For today’s dance educators, teaching needs to extend far beyond the delivery of technique. It is a practice grounded in relationships, responsibility and the ongoing exchange of knowledge. Sydney Dance Company’s Teacher Training program embraces this broader understanding of education, offering aspiring and experienced teachers an opportunity to deepen their practice, reflect on their values and develop the skills needed to lead meaningful learning experiences.
Applications are now open for the July 2026 intake of the CUA40320 Certificate IV in Dance Teaching and Management, with applications closing on Monday 22 June. The comprehensive, part-time program combines weekly lectures and tutorials (available both in person and online) with four immersive week-long intensives held at Sydney Dance Company’s stunning harbourside studios.
While the training draws on contemporary approaches to dance education, its impact reaches well beyond any single dance genre. Participants are encouraged to examine the deeper questions that shape effective teaching: how knowledge is shared, what values underpin learning and how educators create environments where students can thrive. At its core, the program positions teaching as a profession informed as much by culture, care and lived experience as it is by curriculum and content.
Among the current cohort are educators and artists Sidney Saltner and Trae Allen, whose cultural backgrounds and professional experiences have enriched their engagement with the program.
Saltner, a descendant of the Wulli Wulli and Wakka Wakka peoples of Central Queensland and currently Youth Program Director with Bangarra Dance Theatre, says the training has provided valuable space for reflection on his existing practice.
Rather than introducing entirely new concepts, he explains, the program has encouraged him to think more deeply about how he teaches and the values that underpin his work as an Aboriginal artist and educator.
“A lot of what guides me in the studio comes from culture, community, experience and the way I have learnt over time through relationship,” he says. “For me, teaching has always been relational. It is about trust, listening, responsibility and being aware of the people in front of you.”
Saltner says the program’s greatest strength lies in creating opportunities to reflect not only on what educators teach, but also why and how they teach it.
Similarly, Trae Allen, who grew up on Gomeroi/Gamilaroi Country with Gidjibal/Bundjalung bloodlines in Moree, NSW, has found the program transformative in developing his confidence as both an artist and educator. Having first learnt dance through family and community before training at the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts (ACPA) and Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Year, Allen entered the course with a strong foundation.
Throughout the training, he has been challenged to explore new creative territory by combining cultural dance practices with contemporary movement approaches.
“The ability to challenge myself by combining both cultural and Western contemporary movement has only strengthened through the learning in this program,” Allen says. Through choreographic tasks, he found himself taking creative risks and exploring movement ideas he may previously have avoided.
The experience, he says, has inspired him to share those discoveries with younger generations through dance.
For both artists, the program has reinforced the importance of creating learning environments where students feel supported, included and empowered.
Saltner describes teaching as inseparable from responsibility and care. The course, he says, helped him articulate the values already embedded within his practice and recognise them more clearly within his own pedagogical framework.
Allen, meanwhile, speaks passionately about the impact of cultural education on young people.
“It’s the most fantastic job I can do, sharing my culture and teaching it to others,” he says. “For all ages, but especially the younger generations, it gives them a spark of inclusion and excitement. It gives them the experience of having fun and learning at the same time through dance stories.”
Looking ahead, both educators see ongoing opportunities to expand their practice. For Saltner, one of the most significant areas of exploration is finding the balance between preparation and responsiveness.
“As an Aboriginal educator, I do not see teaching as something fixed or one way,” he explains. “It is about being present enough to respond to the people in the room, to the timing of the moment and to what is coming up through relationship.”
This emphasis on deep listening and adaptability reflects broader Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing – approaches that continue to inform his work as an educator.
Allen points to the program’s focus on inclusive teaching, creativity and educator empowerment as particularly influential in building his confidence and shaping his future teaching practice.
The value of culturally informed teaching emerged as a common theme in both artists’ reflections. Saltner believes these approaches can enrich dance education by connecting movement to identity, history, place and community.
“Dance is never separate from identity, history, place, community or responsibility,” he says. “Aboriginal perspectives bring a way of teaching and learning that values respect, accountability, collective care and knowledge shared through experience.”
Such perspectives, he argues, help create dance education environments that are not only technically rigorous but also deeply meaningful and connected.
Allen echoes this sentiment, highlighting inclusion as one of the most important lessons he will carry forward.
“It allows different perspectives and ways of seeing,” he says. “It pushes you to move and teach differently. It’s about creativity, being free and creating something that everyone around you can enjoy.”
As the demand for thoughtful, adaptable and culturally responsive educators continues to grow, Sydney Dance Company’s Teacher Training program offers a pathway for dance artists to develop not only their teaching skills, but also their understanding of the values that shape effective education. Through reflection, creativity and connection, the program is helping to prepare a new generation of teachers equipped to inspire and support future Australian dancers in meaningful ways.
Sydney Dance Company is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO #45863).
For more information and to apply visit Sydneydancecompany.com.
By Deborah Searle of Dance Informa.
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