All-abilities dance company leaps at Opera House debut

All-abilities troupe Restless Dance Theatre is making its Sydney Opera House debut with its latest performance Exposed.

“Seeing our dancers on that stage will be a very incredible moment for them, for audiences to see their amazing skill and hopefully challenge people’s perceptions,” Artistic Director Michelle Ryan told AAP.

The Adelaide-based company is made up of dancers with and without disabilities.

Most don’t have the lithe bodies that are stereotypical for the industry, but this makes for performances that are intriguing and beautiful to watch, according to Ryan.

“It’s about seeing humans on stage share their vulnerability and strength, and I find that really powerful,” she said.

Ryan herself had a top-flight career as a dancer, performing with Meryl Tankard’s Australian Dance Theatre for more than seven years.

But she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 30 and stopped performing, not wanting anyone to see her onstage.

When she eventually returned to the stage a decade later, she found it restored her sense of identity, and that sparked a determination to see people with disabilities represented and respected as artists.

“My personal mission was to make sure that no one, no other artists felt like I had for those 10 years,” she said.

Ryan became Artistic Director of Restless in 2013 and under her leadership, the company has performed around Australia and internationally to critical acclaim.

It’s also become known for challenging site-specific dances: the show Guttered was staged at a bowling alley, and the award-winning Intimate Space was performed in a five-star hotel.

“You’re being led by a person with a disability back of house to an area that you don’t know – they then have the authority to take care of you,” said Ryan, who believes this changes the power dynamic between the audience and dancers with fascinating results.

Mental shifts such as these stay with an audience once a performance is over, but there have been more concrete changes too.

The Adelaide company started in 1991 and since 2018 all its dancers have been paid professional rates for performances and three days of industry-standard training every week.

That’s boosted their skills and fitness, and such is the interest in Exposed that Restless has been invited to perform the show in Korea as part of the prestigious Seoul International Dance Festival.

Ryan is adamant that Restless is the real thing – where some companies might have technically perfect performances that leave the audience cold, Restless is all heart.

“Don’t go thinking that you’re seeing something that’s not as good as another dance company because our dancers are really great artists,” she said.

Exposed is on at the Sydney Opera House from August 30 to September 3, and at the Theatre Royal in Hobart from September 8 to September 9.