^{Cover Image: Cercles by Boris Charmatz presented by STRUT Dance and Perth Festival 2026. Image by Thomas Earnshaw.}

If you’ve ever attended a contemporary dance performance and walked away feeling like you missed something, you’re not alone. When I tell people that I’ve been writing about contemporary dance for nearly 20 years, I’m frequently met with tentative smiles and/or a remark along the lines of, “I don’t really understand contemporary dance.”  

Dance is an ancient and universal form of communication. So why do so many people find contemporary dance challenging to interpret?  

Maybe it’s a function of today’s world, in which so many of us are distanced from our bodies, making only the most basic uses of our physical potential. Perhaps we have lost touch with that most universal of vocabularies, the language of human movement.  

So let’s start our guide to watching contemporary dance there, with the body and its capacity for movement.  

APPRECIATE BODY LANGUAGE 

What I love about contemporary dance is watching performers explore what the body can do, both by itself and in collaboration with others. Undulating, trembling, jerking, freezing, floating… the body’s capacity for physical expression is vast. Just as we describe those with highly developed verbal language skills as articulate, a great dancer is physically articulate, with a masterful command of the language of the body, and an extensive and varied movement vocabulary.  

When you’re watching contemporary dance, a starting point is to appreciate that highly developed body language.  

Next, let’s break down movement into two categories – the choreography and the way that choreography is performed by the dancer or dancers.  

LET YOURSELF BE MOVED 

In the main, the choreographer will have some kind of starting point, a story, theme, idea or concept to explore. I suggest not getting too bogged down in the information provided by the program. Frequently, choreographers will take an idea or a story as a starting point, a springboard. Maybe the result will tell a story, or convey a clear message… but often it will be abstract, or non-linear, or framed around a thematic or dynamic arc rather than a story arc. 

That, to me, is the beauty of movement – it isn’t pinned to semantics. So I suggest watching contemporary dance the way you might listen to a piece of orchestral music or view a work of abstract art.  

Allow yourself to be absorbed in the mood, the feeling, the emotion… or even just the sheer physicality of the work. I like to remember the words of the famous choreographer Merce Cunningham, who said, “When I dance it means, ‘This is what I am doing.’”  

Sometimes a choreographer is simply exploring movement.  

Cunningham and his collaborator and partner, the composer John Cage, also believed that it was up to the audience to decide what dance means… if anything. This is another useful way to view choreography. There is no “right” or “wrong” interpretation. What you find in the dance is what it means. That might be different for each audience member.  

RELISH THE PERFORMANCE 

And so to the second element, the way the choreography is performed. Watch the way a trained contemporary dancer’s body moves – the lengthened limbs, the supple spine, the seamlessness of transitions.  

Notice the little details too. Even if the dancer is simply moving from lying to sitting, or walking from one part of the stage to another, that movement will be thoughtful.  

Take pleasure in the dancers who stand out to you, the dancers who pull your eye, the ones you can’t stop watching. It might be their movement style – perhaps their fluidity or their precision or their buoyancy – and it might just be the sheer audacity of a particular personality.  

Most of all, take the opportunity to revel in the fact that this art form is not tethered to words. There’s a freedom in that release from spoken or printed language that’s there to be relished.  

Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.  

I’M IN… WHERE DO I FIND CONTEMPORARY DANCE? 

Good news, there are various contemporary dance seasons coming up this month!  

In Partnership with STRUT Dance, The Blue Room Theatre is presenting 600 Seconds – Moves, a bill of five new dance works by local dance artists, mentored by Adelina Larsson and Anthony Coxeter, 7-11 July. 

Double bill Restore features two works, a new commission by Boorloo/Perth-based dance artist Ainslie Allen and the WA premiere of a new work by Naarm/Melbourne-based choreographer Brooke Stamp. Presented by STRUT Dance and PICA, Restore plays PICA 15-18 July. 

Momentum Dance Perth, a company for mature-aged dancers, is presenting Penguin by local choreographer Scott Ewen, at Upper Theatre, All Saints College, 15-19 July. 

Beyond those upcoming programs, WA is blessed with a thriving contemporary dance community, and there are many opportunities throughout the year to experience locally made contemporary dance works in Perth, as well as a scattering of works from interstate and international artists and companies. While there is less contemporary dance outside Perth, there are artists and companies that tour regionally, as well as artists who make work in the regions. 

Performances range from full-length, mainstage productions, presented in a theatre or performance space and supported by a team of costume, lighting and sound designers, to studio showings of work-in-progress.  

While the former offers the excitement and glamour of a fully-realised production, the latter is a chance to see inside the creative process, often in an intimate venue that allows the viewer to see details they might miss in a traditional theatre space. Studio showings are usually less formal, and may include a post-show conversation in which the artist/s invite the audience to ask questions or give feedback.  

Often mainstage productions will also include an artist talk and/or Q&A during the performance season and this is a fantastic way to gain more insight into the work and get to know the artists/company. 

Below is a list of organisations and festivals whose websites include information about upcoming shows. Subscribe to their newsletters and follow them on socials for updates! 

Venues 

WA’s Arts and Culture Trust manages a number of theatre venues in Perth, including the State Theatre of WA, His Majesty’s Theatre and Subiaco Arts Centre, as well as the Albany Entertainment Centre. These venues host a range of dance performances by local, national and international companies and artists, listed on the Arts and Culture Trust’s Events page. 

Other venues that program contemporary dance include: 
The Blue Room Theatre 
PICA  

Ausdance WA 
Ausdance WA is the peak body for dance in WA. Although their monthly e-newsletter is designed for the dance sector, it includes a what’s on section that covers dance around WA and their socials also feature upcoming shows. 

Local contemporary dance makers 

Co3 Contemporary Dance is WA’s state flagship contemporary dance company, and presents work by both its artistic director (Raewyn Hill until the end of 2026), and a selection of local independent choreographers. 

Based in both Broome and Sydney, Marrugeku is dedicated to the preservation and and growth of Indigenous story, dance and language through new intercultural performance work. 

STRUT Dance is a Boorloo/Perth-based choreographic centre that supports independent dance artists to create new work, and presents various programs of work, from mainstage productions to work-in-progress showings.  

In addition to promoting their own performance seasons, STRUT Dance also promotes performances by its members and by other dance organisations in its monthly e-newsletter.  

STRUT’s Artists We Work With page is also a great way to find out about some of WA’s many independent dance artists. 

The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) dance department presents several performance seasons annually, featuring a range of work by local, national and international choreographers. Programs are performed by LINK Dance Company (featuring students from the Bachelor of Creative and Performing Arts Honours program), and students from the undergraduate dance programs.  

Festivals 

Perth hosts several festivals which include contemporary dance in their programming. This list is not exhaustive but is intended as a starting point: 

Perth Festival  
Fringe World 
10 Nights in Port: Walyalup Fremantle Festival 
Fremantle Biennale