Ghenoa Gela wins Keir Choreographic Award

The Keir Foundation, Carriageworks and Dancehouse with the Australia Council have announced the recipient of the 2016 Keir Choreographic Award as Sydney-based choreographer and performer from Torres Strait Islands, Ghenoa Gela.

The award was announced following remarkable finals performances led by talented choreographers who are representative of a vibrant community who aim to expand the capacity of dance. The top four finalists, Rebecca Jensen, Sarah Aiken, Ghenoa Gela and Martin Hansen, presented their commissioned works for the KCA over three nights at Carriageworks to Sydney audiences.

The prestigious international and local jury nominated Ghenoa Gela as the recipient of the Keir Choreographic Award for 2016, the second edition of Australia’s first choreographic award launched in 2014. The KCA is the only award in Australia that supports the commissioning and presentation of new choreographic work promoting innovative, experimental and cross-art form practice in contemporary dance.

The jury included Bojana Cvejić (Belgrade), a performance theorist and performance maker based in Brussels; Pierre Bal-Blanc, Documenta 14 curator and independent art critic based in Athens and Paris; U.S.-based choreographer Sarah Michelson; inaugural recipient of the KCA in 2014, Atlanta
Eke; and Phillip Keir, Keir Foundation founder.

Keir awarded Ghenoa with the accolade and a $30,000 cash prize. Plus, to her overwhelming surprise, he bestowed a further $10,000 cash prize for the audience choice award. He commented, “It is fantastic to see new innovative works take to the stage. The inventiveness of all the works stands without question and points to the health of contemporary dance in Australia.” 

Carriageworks Director Lisa Havilah said, ‘’Supporting artists and the making of new work is at the heart of the Carriageworks Artistic Program and we are delighted to support and nurture the next generation of choreographers. Congratulations to all the commissioned artists and to the extraordinary Ghenoa Gela for her incredible work, a very worthy winner. ”

Dancehouse Artistic Director Angela Conquet said, “Looking at what these works investigate, we may be looking at the future of dance. All works seem to explore the moving body as thinking, embodied matter – positioned at the intersection of time and history; of space and the politics of their context; of the inner self and our ensconcement in social media.”

Ghenoa Gela’s work Fragments of Malungoka – Women of the Sea explores what her female ancestry means to her as a Mainland-born Torres Strait Islander woman. By sharing her culture with an ensemble of non-Torres Straight women, Gela integrates traditional influences with contemporary movement and technology.

She said, “I believe these awards are invaluable for the contemporary dance scene in Australia. The notion that eight new works have been commissioned and multiple artists have been employed through the award is very inspiring for the sector. I am overwhelmed by the support I have felt throughout this time and am proud that my work was considered as a possible reflection of the current dance climate. Big Esso (thank you) to my parents, from who I learnt the process of sharing our culture. They led the way for me to be passionate about my Torres Strait identity; something I will be able to continue sharing as a recipient of this award.”

Photo (top): Ghenoa Gela with Phillip Keir. Photo (left): Sarah Aiken, Ghenoa Gela, Rebecca Jensen and Martin Hansen. (Both photos by Daniel Boud.) Photo (right): Gela’s Fragments of Malungoka – Women of the Sea. (Photo by Gregory Lorenzutti for Dancehouse.)