Pulse Alive
Pulse Alive is a large-scale event, providing high-quality opportunities in the performing arts for students and teachers from NSW public schools in Greater Sydney and beyond.
Pulse Alive provides performance opportunities for students of all abilities from Kindergarten to Year 12.
Participation in the categories of massed dance, First Nations dance ensemble and massed choir are open to all schools without audition.
This site contains important information around the 2026 event, including expectations of school groups, teachers and participating students. It is vital that all aspects are read and understood before submitting an application to participate in Pulse Alive 2026.
Gallery
Pulse Alive 2026 nominations
Nominations for all categories of Pulse Alive 2026 will open on Monday 18 August 2025 (Term 3 Week 5).
Nominations for massed dance, First Nations dance and massed choir will close on Friday 17 October 2025 (Term 4 Week 1).
Teaching resources for massed dance, First Nations dance and massed choir will be distributed to all participating schools in Week 2 of Term 4 2025.
Nominations for principal performers (principal vocalists, principal choir, showband, Pulse Alive dance company, student hosts and drama ensemble) will close on Friday 26 September 2025 (Term 3 Week 10). Live auditions for principal vocalists, principal choir and the Pulse Alive dance company will be held over the weekend of Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 October 2025 - the final weekend of the October school holidays - at The Arts Unit, Lewisham. All other principal performer categories will be selected via video audition.
Performance dates
Pulse Alive reserves the right to modify dates or details should circumstances change.
Pulse Alive 2026 will be held on Wednesday 18, Thursday 19 and Friday 20 March 2026 (Term 1 Week 8) at 7:30 pm.
All schools groups participating in Pulse Alive 2026 in massed dance, massed choir and First Nations dance ensemble will be allocated to one performance date, as will students participating as individual dancers (massed dance) or individual choristers (massed choir). This will be one of:
- Cast A – Wednesday 18 March 2026, or
- Cast B – Thursday 19 March 2026, or
- Cast C – Friday 20 March 2026.
In 2026 we have expanded to three performances (in previous years there have been two performances).
Students selected via audition to feature as principal vocalists, members of the Pulse Alive Dance Company, principal choir, members of the showband, drama ensemble, student comperes and members of the student crew will be required to perform/participate in all three performances.
Future dates (planned)
Pulse Alive is tentatively booked at Ken Rosewall Arena for the following dates in future years:
- 2027 – Wednesday 17, Thursday 18 and Friday 19 March 2027 (Term 1 Week 8)
- 2028 – Wednesday 22, Thursday 23 and Friday 24 March 2028 (Term 1 Week 8)
Preliminary rehearsal dates
All preliminary rehearsals for massed dance, massed choir and First Nations dance for Pulse Alive 2026 will take place between Monday 16 February and Tuesday 10 March 2026.
All school groups will be required to attend one preliminary rehearsal, either virtually (for those schools more than two hours away) or in-person at Sydney Olympic Park. The specific date of the preliminary rehearsal will be determined by the category of participation and the performance date. Selection of this date, and indication of dates that are not possible will form part of the nomination process for Pulse Alive 2026.
No preliminary rehearsals will be held on the first three days of the 2026 NAPLAN test window – Wednesday 11 to Friday 13 March 2026.
However, schools should be aware that all performance dates fall during the second week of the NAPLAN window.
Venues
Performance venue
Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney Olympic Park
Ken Rosewall Arena is the main arena of the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre and is located at the southern end of Olympic Boulevard.
Rehearsal venues
- Massed dance – Netball Central, Sydney Olympic Park
- Massed choir – Netball Central, Sydney Olympic Park
- First Nations dance ensemble – Netball Central, Sydney Olympic Park.
- All principal performer auditions and rehearsals – The Arts Unit, Lewisham
Venue addresses
- Ken Rosewall Arena – Corner Olympic Boulevard and Shirley Strickland Avenue, Sydney Olympic Park
- Netball Central – 2 Olympic Boulevard, Sydney Olympic Park
- The Arts Unit – Corner Toothill Street and The Boulevarde, Lewisham
Third-party content attributions
- Third-party content attributions
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Pulse Alive images photographer: Anna Warr
Pulse Alive 2025 is proudly supported by Professional Learning Sponsor, Smart.
All Arts Units programs are inclusive. If support is required to participate in Pulse Alive, please email [email protected] so we can assist.
