Dance Hub SA, formerly Leigh Warren & Dancers or Leigh Warren + Dancers and then LWDance Hub, is a contemporary dance company based in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Formed in 1993 by Leigh Warren, the company toured internationally and won several awards. In its 2019 incarnation as Dance Hub SA, it has increasingly taken on the role of peak body within the state, playing an advocacy and education role for dancers and choreographers. It is a community space for both emerging and established artists, with a program that includes artists-in-residence and an international exchange program.
The company lost its funding from the Australia Council as well as a guarantee of similar funding from Arts SA in 2011, leaving it to rely on major sponsors and benefactors and smaller funding bodies.
2014: New director?
In 2014, Warren handed over the reigns first as resident choreographer, then as artistic director to the 28-year-old dancer and choreographer Daniel Jaber, who, like Warren, had established his skills with the Australian Dance Theatre. His work was in contemporary ballet rather than contemporary dance, but he hoped to "present everything from super experimental work to the high gloss stuff". He had considered changing the company’s name from Leigh Warren Dance However, only a year later came the news that Jaber had departed for Los Angeles and that LWD would be transformed into a dance hub, "a dedicated dance arts venue and incubator that supports and develops mid career, independent and emerging artists". Jaber cited lack of funding as the main reason for his departure: the Australia Council triennial funding had expired in 2012, and the company had been surviving on project grants ever since. Only one out of nine of Jaber's applications for funding for 2015 had been successful: the SA government had contributed a grant of, which was hardly enough to pay a single salary. There were other reasons too, some personal, but he was working on forming a new company which would work across international borders. Jaber pointed to some successful developments at the company under his management – workshops and masterclasses with some of the best dancers from around the country, and the establishment of an education and community program and the appointment of an education manager, Kialea-Nadine Williams.
2016: LWDance Hub
In 2016, Warren reshaped the company to accommodate the reduced funding, rebranding it as LWDance Hub, relying on residencies, workshops and open house sessions for performers and choreographers to hone their skills. From early 2018 through to July 2019, the LWDance Hub supported 33 creative endeavours, presented 25 new works for the Adelaide Fringe and SALA Festival, and had 200 artists take part in its programs.
2019: Dance Hub SA
In July 2019, Warren handed over the artistic directorship to choreographer and multimedia artist Amanda Phillips, at the same time renaming the company Dance Hub South Australia. Dance Hub SA was officially launched in August 2019, with the rebranding reinforcing the organisation as the peak body for dance in the state. The Hub is intended as a community space for both emerging and established dancers and choreographers, with one of its goals being for it to be the bridge between formal education and "the real world", creating another pathway for aspiring choreographers to hone their craft. The "Mind The Gap" residency program is a partnership with Tasmanian company TasDance, and the Artist in Residence program. The inaugural artist on a new international exchange program would be Wu Chien-Wei, from Taiwan’s Tussock Dance Theatre.
Selected works
Works performed by Leigh Warren & Dancers include:
Quiver
Shimmer
Masterpieces of the 20th C
Silent Cries
Wanderlust: a collaboration with Japanese choreographer Uno Man
Frame and Circle: Choreographers: Prue Lang Rubicon and Leigh Warren Meridian
Dreamscape, consisting of two works: Dream Time: and Escape
