Delving into Dance

Dalisa Pigram is the Co Artistic director Marrugeku. She is a Yawuru/Bardi woman with Malay and Filipino heritage born and raised in Broome, Dalisa studied in Perth after high school to complete an Advanced Certificate in Aboriginal Musical Theatre, a course developed and facilitated by Michael Leslie and accredited by WAAPA (1995). At the end of study Dalisa was invited to join Marrugeku by Michael Leslie for its first project to create Mimi (1996) working closely with Kunwinjku storytellers and dancers of Kunbarlanja community in Arnhem Land with the larger group of Marrugeku artists over 8 years. Dalisa became co artistic director of Marrugeku with Rachael Swain in 2008 after the company began working in her homelands of the Yawuru in Broome (2003). A co-devising performer on all Marrugeku’s productions, touring extensively overseas and throughout Australia, Dalisa’s first solo work Gudirr Gudirr (2013) directed and co choreographed by Koen Augustijnen, earned an Australian Dance Award (Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance 2014) and a Green Room Award (Best Female Performer 2014).

Antony Hamilton is Artistic Director and co-CEO of Chunky Move. His work employs a sophisticated melding of choreography, sound and visual design to collaboratively imagine complete worlds in performance. Antony has been the recipient of major fellowships from Bangarra Dance Theatre (the Russell Page Fellowship), the Tanja Liedtke Foundation, the Australia Council for the Arts and the Sidney Myer Foundation. In 2013, he was Resident Director of Lucy Guerin Inc and in 2014 was guest dance curator at The National Gallery of Victoria. He was also the inaugural International Resident Artist at Dancemakers Toronto from 2016 to 2018. Antony has received four Helpmann Award nominations, winning for Black Project 1 & 2, and Forever and Ever (Sydney Dance Co.). He has won numerous Green Room Awards and has also received a New York Performing Arts Award ‘Bessie’ for Outstanding Production for MEETING. In his time as Artistic Director at Chunky Move, Antony has premiered Token Armies (2019), Universal Estate (2019), Nocturnal (2020), Yung Lung (2022) and Rewards for the Tribe (2022). He has also championed a range of sector support programs, including the Victorian Regional Artist Residency, commissioning program Activators and the Choreographer in Residence initiative.

In this episode Thomas Bradley and Felix Sampson, create an experimental soundscape to accompany the reading of Thomas’ essay ON A DANCING*, first published on Delving into Dance on 27 November 2019. You can read the full essay here, with an extract provided below. The declaration is a precursor to the dancing, akin to preparation rather than a recipe. Ideas must be extradited from consciousness through speech or writing, like a clarification of behaviour, or practice of exorcism. And it is after these literary articulations that his liberation, and Good Dancing, will begin: post-declaration, and its attendant extrapolation. In this space, cliché postures may emerge, like archetypes of meaning and value, yet they remain personal somehow; the politics of the action must not be engaged as a communicative tool. N.B. It’s important the audience see me not knowing,  so they know when I know, I don’t know.The distinction he is searching for is that between the personal and political. Though, perhaps there can be some value in flirting with politics just as he flirts with clarity. Generally, that should be encouraged, rather than the rampant fucking of art by ideology and ambition.Do you prefer clarity to nuance?Are clarity and dynamism mutually exclusive?  N.B. In this context, clarity gains its whole value by the creative digression that frames it. As a measure of universality, clarity is vital in a dancing scene, where so often the desire to communicate something directly overrides the expression of the dancing experience. In this sense, clarity must be understood as a prelude to chaos.What about the becoming of clarity?   

Elizabeth Cameron Dalman, currently Director of Mirramu Creative Arts Centre and Artistic Director of Mirramu Dance Company, founded Australia’s iconic contemporary dance company, Australian Dance Theatre and was its Artistic Director from 1965 - 1975. Elizabeth was awarded an OAM for her contribution to contemporary dance in Australia.  Included among her many other awards are an Australian Artists Creative Fellowship, an ACT Creative Arts Fellowship and several Canberra Critics Circle Awards. In 2015 she was inducted into the Australian Dance Hall of Fame and awarded the Canberra Times Artist of the Year. Elizabeth was Head of the Dance Department at the University of Western Sydney from 2004 – end 2006. She has taught at the Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan where she has a long association with the Taiwanese dance community, also appearing annually in the Tsai Jui Yueh International Dance Festivals. She has also been a guest teacher at L’Ecole des Sables in Senegal and at Tans Atelier Wien, Austria.Elizabeth’s career in dance spans more than six decades and she continues to explore new avenues in her work. In 2016 Elizabeth joined Teaċ Daṁsa as an actor/dancer in Michael Keegan Dolan’s Swan Lake/Loch na hEala. This award-winning production has been touring the world for four years.In 2018 - 2019 Elizabeth worked with Director, Kenneth Spiteri, on a VR film project, Crone, and is currently working with Jacqui Carroll on a new solo work involving masks. She has recently received a Homefront grant from artsACT to research Dance-in-Nature: Preparing a book, video-tutorial and workshop.During Covid; In my hibernation my creativity turned to writing. I spent hours happily at my computer with my writing, which sometimes feels like choreography. The results of these writing hours are some rough chapters recounting special experiences of my life, and in particular, my life here at Mirramu. This is an ongoing project which perhaps one day will evolve into a book. As well, I have been working subliminally on two solo projects. The first is Crone which I developed with Kenneth Spiteri during 2018 and 2019. I am taking the ideas and choreographed sections that we created and were shot for a VR dance film, as raw material for a solo theatre production. The other project is a new solo program directed by Jacqui Carroll. Here I use masks to create seven different women in various different times and different circumstances. This project is an enormous challenge, but it is opening up a whole new world of performance for me. As soon as the warmer weather comes and the days get longer, I will be working hard on these two works.This is the second interview on Delving into Dance, from the amazing Elizabeth Cameron Dalman.

Gregory is the author of the 2020 International Dance Day message – which so poignantly addresses the fragility of the world and humankind.Gregory’s dance journey provides a powerful insight to the dance of dance as a political voice and his voice has carried across the world. His insightful, unflinching, International Dance Day message speaks to his empathy and insight as an activist and artist.Gregory became interested in dance in the late 1980s as a means to escape the political tensions growing in his place of birth. He started his formal dance training in 1990 at Moving Into Dance wherein 2002 he became the Associate Artistic Director. Maqoma has established himself as an internationally renowned dancer, choreographer, teacher and director. He founded Vuyani Dance Theatre (VDT) in 1999 when he was undertaking a scholarship at the Performing Arts Research and Training School (PARTS) in Belgium under the direction of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.Maqoma is respected for his collaborations with artists of his generation like Akram Khan, Vincent Mantsoe, Faustin Linyekula, Dada Masilo, Shanell Winlock, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Nhlanhla Mahlangu and Theatre Director James Ngcobo.Several works in his repertoire have won him accolades and international acclaim. This includes FNB Vita Choreographer of the Year in 1999, 2001 and 2002 for Rhythm 1.2.3, Rhythm Blues and Southern Comfort respectively. He received the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Dance in 2002. Maqoma was a finalist in the Daimler Chrysler Choreography Award in 2002 and in the Rolex Mentorship Programme in 2003. He is the recipient of the 2012 Tunkie Award for Leadership in Dance. In 2014 he received a “Bessie”, New York City’s premier dance award for Exit/Exist for original music composition. He served as a nominator in the 2016–2017 Rolex Arts Initiative as well as curating the 2017 Main Dance Program for The National Arts Festival. His current works ‘Via Kanana’ and ‘Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Bolero’ were touring in Africa and Europe when Covid colosed borders and dancers were forced to return to South Africa.In 2017 Maqoma was honoured by the French Government with the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Arts & Literature) Award. In 2018 was honoured by the South African Department of Arts & Culture with the inaugural Usiba Award for dedication to dance teaching.In 2018 Maqoma collaborated with William Kentridge as a choreographer and performing in Kentridge’s opera ‘The Head And The Load’ toured to the UK, Germany, Austria, Holland and New York.In 2019 Maqoma Collaborated with Idris Elba and Kwame Kwei-Armah in the production “Tree” produced by Manchester International Festival and the Young Vic. He is also part of the selection committee for Dance Biennale Afrique Festival which was to take place in Marrakech in 2020.

Juliet Burnett grew up in Sydney, while spending considerable time in Indonesia. Dancing was in Juilet’s blood; her grandmother, was the Sultan’s star dancer at his court in Jogjakarta. At the age of five her parents enrolled her in ballet school to see if she took after her grandmother. Later, Juliet studied at The Australian Ballet School, before joining the company in 2003. Juliet has worked in creations by Wayne McGregor, Stanton Welch, Alexei Ratmansky, Krysztof Pastor, Nicolo Fonte, Maina Gielgud, Rudolf Nureyev, Peggy van Praagh, Matjash Mrozewski, Stephen Baynes, Gideon Obarzanek, Graeme Murphy and Stephen Page. In mid-2015, Juliet left The Australian Ballet after her final show as Giselle. She left to become a freelance dancer performing in Australia and Indonesia, working with a range of people including Melanie Lane, a childhood friend. In 2016, Juliet made the move to Europe to join Ballet Vlaanderen, Belgium's premier dance company, under the directorship of renowned choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Since 2016, Juliet has been a First Soloist with Ballet Vlaanderen, where she has had new creations made for her by Édouard Lock in The Heart of August and The Heart of August ... continued and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in his Requiem. Other roles include the title role in Akram Khan’s Giselle, in William Forsythe's Approximate Sonata and Workwithinwork, Pina Bausch's Café Müller, in Benjamin Millepied’s Bach Studies, as Marguerite in Jean-Christophe Maillot's Faust, as Queen Fabiola in Jeroen Verbruggen's Ma Mére L'Oye, Trisha Brown’s Twelve Ton Rose, in Alexander Ekman’s Joy, in Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's Firebird, Memento Mori, Exhibition and Fall, and the Snow Queen in Demis Volpi's Nutcracker. In 2017 she danced as Guest Artist with Dutch National Ballet, in Remi Wortmeyer's new creation, Passing Shadows. Juliet is also a writer, having been a regular contributor for Dance Tabs, MDM Dancewear's website and The Australian Ballet's blog Behind Ballet. She has written for other publications including Vogue Australia, Dance International and Gourmet Traveller magazines.

James Vu Anh Pham is from Perth, Western Australia, and was the first generation of his Vietnamese family to be raised in a Western society. James loved music as a child, playing piano, clarinet and saxophone, he planned on becoming a musician. Struggling with stage-fright a friend suggested he tried dance classes as a way to connect to his body. Starting hip-hop, he loved what he could express through his body. Subsequently, he switched his planned career in music to a career in dance, going on to study at New Zealand School of Dance. His first professional contact was with Chunky Move, shortly after Anouk van Dijk started, performing in An Act of Now, in 2012. James continued to dance extensively for Chunky Move in a range of works including Rule of Thirds (2016), Depth of Field (2015), Complexity of Belonging (2014), 247 Days (2013) and AORTA (2013) – a Next Move production choreographed by Stephanie Lake. He learnt Countertechnique for Anouk van Dijk and has since become an instructor. James received the ‘Best Male Dancer in a Dance or Physical Theatre Work’ (2014) Helpmann Award for his performance in 247 Days and the ‘Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer’ (2014) Australian Dance Award for AORTA. In 2016, James relocated to Belgium to work at Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's Eastman, where he performed in works including Babel 7.16 in the Palais Des Papes for the Festival d'Avignon, guesting in Ravel with Ballet Flanders and ICON with the Göteborg Opera Dance Company. He also performed with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in Les Indes galantes, a production by the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. In 2019, James moved to London, where he now works as a company dancer with Akram Khan Company. He was involved in the creation of Outwitting the Devil, which had its world première in 2019. James has so much to offer the world of dance and continues to bring his own style and personality wherever he goes. This is the second episode in a season looking at Australian dance artists working and living overseas. The next interview is with Juliet Burnett who dances with Belgium's premier dance company, Ballet Vlaanderen.

Dance started for Cadi McCarthy at the youthful age of four, having been taken along to a ballet class by her parents. At the age of 17, she was accepted into the Western Australian Academy for Performing Arts (WAAPA). At WAAPA and the world of what dance was opened up for Cadi, sparking what has become a life-long commitment and investment into the potential and possibility of choreography and movement. Cadi was exposed to different ways of engaging with dance and the practise of dance-making, improvisation and tasking, “not just the performing aspect of dance”.Cadi’s interest and dedication in the art of dance-making and its power is found in the body; “every human has a body and bodies tell stories”.Cadi’s career has taken her all over the world - and spent time working with dance companies in Denmark, UK, Germany, USA, and Canada. The interest was always in meeting new people and seeing the way the different ways of engaging with life and dance, not just about learning new techniques: “it’s about making our world smaller and richer” as well as “connecting with like-minded people”.In 2012, Cadi moved to Newcastle, and noticed the lack of engagement with dance-making and practice. She was inspired to create an artistic hub of sorts, providing a space for artists to have the liberty to just play and investigate - to see what they could come up with. Catapult Dance Choreographic Hub was born, a space that exists to nurture emerging and professional choreographers and artists and to “strengthen the presence of contemporary dance/art in the Newcastle community”. The Hub provides multiple residencies and support - for people to consolidate practise as well as to take personal and artistic risk.This lack of a youth cultural, was the catalyst for the Flip-Side project. She sees this as an opportunity to nurture the individual voice that everyone possesses and the way in which dance can build foundational skills that transcend into everyday life. Cadi comments that “youth dance didn’t really exist” when she was younger and that this would have been a formative experience.Cadi is a generous and open-person, with so much enthusiasm and insight into dance-making and the body. I really appreciated the way she views choreography and highlights the importance of nurturing and providing space for people to play and explore.

Aparna was born in Chennai, India, into a very musical family. Formal training started “quite late at 15” but the joy of moving started long before then, and she remembers dancing around to ABBA music. She would run home from school, to catch the two hours of Western music on a radio station, kick her sister out of the room and just enjoying moving. Aparna explored classical Indian styles of dance as well as Western, joining a school that offered a wide variety of classes. She acknowledges this as a strength of her early years of dance, explaining that dance is “vast for me”, describing her style as a “global fusion”. After 12 years of dancing in the company in India, she travelled to New York at the age of 27 supported by a scholarship. Aparna remembers a period in New York, three weeks into the company of wanting “to pack it in” and return home. It was one of the many times of self reflection and growth, her relationship to dance being tested. Acknowledging that while they are highly uncomfortable, she recognises the value and strength in reflecting and checking in. “I treat dance is like a relationship” and sees it as a time to “to be by myself and with myself”. High Kicks is a youth ensemble founded, in 2011, with a focus on empowerment, challenging boundaries and the diversity of dance. The company has recently shifted from being an all girls collective, to being inclusive of anyone who identifies as female, as well people who gender-diverse or gender fluid. Aparna acknowledged the need for this shift to ensure that everyone feel included and able to dance in a safe space. She imparts the importance of everyone’s individual journey, and states the important truth of “just because they know something you don’t , doesn’t mean that you don’t know anything.” Aparna is a generous, enthusiastic and reflective person who was an absolute pleasure to interview. Her honesty and genuineness was infectious and the way she talked about dancing was highly inspiring. Aparna’s commitment to dance and the significance of moving and being with other people is affirming. Being able to talk with someone liked minded and excited about dance, just reinforces why we do what we do.

Isabella Stone is a contemporary dance performer, choreographer, and teacher. Isabella believes in the power of movement and performance to connect, communicate, transform and inspire people and communities through performance experiences.Based in Perth, Isabella is a graduate of the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (2009) and LINK Dance Company (2010). As a performer, Isabella has worked for Maxima Circus Catch!, Thomas ES Kelly Junjeiri Ballun – Gurul Gaureima, Paul Blackman and Christine Gouzelis (Jukstapoz) Fragile Matter, and many more. Isabella participated in extensive research residencies in Tasmania (T.R.I.P Tasdance), Finland (JoJo Dance Festival), Bilbao (ACTFestival) and Bundanon, as well as workshops nationally and internationally. Teaching has become an integral part of Isabella’s development as an artist, with a strong focus on working with youth. Isabella cherishes the role young people have played, in her ambition to remain curious and always learning while teaching. In 2019, Isabella became a member of Tasdance, performing in MONA FOMA and creating new solo work for Junction Arts Festival, and performed with Maxima Circus in the season Catch!Isabella is a very kind and hopeful person. She trusts that by the time she is 50, she will be at the peak of her creative and physical abilities. This was quite an eye-opener for me as I have never really thought about my life at that age. As a young dancer, it was a pleasure to interview her as it made me realise what keeps drawing me towards dance.

Vicki Van Hout is an Indigenous independent choreographer with Wiradjuri, Dutch, Scottish, and Afghan heritage. Originally desiring a career in theatre, she was encouraged to join NAISDA Dance College (National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association Dance College). Before entering she was not interested in learning the traditional dances and was more interested in contemporary techniques, this soon changed as she realised both the significant and performative elements of the more traditional dance styles. After studying at NAISDA, Vicki left for New York on a scholarship to study at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance.During these formative years Vicki’s life intersected with the punk scene, she lived as a squatter at the Woolloomooloo Gunnery, and also worked for Tish and Snooky's Manic Panic a punk and hair dye store.Upon returning to Australia Vicki danced for a range of dance companies including Bangarra Dance Theatre, and the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre, before working with Marilyn Miller with Fresh Dancers. With the support of friends she developed her own choreographic voice, and her show Briwyant, became the first performance by an independent First Nations choreographer to tour nationally, while also being nominated for an Australian Dance Award for Achievement in Independent Dance.Vicki recently won The Australia Council Award for Dance, recognising her significant contribution to dance and her career that has spanned over 20 years. She was also awarded the 2014 NSW Dance Fellowship for established and mid-career artists – the first Indigenous winner of the Fellowship. Finally, Vicki is studying for her PhD but admits that she needs to spend more time writing it. She currently writes for Form Dance Projects.This interview covers so much of Vicki’s work. She speaks particularly about Long Grass, a powerful work that explores the lives of Aboriginal people living on the fringes of Darwin; on the fringes of society, yet in the middle of a city. Vicki then speaks of her work plenty serious TALK TALK, which uses humour to break down and explore barriers and issues related to the representations of First Nations people within dance and society more broadly. plenty serious TALK TALK will be presented as part of YIRRAMBOI Festival.

“I want us to all be held responsible for watching what is happening on stage, as opposed to 'I can't see the person next to me. And so therefore, it doesn't matter'. Actually, I want us to all take part in what I'm putting on stage and be responsible and have thoughts about that. If we do that, then we're having a bigger conversation about what has actually on our stage today.”