Dancers leap ‘Out of the Studio’

Out of the Studio is a new dance project being offered by Sydney’s DirtyFeet for emerging choreographers and dancers to get a leg up.

DirtyFeet is a not-for-profit contemporary dance organisation run by artists. DirtyFeet Producers Anthea Doropoulos and Sarah Fiddaman usually perform in the company’s works, but this time they are stepping off the stage to make way for new early-career artists to showcase their work.

Two choreographers will present first drafts of their dance works at Shopfront Contemporary Arts & Performance in March. The first, Rob McCredie is redeveloping work that he began in DirtyFeetʼs “Choreographic Lab” program. McCredie’s new work will explore ideas of freedom and restriction. Within a set framework the dancers are given the licence to play flexibly with their timing, relationships to each other, and relationship to the audience.

The second choreographer, Winston Churchill Fellow Sarah-Vyne Vassallo, is creating an integrated dance piece with four dancers, two of whom identify themselves as having a disability. Vassallo comes from a background of working with artists with disability and says that Out of the Studio is the perfect opportunity to pursue her passion: “…really itʼs just about finding creative ways to work with difference. And, whilst itʼs a challenge, itʼs actually a passion of mine as well. Itʼs become something that I feel much more natural doing than if I was working in a room full of…trained classical dancers.”

Out of the Studio will be presented Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22 at 7 p.m. at Shopfront Contemporary Arts & Performance, located at 88 Carlton Parade, Carlton, Sydney. Tickets are now available at $15 an adult and $10 for concessions. DirtyFeeters and children under 12 are free. To book tickets, head to http://www.trybooking.com/73551.

Photo by Hayley Rose Photography.