Education
PhD University of Sydney, Dept of Performance Studies (2011, under examination)
MA New York University, Dept of Performance Studies (2006)
BA (Hons 1) University of Adelaide, Dance Dept (1999)
BFA New York University, Dept of Drama (Theatre Design) (1997)
Research Areas
intercultural performance
Asian-Australian performance
contemporary dance, movement theory
design for performance
hybrid arts practices
space, mobility and performance
performance and the city
Awards and Scholarships
Australian Postgraduate Award, University of Sydney (2007-10)
Australia Council for the Arts, Dance Board, New Work Grant (2007)
Performance Studies Award, New York University (2006)
Ian Potter Cultural Trust Grant (2005)
Outlet Dance Award (2001)
Helpmann Academy Grant (2000)
Tisch School of the Arts Alumni Scholarship, New York University (1995-97)
Dissertations
“In the In-between.” PhD diss., University of Sydney, 2011.
Abstract: Caught in a space between a body’s habitual moves and something new, we perform strange and sometimes unexpected manoeuvres. Asked to walk in the shoes of another, to embody a new form of cultural performance, or to occupy the transit spaces of global mobility, the normally second nature way in which we perform our bodies gives way to more fluid, multiple, and confusing performances of self. These in-between moves—moments of being “out of place” or even “out of body”—are examined in this thesis as performances of interculturality.
Tracing developments in intercultural performance scholarship within the broader performance studies field, I argue for greater accounting of what it is, in embodied terms, to perform in the in-between. Patrice Pavis (1996) suggests that intercultural performance is most meaningful when it is conceived as intercorporeal work; but what kinds of intercorporealities (and intracorporealities) do performers experience in moments where they encounter their own possibility for cultural variation or change? I argue that scholarship in the field tends to implicitly conceive of the theatrical stage as the zone of cultural interaction, a construction which situates the corporealities of performers as representations of reified cultures. Rather than a recognisable genre of theatrical performance, I propose that “intercultural” and “performance” are discourses, or proposed frameworks for thinking about the world, which can usefully challenge assumptions contained within each other.
Organised in three parts, the thesis explores performance examples from locative art (Janet Cardiff) and tourism (Soundwalk), contemporary dance (Akram Khan, Ade Suharto), and everyday life (travel in the airport). The project draws on theory from a wide range of disciplines (including performance and dance studies, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, human geography, and cultural and postcolonial studies) to argue for a rethinking of the embodiment of in-betweenness as a kind of intercultural performing, and for this to be thought via fundamental relations to being a body in space and time.
“Interplay: An exploration of design-dance collaboration in twentieth century Western performance dance.” BA(Hons) diss., University of Adelaide, 1999.
Selected Publications – Peer-reviewed Journal Articles
“Ruminations While (Audio)Walking: Time, Place, and the Body.” Extensions Journal 5: Performing Space and Place. (Jul 2009)
Selected Publications - Reviews & Interviews
“Investing in Dance Screen: at EMPAC and Dance on Camera, New York.” RealTime 89 (2009): 25.
“Seeing the light: Interview with Geoff Cobham.” Dance Australia. Dec/Jan (2004): 40-41.
“Ignition 3.” Dance Australia. Feb/Mar (2003): 60-61.
“The Age of Unbeauty: Australian Dance Theatre.” Dance Australia. Apr/May (2002): 56-57.
“Ignition 2.” Dance Australia. Dec/Jan (2001): 60-61.
“Attention Deficit Therapy: Australian Dance Theatre.” Dance Australia. Jun/Jul (2001): 53-54.
Conference Presentations
“Being and Performing in Non-place: Notes From the Airport.” Australasian Association of Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies Conference – Stripping Bare, Canberra, June–July 2010 (honourable mention, Veronica Kelly Prize).
“A View From the Bridge: A Dialogic Practice” (with Ade Suharto). World Dance Alliance Global Summit – Conversations across cultures, artforms and practices, Brisbane, July 2008.
“A View From the Bridge: Intercultural Performance-Making.” PSi #13 Conference – Happening, Performance, Event, New York, November 2007.
“Audiowalking and the performance of interculturality.’” Australasian Association of Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies Conference – Extreme State: Issues of Scale – political, performative, emotional, Melbourne, July 2007.
see Projects for a list of Selected Creative Works
Affiliations
Performance Studies International; Australasian Association of Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies.
