1965–1999 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". Several directors followed, including
Leigh Warren, who took the reins from 1987 to 1992/3.
Meryl Tankard, then head of her own small dance company in
Canberra, was appointed as artistic director of ADT in 1992. The ADT at the time of her appointment had two studios in
Gouger Street, and a budget of A$1.25 million. However, she was unhappy to learn that the
Australia Council for the Arts had slashed the ADT's budget by 40% after she took up the post, allocating the money instead to Warren's company. After lobbying by the board, the
South Australian Government only cut their funding by 10%. All of Tankard's dancers bar one joined her in Adelaide, while Warren's dancers did not audition for a place under her direction. From 1993 to 1999, the company was known as the Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre. Tankard left after disputes with the board. After an interim directorship under Bill Pengelly,
Garry Stewart was appointed in 1999.
2000s 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, 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. Riley had met ADT founder Elizabeth Dalman when he was at school in
Canberra, aged 13, although did not know about the ADT until they toured Canberra a few years later. He has since remained friends with Dalman and they talk often. 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. 2025 is the 60th anniversary of ADT, and to celebrate the event, a collaborative work called
A Quiet Language, with music by multi-instrumentalist, composer, music educator, and record producer
Adam Page, is being premiered at the
Adelaide Festival in February. Riley wants to capture some of the spirit and energy of the early days of the company, when events called "happenings" were held; parties where artists of all disciplines came together and experimented with creating new things. Founder Elizabeth Dalman, aged 90, helped to choreograph the work and train the dancers. Another major work,
Two Blood, premieres at
OzAsia Festival on 28 October 2025. It is co-created by Riley, theatre-maker
S. Shakthidharan (
Counting and Cracking) and
Tagalaka dancer and choreographer Jasmin Sheppard. Music is by Singapore-based group SAtheCollective and
Jaadwa composer James Howard, and the work includes video and text as well as dance. == Governance and funding==