Tracks, But Make Them Fresh

Something many of us look forward to throughout the year is the latest dose of dance from the creative team at Tracks Dance Company. As part of this year’s Darwin Fringe, they’re dishing out a delicious little smorgasbord of treats, all wrapped up neatly in one hour.

^{By Tierney White}

FRESH TRACKS OFFERS Tracks’ movers and shakers the chance to present short dance works whilst exploring the craft of choreography. Kelly Beneforti is Fresh Tracks Curator, also Tracks Dance Animateur, and says it’s an important happening on Tracks’ annual calendar. 

“Fresh Tracks has been an ongoing part of our program, and each year we aim to support new experimental dance work to be made. Each year, there’s a different collection of artists, all local – except this year, we’re really excited to be supporting an artist from Alice Springs to come up,” she says. 

“All the works are new, made for Fresh Tracks, and people can expect to see dance works that explore a range of different concepts and different movement approaches, it's an opportunity to test the waters of different ideas, ways of working, and collaborations.” 

The program each year is unique to the collection of artists that are involved, which makes for an exciting process for the artists, as well as the audience.

“[The artists] have the energy and momentum in this particular moment in time to make something and put it out there in the world.” 

Four short but sweet works are presented this month, featuring members of the Tracks family including the Grey Panthers and the 2024 Youth Dance Leadership Program, casting the net wide on what audience members can expect to see. There’s also a performance from Alice Springs artist Miriam Nicholls, and a collaboration between Tara Schmidt and Jenelle Saunders. Beneforti says it’s important that artists are given as much creative freedom as possible. 

“The program’s curated in the sense of selecting the artists on where their energy’s at and what’s happening in and around Tracks, but there’s no theme or any direction given to the artists in terms of what they need to make.” 

If you could do with a hit, make tracks to Darwin Fringe, support local creatives, and allow them to administer the freshest dose of dance.

Fresh Tracks 
WHEN SUN 14 JUL | 3PM & 5PM 
AT TRACKS STUDIO 
COST $20 | $10 CONC 
INFO tracksdance.com.au

^{Photo: Duane Preston}