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Us And All Of This

Liesel Zink

In a world increasingly defined by rising geopolitical tension, ecological mismanagement, deteriorating labour conditions and social isolation, Liesel Zink’s Us And All Of This offers a rare moment of calm reflection. Bringing together 100 local dancers for a large-scale contemporary performance work, the premiere season is unfolds across three large plot of urban public space, not in the pursuit of profiteering , but in the pursuit of togetherness and communion. The work will take place as a free un-ticketed public performance at Arts Centre Melbourne (Saturday 11 March 1pm & 4pm), Bunjil Place (Saturday 25 March, 6.15 pm, & Sunday 26 March 12:45pm), and Johnstone Park with Geelong Arts Centre (Sunday 2 April, 2pm).

In collaboration with sound artist Lawrence English and dramaturg Martyn Coutts, Liesel is working with a team of core dance artist at each location to devise and teach a series of choreographic and improvisational scores. The 100 participants, of various ages, ethnicities, genders and body types, will be split into small groups in which they collaborate in series of four workshops with the lead dancers. The ultimate outcome will be a meditative and sculptural dance piece spanning roughly 45 minutes.

Us And All Of This explores collectively and assembly as the antithesis of exploitation. It rejects the positioning of humans as something separate to the environment, and challenges the fast-paced, isolated structure of society. In this way, the performers move not on the landscape, but with the landscape, acknowledging our place as one part of a complex ecology. And for the participants, the experience extends beyond the performance itself into a ritual of coming together.

Us And All Of This forges a space for a diverse collection of people to gather, to learn, and to embody their shared resistance to an atomised way of life. It is not only a performance but a process; an exercise in the gentle act of shared creation.

Credits

A Betty Amsden Participation Program
Arts Centre Melbourne presents
Us And All Of This by Liesel Zink
Produced by Performing Lines
Co-presented with Geelong Arts Centre and Bunjil Place.

 

Creator
Liesel Zink

Dramaturg
Martyn Coutts

Composer
Lawrence English

Community Engagement Manager
Cass Fumi

Assistant Choreographer
Joshua Lowe

Production Manager
Bindi Green

Stage Manager
Natasha Marich

Core Artists (Arts Centre Melbourne)
Ngioka Bunda-Heath
Kyall Shanks
Katrina Rank
Guy Ritani

Core Artists (Bunjil Place)
Jenn Ma
Gülsen Özer
Dee Wong
Hithanjanee Yatawara

Core Artists (Geelong Arts Centre)
Jessica Lessosky
Fiona Luca
Ash Skinner

Local Community Coordinator (Arts Centre Melbourne)
Chafia Brooks

Local Communicty Coordinator (Bunjil Place)
Jess Li

Local Community Coordinator (Geelong Arts Centre)
Cultura

Produced by Performing Lines

Initiated by Arts Centre Melbourne

Lead Artists (February 2021 Development)
Roxanne McDonald, Brian Lucas, Leah Shelton, Hsin-Ju Ely, Joshua Lowe

Lead Artists (October 2020 Development)
Joel Bray, Joshua Lowe, Katina Olsen, Niharika Senapati, Leah Shelton, Ely Hsin-Ju

Developed with the assistance of dancers from
Yellow Wheel

A Betty Amsden Participation Project

Information for Presenters

This work will be developed throughout 2019 and 2020 for premiere in late 2020.

Samantha Butterworth Senior Producer
Marion Potts Executive Producer

Presentation History

2023
Arts Centre Melbourne
Melbourne, VIC
Bunjil Place
Narre Warren, VIC
Geelong Arts Centre
Geelong, VIC

Project Partners & Acknowledgements

Us And All Of This is produced by Performing Lines, commissioned by Arts Centre Melbourne, and has been developed with support from the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body, the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, Ausdance Qld and Besen Family Foundation.

In everything we do, we acknowledge that we live on Aboriginal land and constantly learn from the wisdom of First Peoples.

Where we are and the history that precedes us informs how we work and how we move forward.