looking at Contemporary dance, choreography and/or improvisation to week long residencies in your school where we expose your entire school to the joys of dance.
For further information please do not hesitate to contact Tasdance at sarah@tasdance.com.au or adam@tasdance.com.au