Having received significant funding ($179,000) from the Department of Culture and the Arts's Looking Forward Fund, "Future Landings: Four Town Dance Network" is off to a flying start. This massive project will culminate in the presentation of four spectacular contemporary dance performances at local arts festivals in early 2011.

As the name suggests, the project focuses on four regional WA towns - Albany, Bunbury, Busselton and Denmark, with both the Bunbury and Busselton projects targeting young participants. Representatives from the Bunbury community are keen to celebrate the highly skilled young dancers of the town.

STEPS Youth Dance Company Artistic Director and independent artist, Alice Lee Holland, will work with artistic associate Jenny Farmer, young choregrapher Talitha Maslin and 10 young dancers from the region to create a 10-12 minute, site-specific work inspired by the environmental and cultural contrasts that exist in Bunbury. The work will be performed at the South Western Times Survey 2011 in February 2011.

Busselton's project will be directed by local dance artist Jenni Harding, in collaboration with
independent dance artist and videographer Danielle Micich. Like Holland, Harding is keen to take advantage of the established "dance school" culture in the region, and the project will involve a youth group drawn from local dance studios, as well as an adult group of dancers. The work will be performed at the Artatac Busselton Beach Festival in January 2011, with the stage, appropriately, on the beach itself.

"The audience will be able to view the performance from the raised grass area, limestone walls and beach. One image from the performance will be dancers arriving from up the beach, entering into the light with beautiful old suitcases… suitcases full of memories, some floating on water while other being buried in the sand," explained Harding.

"As they open their cases in the sand their memories flow out into movement – making stories and marks in the sand."

The works created in the other two towns will also be presented at festivals - with Albany's work being performed at Paperartzi in March 2011 and Denmark's project at Brave New Works #18 (Denmark) in April 2011.

This exciting pilot programme has been created as a result of Future Moves, a strategic initiative managed by Ausdance WA and STRUT dance to develop and vitalise contemporary dance in WA.

For the latest info about workshops and performances, visit Future Landings on Facebook