Tickets now on sale for ‘Restore’ presented by STRUT Dance and PICA
STRUT Dance and PICA have joined forces to present Restore, a dynamic double bill of contemporary dance that pushes beyond traditional boundaries. Featuring the brand-new West Australian commission CALL by Ainslie Allan and the WA premiere of Mickey by Brooke Stamp, this production explores themes of grief, restoration, and the labour of dance.
In its third iteration, Restore transforms the gallery space into a site for intimate and innovative performance. CALL, created by Boorloo/Perth-based dance artist Ainslie Allan in collaboration with musician Annika Moses and writer Jo Pollitt, offers a repeated call for feeling in response to the destabilisation and rupture of our times. Grounded in the artists’ shared performance improvisation practices, the work seeks tenderness and deep attention amid constant unsettlings. It proposes embodied dis-armouring as a form of resilience, using layered, looped, and live-generated choreography, voice, and writing-as-dancing to engage in ongoing repair and restoration as a communal, active process. Together, Allan, Moses and Pollitt expand the edges of their respective forms, positioning the body as an essential site for listening, healing, and conjuring something greater.
Complementing this is the West Australian premiere of Mickey, an award-winning work by Naarm/Melbourne-based choreographer Brooke Stamp. In Mickey, the hidden and subconscious impulses of a dancer are uncovered as the usually closed space of the rehearsal room is pried open. Spoken-word recordings of Stamp’s inner world are amplified and warped through a feedback loop by experimental composer Daniel Jenatsch, powering her movement. With deep embodied knowledge of dance, Stamp regurgitates and dislocates her practice through psycho-physical release. Every performance is unique and ever-evolving, with the creative process unfolding live in real time as her psyche navigates a labyrinthine balance.
Between artwork and performance, rehearsal and ritual, Restore invites audiences to experience dance from within the gallery space, highlighting innovation and cross-regional collaboration between Western Australia and Victoria.
Restore runs at PICA with the following performances: Wednesday 15 July at 7pm (Preview), Thursday 16 July at 7pm (Opening Night), Friday 17 July at 7pm, and Saturday 18 July at 7pm (Closing Night).
Tickets are now on sale. Don’t miss this powerful exploration of grief, restoration, and the raw labour of contemporary dance.
Mickey (2025) by Brooke Stamp as part of RISING Festival. Photo by Matthew Miceli, courtesy of Performing Space