Dance festivals in Australia are rare. Contemporary dance festivals are even rarer.

Lizzie Vilmanis caught up with Festival Director, Kate Usher, to talk about Supercell. This burgeoning Queensland festival of contemporary dance, fostering civic engagement, social change and critical dialogue, is beating the odds and continuing to dance up a storm.

For readers not familiar with Supercell, Kate describes it as “a big extravaganza for old, young and everyone. It encompasses performances, workshops, talks, classes, opportunities for professional dancers, but most importantly, opportunities for the public to get their bodies and brains moving”. 

Not sure what contemporary dance is, or whether it’s for you? Kate says that Supercell has been working hard, connecting with community and considering the cultural zeitgeist: what’s in the news; what’s happening in the world; what’s of interest to people in Queensland, to curate a program of dance that has relevancy to people no matter what their understanding of dance is, or their previous experience. For Supercell, contemporary dance refers to “any dance that brings joy to our life”. Dance that “genuinely excites and engages audiences in meaningful ways”.

Previously occurring in Brisbane, this year, Supercell has relocated to the Gold Coast, finding common alliance with the goals of HOTA (Home of the Arts). According to Kate, it feels just like Supercell’s shifted the meeting point for artists - works from broader South East Queensland are still being programmed like they previously were. However, now the festival is “expanding on the existing dance literacy of the region”, working with HOTA to expand the existing demographic of white women aged 25 -45 and bring new audiences to dance. Excitingly, because this region has been exposed to quite a lot of dance, it seems Supercell is also poised to deliver some new and unexpected dance activities. Proudly Queensland, Kate highlights that Supercell isn’t adhering to previously established aesthetics of dance established in Sydney or Melbourne and touring in major festival circuits, but rather priding itself on offering something new to see.

Image + Cover image: Yuri Photos

From talking to Kate though, whilst there’s much to get excited about, it’s evident that the pathway of developing the festival has taken time and hasn’t come without challenges. Expanding dance audiences involves a rigorous process of evaluation to measure data and statistics every year, which as Kate expresses, “has been fundamental to the advocacy and lobbying of the organisation.” Planning a festival can take up to two years depending on the turn around of creating a programming long list. That involves working out whether the works make sense together and continue to have relevancy.

“Sometimes the work you might have been interested in no longer has relevancy because of where the world’s moved.  A recent example is COVID. Covid works are just not going to sit post-Covid. I don't have any issue with being very firm about relevancy with that.”  

Listening to Kate as she speaks candidly it’s clear that stress and heartbreak are also part of putting on a festival.

“Every year there’s a few months where I just panic. I think, I’m not sure this is a good idea, we can’t do it. I always walk away feeling like I haven’t done enough,” she says. What’s also clear though is that she acknowledges the festival can’t be everything to everyone, especially when finances play a part in what’s affordably possible to program. Yet again highlighting that inadequate funding to the dance sector continues to be a challenge for most dance businesses.

Our conversation leads to discussion about the role that arts festivals play in the public sphere and a framework within festival curation that Supercell engages to assess that impact.  Kate and the Supercell team consider that the “festival builds community pride and a sense of place. If you look from cultural and community development perspective, it’s incredibly rich.”  As Kate firmly states, Supercell is a public facing festival that’s “70% audience focused and 30% sector support” and explains that the effort is in bringing dance to the public.

“From the moment a person sees an ad for Supercell through to when they’re travelling home is all a curated experience. It’s not just the performance, but what happens before and after, the food and beverage, who greets them at the door, how they find their way in, their safety, how they’re welcomed.” 

Fundamentally, Kate believes artists make work for people and Supercell is “the brokering tool that helps to do that”. It’s important to think about what it would be like to be in the audience’s shoes and then find as many ways to make that exciting, easy, and valuable”.

As our discussion continues, I certainly start to think about the knock-on effects of festivals – the tourism, hospitality, and other business that gets enabled.  In Brisbane as well as on the Gold Coast, I learn that Supercell reaches out to the small business councils through the local city councils so that they can prioritise small business and family run initiatives. Through corporate sponsorship, Supercell builds partnerships with the likes of Airbnb, hotels, and airport or city transport. Partnerships that bring benefits to both parties. Kate notes some of Supercell’s considerations: “What else might people do in the region if they come to the festival? Who can the festival collaborate with outside of the arts to generate critical mass and civic engagement? Kate articulates that for Supercell, it’s not just about dance performances, but about “getting people active in place and space, and in their bodies in a broader sense.”

Image: Yuri Photos

Supercell also plays a role in developing dance in Australia. Kate remarks that Supercell was formed because it was recognised that there were limited access, opportunities, and pathways for Queensland artists to present works. Disclosing her motto, “more dance is always better”, Kate also mentions the benefit to having a local independent artist benchmarked next to an international one.

“I feel like that builds clarity, reputation, and experience. Also, artists interact, who may not otherwise come across each other.”

Knowing that this year also brings ‘The Makers Program’ to light, I asked Kate about it to learn that it came about because of the unfathomable task of considering what artists or audiences might be interested in post-covid as well as through discussions to regarding longevity. Seeding innovation, the program appears to set a new tone for the future of dance in Australia, one where a festival can forward plan with artists over a longer period so that everyone involved can be more supported. Perhaps it’s a bold move, but Kate asserts that Supercell is saying “we’re committed to you (artists in the program). We will present you in some form over the next five years”.  Supercell is also recruiting the expertise of world-renowned dance director, maker, and independent, Meryl Tankard, as a mentor for artists to engage with to support the creative process of making their new work.

We talked for an hour, there’s so many facets to a dance festival. Being a dance artist myself, I find dance is most effective to experience in person and when shared with others, so I recommend you go to the Gold Coast and check it out for yourself. This year’s Supercell festival features dance on film, showings of new works, cultural and community events, food and beverage, morning meditations, evening yoga, conversations, and workshops, there’s loads to see and do. You can even take your puppy along whilst you enjoy a sausage sizzle alongside a pop-up dance work on the lake!

Check Supercell’s website for the program. Tickets range from free to about $25. Events are occurring now and continue into May and if you can’t get to the coast there’s lots to engage with online.