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 Callum Zero.
Image by Callum Zero.
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 and present. 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. With Queerness being a driving force in his works, Michael is interested in the role of fantasy, speculative fabulation and the ‘utility of belief’ to enhance modes of existence that lay on the peripheries of dominant narratives and societal norms.
Michael's choreographic work has been performed at esteemed national and international festivals and venues including 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 and Sunshine Coast Arts Prize. In support of Michael’s choreographic practice, he was a recipient of the Brisbane City Council Lord Mayors Fellowship (2019-2020), enabling choreographic inquiry 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 The Farm, which significantly shaped and developed his artistic ethos as a performer/maker.
As a freelance/independent 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 and has published articles in dance academia through QUT and 'Body, Space, Technology' Journal.