2019 Melbourne International Arts Festival is in full swing and we have the ultimate dance guide for you. Below are the top five dance productions that every dance enthusiast must see, including works by high-profile Australian choreographers Stephanie Lake and Lucy Guerin.

Rite of Spring – Thu 3 – Sun 6 October

This production will unite China’s renowned choreographer Yang Liping with designer Tim Yip, who won an Academy Award for his work on the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in a work built around Stravinsky’s ballet, The Rite of Spring.

Grand Finale – Thu 10 – Sun 13 October

Internationally celebrated Israeli-born, UK-based choreographer Hofesh Shechter, will bring his latest work, Grand Finale to Melbourne incorporating equal parts dance, theatre and live music.

Colossus – Thu 3 – Sun 6 October

With 50 dancers on stage, choreographer Stephanie Lake’s latest work Colossus promises to be epic. This riveting dance work explores the tensions between the individual and the collective, solitary striving and joyous union with a cast of 50 young dancers performing as one.

Colossus by Stephanie Lake. Credit: Mark Gambino.

Split – Wed 2 – Sun 6 October

Two dancers – one naked, one clothed – share the same space, but as room to move grows smaller and smaller the challenge of sharing a shrinking world grows ever more desperate.

Split by Lucy Guerin. Credit: Gregory Lorenzutti.

OVERTURE – Wed 2 – Sun 6 October

Based on choreographer Jo Lloyd’s childhood memories of pretending to interview famous people she’d like to meet, OVERTURE extends on this fantasy and is a dance that considers the unrequited, the unattainable and out attempts to connect with particular beings of obsession.

OVERTURE. Credit Bryony Jackson.

For tickets, visit the 2019 Melbourne International Arts Festival website.