{"id":673774,"date":"2026-05-16T01:51:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T01:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/673774\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T01:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T01:51:14","slug":"mature-artists-dance-experience-for-over-50s-hopes-for-increased-arts-funding-ahead-of-tasmanian-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/673774\/","title":{"rendered":"Mature Artists Dance Experience for over 50s hopes for increased arts funding ahead of Tasmanian budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Laura Della Pasqua first stepped into a class with the Mature Artists Dance Experience a decade ago, she felt terrified.<\/p>\n

It was just six months after she had suffered a massive stroke, which paralysed one arm and left partial paralysis in one leg.<\/p>\n

The space she found in the dance studio was comfortable, safe and accepting.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Laura Della Pasqua says the dance classes have helped with her “physical confidence”. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

It allowed her to get to know her new body and explore how it could move.<\/p>\n

“Through that slow process of discovery, I’ve developed a lot of physical confidence and improved in my mobility so much,” Ms Della Pasqua said.<\/p>\n

“I walked in with a walking stick, and I could just chuck it out now.”<\/p>\n

Dance has become an integral part of her life since.<\/p>\n

\"Mature-aged<\/p>\n

Members of the group include mothers, grandmothers and businesswomen among others. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

“The camaraderie and the support that we give each other is just beautiful,” Ms Della Pasqua said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There’s no competition, there’s just total acceptance and belief in each other’s capacity in what we all bring.”Professional dancers partner with mature-aged performers<\/p>\n

The not-for-profit, better known as MADE, has been running for more than 20 years.<\/p>\n

Its latest show, ‘Particles’ at the Moonah Arts Centre, explores connection and the wisdom of mature-aged performers.<\/p>\n

“You look at everybody’s faces, and they’re all incredible women. You see how much life they’ve lived, their strength,” Ms Della Pasqua said.<\/p>\n

“They’re mothers, they’re grandmothers, they’re businesswomen, they’re adventurers and they express all of that through their dance.”\"Mature-aged<\/p>\n

MADE has been running for more than 20 years. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

Western Australian choreographer Daryl Brandwood crafted the recent work.<\/p>\n

“I’m really attracted to themes of life and loss and love,” he said.<\/p>\n

“As you get older you have more life experience and I think it’s just so lovely to pull the very happy things and also the sad things, and that can be healthy too.”<\/p>\n

While MADE’s performance ensemble is for dancers over the age of 50, it also runs adult classes across Tasmania.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Daryl Brandwood choreographed the recent ‘Particles’ performance at Hobart’s Moonah Arts Centre. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

Jane Polley has danced with MADE for a couple of years and is performing with them for the first time.<\/p>\n

A former dance and drama teacher, Ms Polley has found that working on the show has improved her flexibility and strength.<\/p>\n

“The continuation of doing dance is really helping fitness and strength in the body,” she said.<\/p>\n

“But you don’t really think about it.<\/p>\n

“It’s not like going to the gym and going, ‘I’ve got to do this amount to get stronger’.<\/p>\n

“You’re actually thinking about the meaning of the choreography, so it’s a beautiful way to actually get fitter.”\"Women<\/p>\n

Jane Polley is a former dance and drama teacher. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

Previously, MADE has received arts grants and funding from both federal and state governments.<\/p>\n

It was not successful in securing funding for any of its 2026 projects.<\/p>\n

As a result, it has relied on volunteers, donations and fundraising to stage its latest production.<\/p>\n

Ms Polley said it showed how dance and the arts more broadly were being devalued.<\/p>\n

“We’ve lost a lot of our theatre sector, and dance is struggling. Our company is part of that,” she said.<\/p>\n

“The arts are not just about communication and meaning, they’re about the health and wellbeing of the individuals within them and also the community more generally.”\"Mature-aged<\/p>\n

A 2022 report showed a total of nearly $28 million of Tasmanian state funding was spent on the arts. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

Budget to reveal ongoing arts funding<\/p>\n

An internal state government briefing document showed that Tasmanian government spending on the arts was the lowest in Australia, both in real and per capita terms.<\/p>\n

Its data from 2022 showed a total of nearly $28 million of state funding was spent on the arts, which included cultural heritage and museums, music and performance festivals, and arts education investment in schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The document said investment in the arts had stagnated since 2016-17. It also described Tasmania’s funding as “sub-optimal”.<\/p>\n

“This is a major reputational risk for the government, given Tasmania’s national and international brand relies heavily on its creative, arts and cultural sectors to drive visitation and population growth,” it read.<\/p>\n

\"Mature-aged<\/p>\n

The group has relied on volunteers, donations and fundraising to stage its latest production. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

Ms Polley agrees that funding should increase.<\/p>\n

“Research has shown that we’re all much healthier in an environment that’s arts-rich and it would be lovely if that was more invested in by our government,” she said.<\/p>\n

The Tasmanian state budget, which will include its funding allocation for the arts sector, will be announced on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Laura Della Pasqua first stepped into a class with the Mature Artists Dance Experience a decade ago,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":673775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[299716,64,63,134,325051,325050,36440,325052],"class_list":["post-673774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-arts-funding","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-jane-polley","tag-laura-della-pasqua","tag-made","tag-mature-age-dance-experience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=673774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/673775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=673774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=673774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=673774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}