The Australian Youth Dance Festival (AYDF) is a biennial festival that provides youth dance practitioners the opportunity to connect with their peers. It creates a forum for healthy exchange, mentored by a network of dance industry leaders in a supportive and non-competitive environment. The Festival aims to also address some of the social issues faced by young people isolated by distance, population, regional and racial tensions.
The next AYDF will be held in 2025.
Previous Festivals
AYDF 2022
(RE)CONNECT, (RE)GENERATE, and (RE)IGNITE
AYDF 2019
REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE
AYDF History
AYDF was founded in 1996 by Ausdance National and held in regional centres across Australia until 2017. In 2017, the festival was held in a capital city (Melbourne) for the first time and was remodelled to provide new opportunities for young people to access some of the finest dance experiences available in Australia. AYDF 2019 was the first time it was presented with international collaboration, with young dancers and dance leaders from the UK, Singapore, Ghana, Denmark, Finland and more.