In Wollongong, NSW on 17th & 18th May 2024, AUSTI. Dance and Physical Theatre launches their 2024 season, bringing two new pieces choreographed by French-born artist Cloé Fournier and Artistic Director Michelle Maxwell to the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre. The season includes 2 evening performances commencing at 8pm. The performance runs for one hour in duration with no interval. Tickets and information about the performance can be found at www.ipac.org.au.
This Much Is True. Photo Credit ChildrenOfTheRevolution
French-born Sydney-based Cloé Fournier’s work Rien & other nothings explores the concept of “nothing”. Fascinated by this word which constantly contradicts itself, Cloé Fournier's Rien & other nothings is the result of physical, intellectual, psychological and emotional enquiry. Space. Time. Absence of. Searching for what will never be known…Silence. One step. Two steps. And a big black void. "I’d stimulate the dancers' imagination, guiding them go beyond the steps...until nothing became something…" - Cloé Fournier, Choreographer.
AUSTI’s Artistic Director Michelle Maxwell returns from a 3-year choreographic hiatus with UnFiltered. Created collaboratively with the AUSTI. Dance and Physical Theatre 2024 performing artists, UnFiltered explores the evolution of gossip, and its profound impact on society, from survival mechanisms to the stigmatisation of women in today's world. Rumours, Speculation, Hearsay. The complexities of communication have an enduring influence on our collective consciousness. Michelle says
“After a three-year creative hiatus, working with a group of emerging artists willing to contribute so freely to the creative process has been a pleasure. I love that we have created something very different from my previous works, and I look forward to sharing this light-hearted piece with the Illawarra and the greater arts community.”
Michelle’s creative practice historically reflects real-life situations, world events, or personal experiences. Clearly reflected in her choreographic history, including works based on subjects as diverse as the New York subway, Neuroplasticity, waiting for a bus in Kenya, and life in the Gaza Strip.
Her body of choreographic work for AUSTI. Dance and Physical Theatre includes; While We Wait (2012), Critical Shift (2013), REWYRED (2014), LOCKEDIN (2015), Odyssey (2016), EnTrance (2018), Life Interrupted (2019) and Sifting (2021).
ABOUT AUSTI. Dance and Physical Theatre:
AUSTI. is the Illawarra’s only pre-professional company for elite contemporary dancers aged 17-25 years. The company has received many accolades including the 2011 Sydney Fringe Festival (SFF) Most Outstanding Dance Production; 2018 SFF Critics Choice Award and an AUSDANCE Australian Dance Awards nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Youth Dance. AUSTI. builds strong, confident artists through passion and commitment. Their unique program is a progressive and accessible stepping-stone for young artists entering the professional industry, providing professional training and skills development through exposure to a diversity of national and international artists.