Ausdance National has announced Xin Ong and Chung Nguyen as the recipients of its 2026 choreographic fellowships. Ong has received the 2026 Keith Bain Choreographic Travel Fellowship, while Nguyen has received the 2026 Peggy van Praagh Choreographic Fellowship. The two fellowships provide a combined $20,000 in direct support for choreographic and artist development, allowing each recipient to invest in research, travel, relationships, experimentation and professional development.
Following a highly competitive national selection process, the fellowships have been awarded to artists whose practices span interdisciplinary collaboration, somatic movement, performance, video installation and community engagement.
Based in Boorloo/Perth, Xin Ong is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice centres presence, connection and deep listening. As the recipient of the 2026 Keith Bain Choreographic Travel Fellowship, Ong has been invited to work as Assistant to Farooq Chaudhry OBE, Artistic Director, during his upcoming development of The Bridge in Shenzhen, China.
The project centres intercultural and interdisciplinary collaboration, with the Fellowship supporting Ong’s choreographic practice and enquiry through the opportunity to witness a range of complexities at close range under expert mentorship.
The 2026 Peggy van Praagh Choreographic Fellowship has been awarded to Vietnamese/Australian dance artist, somatic movement facilitator and Biodynamic Craniosacral therapist Chung Nguyen, who is based in Naarm/Melbourne. Nguyen’s practice sits at the intersection of live performance, video installation, choreography and community engagement.
Through the Fellowship, Nguyen will build on investigations of their Australian migrant journey to develop Breathing is Remembering through a series of developments and residencies across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania. The work will consider communities and sites linked to Agent Orange, an agricultural chemical that was weaponised during the Vietnam War.
The Fellowship will provide Nguyen with dedicated research and development time while supporting their leadership and further developing their skills in community-based, cross-cultural and choreographic research.
Ausdance National, Australia’s peak body for dance, has reinstated the fellowships this year following a hiatus after the COVID-19 pandemic. The programs were made possible through bequests from Dame Peggy van Praagh and Keith Bain OAM, recognising the value of targeted, artist-centred investment in career sustainability and individual practice.
The 2026 fellowships continue that investment by giving the two artists dedicated resources to pursue work and development opportunities that can be difficult to accommodate within the demands of an active artistic career.
For more information visit https://ausdance.org.au/news.
