We make rebellious dance.

Since our inception, we’ve expanded the horizons of contemporary dance in this country. Our work asks big questions, unearth untold stories and shake the very core of our identity. We create cutting-edge choreographies where the ancient and the contemporary collide.

Led by Artistic Director Daniel Riley and Executive Director Nick Hays, ADT is made up of an ensemble of professional dancers, supported by a dedicated team of staff, ADT centres artistry, care and collective creativity.

We are based on Kaurna Yerta and take our work across South Australia, Australia and the world.

Our History

ADT was founded in 1965 by Elizabeth Cameron Dalman AM CdOAL, with the aim to ‘open the horizons for provocative contemporary dance’. A rebellious outlier in a cultural landscape devoid of contemporary dance, early reviews stated that the company’s ‘ugly dance’ impressed and enthralled audiences from its earliest performances.

The company has been led by visionary Artistic Directors including, Jonathan Taylor (1977-1985), Anthony Steel & Lenny Westerdijk (1986), Leigh Warren (1987-1993), Meryl Tankard (1993-1999) and Garry Stewart (1999-2021).

The company is currently led by Daniel Riley, A Wiradjuri man from Western New South Wales. Daniel is the first Blak director of a non-First Nations dance company in Australia.

ADT’s history is being preserved in a digital archive by a team of researchers led by Dr Maggie Tonkin, Professor Rachel Fensham and Associate Professor Cheryl Stock. Click here to access the archive, which has been supported by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant.