We are proud to present the 2024-25 Be Bold Residency artists:

  • Task at Hand with Artistic Directors Carmen Maddison and Stephen PhillipsPerforming Arts, Theatre
  • Jennie Swain and Nela Trifkovic Music
  • Amelia Minh Vu with collaborators Bia Lupiga, Lana Wang, Phillip PhamDance

The Bowery Theatre Residency program enables artists and arts organisations to make and present work with and for the Brimbank community. Discover new and innovative projects in theatre, dance and community cultural development.

As part of the residency program, the selected artists will have a safe presentation space to take risks and shape new works. They will be provided with financial, professional and creative development and in kind support.

Artists

Task at Hand

Task at Hand with Artistic Directors Carmen Maddison and Stephen Phillips

From Street to Stage: The Places In-Between

Theatre

Task at Hand (TAH) residency will see the creation of a bold new work The Places In-Between that blurs the lines between street and theatrical performance in the Bowery Theatre but also a work that engages the local community and activates the STACC Foyers, spaces, and surrounding outdoor precincts as performers spill out from the stage onto the street.

TAH will explore ways to push perceived physical limits by interacting with the spaces in extraordinary ways. They will examine how spaces become sets, how audiences become performers, and how performers become audiences ultimately challenging the audience to wonder who is performing and who is not. In return, they will begin to question the performance we put on in our public and private worlds as we navigate the places in between. This is especially relevant post-COVID when we now share so much of what was at a time very private aspects of our lives.

The residency will also see them explore and expand the capabilities of their IEM (In Ear Monitoring System) which is designed to provide live direction to performers allowing for spontaneous, unified, and supported improvisation on stage and in public spaces. The crossover of theatrical and street performance is an exciting contribution to both genres and contemporary performance-making.


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Jennie Swain and Nela Trifkovic

Be/Longing Between Mountains

Music

Jennie and Nela come together with many years of singing, composing, teaching, choir and musical direction. Known and loved for the warmth, dynamism and heart they invest in their work with community groups, they are asking each other and community participants these questions:

Belonging - When and where have you felt a sense of Belonging?
Be
- What does it mean to be yourself? Is it safe for you to be who you are?
Longing-
What do you long for? Is it safe to feel or act on that ‘longing’?
Between Mountains -
What are the metaphorical mountains that you are between? Languages, ages, ideologies, parents, genders, musical tones?
What’s it like to be in between?

What is a beautiful voice? Who sets the tone?
Why does Western music have a historical problem with certain intervals? What will happen if we sing the devil's tritone?
Where’s the line between singing and wailing?

The workshops will explore embodied voice, tone and vocal sound-making in diverse cultural contexts, explore harmonies, learn new and traditional songs, discuss ideas, metaphors and writing.

The performance of Be/Longing Between Mountains will be a culmination of this exploration, inviting the audience to be a part of a ritual of song and belonging.

Artist Website
Without Words Artists

Amelia Minh Vu with collaborators Bia Lupiga, Lana Wang, Phillip Pham

Without Words

Dance

Without Words is a performance that transforms dance into a wordless language, vividly narrating the journey of a person grappling with the profound challenges of communication and self-expression. In a society where communication barriers can leave individuals feeling marginalised and helpless, this performance illuminates its personal struggles, offering a powerful story of self-discovery and acceptance.

Amelia Minh Vu is a Vietnamese-Australian dancer based in the Western suburbs of Melbourne. Since beginning her dance journey in 2021, she has grown her connection to the Melbourne street dance community, teaching classes, creating dance films, and has explored various dance art forms including hip hop and popping. With her profound passion in the arts as a whole, she endeavours to venture into more dance art forms and explore creative performative aspects with dance/movement. Her continuing passion is to create innovative multimedia works that inspire audiences to indulge and create art themselves.

Artist Website

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