Michael is currently an artist with Dancenorth under the artistic direction Kyle Page and Amber Haines, based on Gurambilburra land of the Wulgurukaba and Bindal people.
Image by Amber Haines.
Image by Amber Haines.
I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands and sea on which I live, work and create. I pay my respects to all First Nations peoples and their elders past, present and future. I recognise and honour their unique connection to place, community and movement. Sovereignty was never ceded.
Michael Smith is an award-winning artist working within contemporary dance, dance-theatre, film and installation. His work situates the body at the centre of process, while using theatrics fused with worlding principles in order to enhance our ‘felt’ senses and perspectives, to intuit and connect. Often through an introspective lens, Michael’s work delvs into queerness, persona, gender and nature while challenging the expectations and traditions of audience behaviours / roles in dance.
Michael's choreographic work has been performed across platforms such as MONA FOMA, Brisbane Festival, Dance Massive Site Responsive Showcase, Metro Arts, Ars Electronica (Austria), TanzZiet (Berlin), AGITART Figueres Festival MOU (Spain), Japan Media Arts Festival, STRUT Dance WA, Sunshine Coast Arts Prize and South Bank Corporations 'Flowstate'. In support of Michael’s choreographic practice, he was a recipient of the Brisbane City Council Lord Mayors Fellowship (2019-2020), enabling opportunities across Europe and Israel.
Michael is currently a dancer/performer with Dancenorth under the artistic direction Kyle Page and Amber Haines, based on Gurambilburra - land of the Wulgurukaba and Bindal people. Michael worked as a core artist and continues to collaborate with dance-theatre company The Farm which significantly shaped and developed his artistic ethos as a performer/maker.
As a freelance performer and maker, Michael has worked with independent artists including Ashleigh Musk, Jenni Large, Georgia Rudd, Liesel Zink, Courtney Scheu and Itamar Freed, Cass Mortimer-Eipper, Paul Selwyn Norton, Guy Shomroni and Yaniv Abraham, Yilin Kong, Matt Cornell, Lizzie and Zaimon Vilmanis (Prying Eye), Nerida Matthaei (Phluxus2), Gareth Belling (Collusion Music and Dance), Amalia Pica (IMA), Melissa Lanham and Liz Lea.
Michael graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours, First Class - Dance Performance in 2014 from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and has published articles in dance academia through QUT and 'Body, Space, Technology' journal.