Australian Dance Theatre

Australian contemporary dance company

Australian Dance Theatre (ADT), known as Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre from 1993 to 1999, is a contemporary dance company based in Adelaide, South Australia, established in 1965 by Elizabeth Cameron Dalman The ADT was the first modern dance company in Australia, and drew on the techniques of Martha Graham for its inspiration. The company has garnered many industry awards, was the first Australian company invited to the Edinburgh Festival, and is the only Australian company to be invited to perform at Théâtre de la Ville in Paris. The company has toured performances extensively throughout Australia as well as internationally. as of 2022 the artistic director of the company is Daniel Riley, who took over after Garry Stewart had spent 22 years at the helm.

The Australian Dance Theatre was founded by Elizabeth Dalman (later Elizabeth Cameron Dalman ) in 1965. Dalman sought to "open the horizons for provocative contemporary and cutting edge dance". After an interim directorship under Bill Pengelly, Garry Stewart was appointed in 1999. In May 2021 Convergence was performed at the ADT's home base, the Odeon Theatre, Norwood. Despite the COVID 19 pandemic, South Australia, being free of the virus at that time, was able to play to 100% capacity. The performance was well reviewed. Wiradjuri man Daniel Riley, who spent 12 years with Bangarra Dance Theatre and then time as a lecturer in contemporary dance at the Victorian College of the Arts, took over as artistic director at the end of 2021. Riley is the first Indigenous person to become an artistic director of a non Indigenous dance company in Australia. This responsibility weighs heavily on him, but he was inspired by playwright Wesley Enoch, the first Indigenous artistic director of a major theatre company, at Queensland Theatre. He has also choreographed for QUT, Third Row Dance Company in the UK, Sydney Dance Company,

Riley believes in an evolutionary rather than revolutionary approach, and is dedicated to creating shows that "can only be made here [on Kaurna country], not making work that looks like it's been made by a European company". This was followed by a short film made in 2021 featuring Riley and his son, called Mulumna Within; and then Riley’s first dance work choreographed by him for the company, The Third (May 2022)

In September 2022 Riley presented his first major work, at the Dunstan Playhouse in the Adelaide Festival Centre, called SAVAGE. The performance included nine dance students from Flinders University/AC Arts along with the ADT dancers. (1997–2018 via Arts South Australia) and a number of corporate partners and sponsors, as well as private donors.