BIOGRAPHY
Gareth Hart is an independent Artist, Producer, Festival Director, Creative leader and Arts advocate. They holds a Masters of Choreography (by research) from the University of Melbourne and Victorian College of the Arts.
Hart has a dedication to work with and for culturally progressive organisations and festivals, within a non-metropolitan environment., and is currently nourished by living in the lush surrounds of the Dandenong Ranges of Victoria.
Hart's seminal performance work ‘Ellipsis’ premiered at the 2012 Adelaide Fringe Festival, receiving a 5 star review, being nominated for ‘Best Dance Work’ and subsequently invited to re-stage at the 2012 AvignonOFF festival in France. ‘Ellipsis’ was further nominated for a 2012 Australian Dance Award (Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance). Hart's subsequent work, ‘Symphony of Strange’ similarly garnered a 5 star review and nomination for ‘Best Dance’. Following suit, their third Adelaide Fringe work, ‘excavate’ received critical acclaim whilst picking up a ‘Best Dance’ award from festival judges.
For a fuller list of recent work, click here
For over a decade, Hart has been dedicated to developing a deeply considered improvisation practice, that seeks to continually find the ‘new’ within our corporeal and experiential history. This practise is based in an investigative improvisation process, informed by the potential of the body as a site for conceptual confusion, artistic challenge, aesthetic rigor. Hart has a number of excellent influences on thier practice, including Rosalind Crisp, Ros Warby and Helen Herbertson.
Over this time, Hart has toured their work extensively alongside the East Coast of Australia, and more recently has begun dabbling in international presentation, namely in France and the UK.
As a producer, Hart works exclusively with emerging and experimental artists, across theatre, dance and live art. During 2010-2012 Hart was the co-Artistic Director of Crack Theatre Festival, as part of This Is Not Art. In 2012 Hart also produced ‘Blindscape’ (Skye Gellmann) for the Next Wave Festival, which culminated in a nomination for a 2012 Green Room Award for ‘Innovation and Excellence in Circus’.
In 2013, Hart was fortunate enough to secure a professional secondment with the London International Festival of Theatre, where they assisted the Producing team with the planning and implementation of a major international biannual festival.
In 2014, Hart launched hillsceneLIVE –a live art/performance festival in the Dandenong Ranges.
hillsceneLIVE is an arts festival supporting emerging and experimental artists. The festival aim to create new modes of thought, practice, engagement and participation through the support of bold, brave artists.
In 2018, Hart was selected for the highly competitive 'Future Leaders Program' from the Australia Concil for the Arts, and was recently awarded an Australia Day Award for 'Outstanding Contribution to the Yarra Ranges Community'.
AWARDS AND GRANTS
Awarded: Australia Day Award – ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Yarra Ranges Community’
Nominated: Australian Dance Award, ‘Outstanding Contribution to Independent Dance’
Awarded: Yarra Ranges Council – Arts and Heritage Grant – hillsceneLIVE (x3)
Winner: Adelaide Fringe Festival – Best Dance Award: Excavate
Awarded: Yarra Ranges Council – Arts and Heritage Grant – Lilydale Pop-Up Theatre
Awarded: Arts Victoria (Creative Victoria) – Professional Pathways Scholarship
Nominated: Adelaide Fringe Festival – Best Dance Award: Symphony of Strange & Ellipsis (x2)
Awarded: Australia Council for the Arts – ArtStart grant
Winner: Water and Muriel McConnan Trust Prize – Outstanding Postgraduate Research
Awarded: Sir Rupert Hamer Family Scholarship (2009)
Nominated: Green Rooms Awards, ‘Innovation and Excellence in Circus’ (Producer)
Awarded: Melbourne City Council – Arts Grant – Move Me Closer
Awarded: University of Melbourne & Victorian College of the Arts – Melbourne Research Scholarship
Hart secured funding from numerous local councils, Arts Victoria and Australia Council for the Arts.
Gareth Hart is an independent Artist, Producer, Festival Director, Creative leader and Arts advocate. They holds a Masters of Choreography (by research) from the University of Melbourne and Victorian College of the Arts.
Hart has a dedication to work with and for culturally progressive organisations and festivals, within a non-metropolitan environment., and is currently nourished by living in the lush surrounds of the Dandenong Ranges of Victoria.
Hart's seminal performance work ‘Ellipsis’ premiered at the 2012 Adelaide Fringe Festival, receiving a 5 star review, being nominated for ‘Best Dance Work’ and subsequently invited to re-stage at the 2012 AvignonOFF festival in France. ‘Ellipsis’ was further nominated for a 2012 Australian Dance Award (Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance). Hart's subsequent work, ‘Symphony of Strange’ similarly garnered a 5 star review and nomination for ‘Best Dance’. Following suit, their third Adelaide Fringe work, ‘excavate’ received critical acclaim whilst picking up a ‘Best Dance’ award from festival judges.
For a fuller list of recent work, click here
For over a decade, Hart has been dedicated to developing a deeply considered improvisation practice, that seeks to continually find the ‘new’ within our corporeal and experiential history. This practise is based in an investigative improvisation process, informed by the potential of the body as a site for conceptual confusion, artistic challenge, aesthetic rigor. Hart has a number of excellent influences on thier practice, including Rosalind Crisp, Ros Warby and Helen Herbertson.
Over this time, Hart has toured their work extensively alongside the East Coast of Australia, and more recently has begun dabbling in international presentation, namely in France and the UK.
As a producer, Hart works exclusively with emerging and experimental artists, across theatre, dance and live art. During 2010-2012 Hart was the co-Artistic Director of Crack Theatre Festival, as part of This Is Not Art. In 2012 Hart also produced ‘Blindscape’ (Skye Gellmann) for the Next Wave Festival, which culminated in a nomination for a 2012 Green Room Award for ‘Innovation and Excellence in Circus’.
In 2013, Hart was fortunate enough to secure a professional secondment with the London International Festival of Theatre, where they assisted the Producing team with the planning and implementation of a major international biannual festival.
In 2014, Hart launched hillsceneLIVE –a live art/performance festival in the Dandenong Ranges.
hillsceneLIVE is an arts festival supporting emerging and experimental artists. The festival aim to create new modes of thought, practice, engagement and participation through the support of bold, brave artists.
In 2018, Hart was selected for the highly competitive 'Future Leaders Program' from the Australia Concil for the Arts, and was recently awarded an Australia Day Award for 'Outstanding Contribution to the Yarra Ranges Community'.
AWARDS AND GRANTS
Awarded: Australia Day Award – ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Yarra Ranges Community’
Nominated: Australian Dance Award, ‘Outstanding Contribution to Independent Dance’
Awarded: Yarra Ranges Council – Arts and Heritage Grant – hillsceneLIVE (x3)
Winner: Adelaide Fringe Festival – Best Dance Award: Excavate
Awarded: Yarra Ranges Council – Arts and Heritage Grant – Lilydale Pop-Up Theatre
Awarded: Arts Victoria (Creative Victoria) – Professional Pathways Scholarship
Nominated: Adelaide Fringe Festival – Best Dance Award: Symphony of Strange & Ellipsis (x2)
Awarded: Australia Council for the Arts – ArtStart grant
Winner: Water and Muriel McConnan Trust Prize – Outstanding Postgraduate Research
Awarded: Sir Rupert Hamer Family Scholarship (2009)
Nominated: Green Rooms Awards, ‘Innovation and Excellence in Circus’ (Producer)
Awarded: Melbourne City Council – Arts Grant – Move Me Closer
Awarded: University of Melbourne & Victorian College of the Arts – Melbourne Research Scholarship
Hart secured funding from numerous local councils, Arts Victoria and Australia Council for the Arts.
