Lizzie Vilmanis

August Update

2011-08-14T03:08:00.000-07:00

Greetings from cold dreary Adelaide (well apart from today where the sun came out and I defrosted a little bit!). What am I doing in Adelaide?
Well, currently I'm working with Leigh Warren and Dancers for their season in the Oz Asia Festival of "Dreamscape". Learning Jiri Kylian's "Dreamtime" which has been a bit challenging as it's much more classical than the work I have done lately. This week ahead we have Elka coming over from NDT which should be quite an amazing experience. Possibly a little bit scary as I am performing the part in the piece which she once performed herself!
At the same time we are remounting "Maria De Buenos Aires" for the Brisbane Festival. I am quite enjoying revisiting the tango choreography as it feels a little less foreign this time - though I do miss being able to dance with my husband in the work. Chris Aubrey is doing a fabulous job as Zaimon's replacement in the work though so I am lucky.
I'm also teaching dance classes at Gravity Dance Studios and community class for Leigh Warren and Dancers.
Recently I found out that I have been successful with my application to do the Ausdance QLD Choreographic Laboratory in October/November this year so I'm excited about that!
In other news, Brisbane Dance Artists Hub (BDAH) has successfully initiated Pro Dance Classes Brisbane and professional level dance classes commence on Tuesday mornings and Thursday evenings this week - so happy to have been involved in getting these classes up and running and hoping that they can continue so Brisbane Independent Dancers have the opportunity to maintain their technique on a regular basis.
For now, I must get back to grant writing ... but I'll leave you with a little snippet of footage from "Inhabited" - my solo for EDC's "Solo - A Festival of Dance".

A bit of this ... a bit of that ...

2011-07-18T04:22:00.000-07:00

Gosh, well it has been far too long since I last posted on my blog! 2011 has been an exciting year so far. I have enjoyed working on quite a few different dance projects and even did a short course in web design.
In April/May, I was commissioned by EDC to create and perform a solo for their season of "Solo - A Festival of Dance". It was a fantastic opportunity and a perfect little challenge to push myself that little bit further outside of my comfort zone. I was also fortunate to be able to collaborate with Ryadan Jeavons who created original music for me to dance my solo to.
In March this year I received a scholarship from SCOPE to do a short course in web design through Dynamic Web Training. It was so great to be creative in a different way and I discovered that I did in fact have many transferable skills from my dancing that were useful for web design. Now it's a matter of finding the time in between everything else that I do to be able to put my new skills into action!
This year I have also forged forward with Brisbane Dance Artists Hub (BDAH) ... initiating the first meeting in person for the group in May. The group is currently looking to set up regular ongoing professional level classes in Brisbane.
I also worked for Ausdance QLD helping to organise some of the Australian Dance Awards (being held in Brisbane this year!). This was a great experience from which I learned so much about the behind the scenes organisation of such a big event.
Currently I'm working with Leigh Warren and Dancers learning Jiri Kylian's "Dreamtime". It's challenging to learn an old NDT piece for many reasons - one of which is because it's very balletic and I haven't really done ballet in a very long time, the other is because everyday we watch beautiful NDT dancers make the movement look so easy when it's actually not! We perform this for the Oz Asia Festival in September in Adelaide. After this we remount "Maria De Buenos Aires" for the Brisbane Festival in mid September.
Amongst all of this I danced for electropop duo, Edge of Colour's new single "Tokyo" and have been doing lots of dance teaching around Brisbane.
Work with Zaimon Vilmanis and Ryadan Jeavons hasn't finished ... we are still looking to expand upon the developments of "A Likely Distrust" that we started through a Fresh Ground Residency supported by the Judith Wright Centre and Arts Queensland.
So what's next after LWD? Well, there's a few things in the pipeline, but as to be expected ... none of them are confirmed yet ... so anything could happen!

Where am I? What am I doing?

2010-10-07T03:14:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately it has been a while since I last wrote a blog entry. It has been a time of planning and of identifying goals I want to achieve in the future.
I am currently in the process of applying for a Brisbane City Council Lord Mayor's Young and Emerging Artists Fellowship to gain new knowledge, experience the working practices of a well known choreographer, and hopefully discover new devices to guide the development of my own choreographic processes and identity. So if you haven't seen much of me, I have disappeared into the abyss of grant writing ... but never fear, I will re-surface soon!
Right now I am also working with Leigh Warren and Dancers for "Maria De Buenos Aires" in collaboration with the State Opera of South Australia. It's fantastic to be learning some of the basics of how to Tango and to be involved in the creation of the dance material for the show. Working in heels, took a little getting used to, but believe it or not I actually ended up asking for the 2.75 inch heels instead of the 2.5 inch ones ... crazy I know! Working with the opera singers is lots of fun, though I still haven't improved my singing ability!
I'm also busy creating a solo work for the South Australian Children's Ballet Company Silver Gala season in November. It will be a wonderful chance to give back to the company that inspired me to become a dancer when I was a young girl.
As a participant in the SCOPE program I am putting together an action plan for my future and it's really exciting to be taking steps to achieve my long term goals.
Together with Zaimon and Ryadan, we have still been meeting up to continue making plans for further development of "A Likely Distrust" ... hopefully we will be able to do a second stage development of this project soon.
A few weeks ago I gave a contemporary class for the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts' Adelaide Audition. It was certainly nice to be on the other side of an audition for a change!

I will endeavour to make more regular blog entries and keep you updated on my adventures in coming months. For now, I must return to fine tuning my fellowship proposal ... if only I had the training in writing that I have in dancing too!

Dance Informa Review of the Helpmann 100 Centenary Scholarship

2010-08-06T23:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a link the the Dance Informa review of the Helpmann 100 Centenary Scholarship.

http://www.danceinforma.com/EZINE16_Helpmann.html

Brisbane Dance Artists Hub

2010-06-04T05:35:00.000-07:00

If you are an Independent Dance Artist in Brisbane check out the group page on Facebook. Let's start communicating with each other and set the wheels in motion for a better dance future!

How did "A Likely Distrust" go?

2010-06-04T05:19:00.001-07:00

Well it has been a while since I last wrote on my blog and I do apologise! It has been a very busy few months.

"A Likely Distrust" was a "Fresh Ground" residency from the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts which allowed Zaimon Vilmanis, Ryadan Jeavons and myself to collaborate and explore the integration of multimedia with live performance. It was a fantastic four week project where all three of us were able to build on our collaborative language and start new processes for creating work that integrates multimedia with live performance. One of our motto's for the project was to "stop worrying about the effect of this project on future projects". This was very challenging for us but helped us to free our minds to create new ideas and to go further with those ideas than we would have had we censored ourselves and been too focused on creating a final production.

Our showings of some of the things that we came up with during our residency were extremely useful in providing critical feedback for us to take into consideration for our next endeavour. Asking specific questions about what the audience saw in our showings and what resonated with them proved much more useful than the usual post showing forums that chat about the process.

We are excited by the possibilities of where we can go next with what we have discovered and achieved from this residency. How refreshing it was to be supported by the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts who provided us with the freedom to really experiment with our ideas!

Check out "A Likely Distrust" facebook fan page and/or www.zaimonvilmanis.com to view videos and find out more about the project.

What's In Store for 2010?

2010-01-10T21:47:00.000-08:00

So what is in store for 2010 you ask?

My Summer Dance Classes at QUT will finish up on the 12th of January, ready for me to start back with Leigh Warren and Dancers in Adelaide for "Frame and Circle" which will be performed at the Space Theatre at the Adelaide Festival Centre from the 10-14 of March as part of the Adelaide Festival. I'll then return to Brisbane to commence working with my husband, Zaimon Vilmanis for a short term residency as part of the Fresh Ground Program at the Judith Wright Centre in Fortitude Valley to develop the project "A Likely Distrust". To keep an eye on this project check out www.zaimonvilmanis.com. In amongst these projects will no doubt be bits of teaching in both Adelaide and Brisbane too.

In May, or maybe even before, I'll update you again on more that's in store for the year.

Hoping you have had a delightful Christmas and have commenced this New Year being happy and healthy!

Summer Dance Classes at QUT

2009-11-22T17:40:00.000-08:00

Update August 2009

2009-08-15T22:15:00.000-07:00

To all who came and supported us in the Tribute Performance to Yvonne Daunt ... thank you! It was a truly wonderful opportunity to create and perform a new dance work. Thank you Sybella for making such an afternoon a reality and for your incredible support to the Performing Arts industry. "Forgotten Interlude" was well received and Zaimon and I are gearing up to extend the piece slightly and perform it in Brisbane for Ausdance QLD's Bell Tower II series on the 5th of October, 2009.

So what am I doing now? Currently I'm in Adelaide working with Leigh Warren and Dancers and we're about to embark on a three week tour of "Seven" to Queanbeyan, Sydney and Wagga Wagga. For more information on Leigh Warren and Dancers and our performance schedule please go to http://lwd.com.au It's great to be back in a company environment for a while, working with some new people and tackling new challenges.

Tribute to Yvonne Daunt

2009-05-06T07:03:00.000-07:00

Sybella Blencowe has decided to commission a short dance work in memory of her Aunt - the amazing pioneer of modern dance, Yvonne Daunt. This tribute provides the opportunity for young choreographers to create a work to showcase. The tribute performance will take place on July 5th 2009, in Adelaide. For more information please go to www.yvonnedaunt.webs.com
I am excited to be performing in this tribute performance alongside Zaimon Vilmanis ... thank you Sybella!

This Is How It's Done

2009-05-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

Want to see what you can get up to if you start doing dance classes? Please check out "This Is How It's Done" by Mad Dance House at the Gardens Point Theatre, Brisbane, on May 16, 2009! Go to www.maddance.com.au for more details.

"Medico Manoeuvres"

2009-03-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

Well I've just returned to Brisbane from a five week project - "Medico Manoeuvres" with Leigh Warren and Dancers in Adelaide, South Australia. This project was part of the Arts In Health programme at Flinders Medical Centre and involved dancing throughout different areas of the hospital, investigating the effects that dance can have on patients, staff and visitors. It was an amazing project to be involved in and one that I am so glad I was able to be a part of. Before commencing the project I must admit even I was sceptical about whether dance would have a huge impact on people residing within the hospital but now having seen the positive results with my own eyes I am greatly and pleasantly surprised.

So what exactly did we do?

With information gathered from a similar dance research project at Flinders Medical Centre last year, and in consultation with Sally - the Arts In Health Coordinator at the hospital, Leigh Warren in collaboration with the dancers, created some dances and structured improvisations to perform in different areas of the hospital. Sometimes we danced through the wards, sometimes in waiting rooms. Other times we danced in the cafeteria, or staff lunch room and even in the large outside courtyard. At times we surprised people and at other times the viewers knew we were coming.

What reactions to our dancing did we encounter?

Mostly we received positive reactions to our dancing. Patients eyes would light up and smiles moved across their faces even if at first they were unsure of how to react. Staff found themselves with something a little different to talk about and some would even start dancing themselves. Often tension within the space we were performing seemed to dissipate, leaving people more relaxed and ready to tackle the events of the day which lay ahead. Occasionally a patient would cry, quite simply because the dancing had helped them release emotions which they had been bottling up inside. Once in a while someone would pretend not to notice us/ignore us, but it seemed more often than not that they couldn't help themselves and by the end of us moving through the area where they were they were watching us with their full attention.

What did I learn?

I discovered just how powerful dance can be! And ... how much I love it because of that. To see, hear, and feel the positive impact it had on so many people in the hospital was truly magnificent. I felt I grew not only as a dancer but also as a person.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-03T03:03:00.000-08:00

Who can believe it? 2009 is here already ... where did 2008 go?

This year may see some new dance shaping up in Australia with Natalie Weir becoming the new Artistic Director of Expressions Dance Company in Brisbane and Artistic Directorship of Sydney Dance Company being taken over by Rafael Bonachelo. No doubt these shifts in direction for both of those companies will be exciting for both the company members and for dance audiences and enthusiasts. It seems Dance North is also seeking a new Artistic Director after the resignation of Gavin Webber, but the decision has not yet been made on who it will be. Not only this but each New Year brings about new dance collectives and independant dance artists who also mark their own stamps on the dance scene.

I am looking forward to doing some projects this year with Leigh Warren and Dancers as well as a few of my own projects and hopefully some projects with or for some of my friends. It will be stimulating to work with new people and in different ways to that which I am used to. As my motto goes "What's life without a challenge to make it interesting?". I am certainly sure that I will encounter many challenges in the year ahead which I actually look forward to so that I can push myself to achieve more.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year - may 2009 bring with it everything that you dreamt of!

Current dance shows to have a look at.

2008-11-13T04:34:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately I don't have a lot to report on my own dance ventures lately, however, I have been out and about seeing a few shows that are on in Brisbane. If you get the chance go and check out Sydney Dance Company doing "Sid's Waltzing Masquerade" at the Playhouse or Circa's "Furioso" at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts. I really enjoyed both of these performances and was excited to see the good results of new creative influences within those companies.

Also coming up is "The Opposite of Prompt" a collaboration between Brian Lucas and Phluxus Dance Collective at the Judith Wright Centre (26-29 Nov) and The Belltower II Series 2008 in the theatre rehearsal room at the Judith Wright Centre (27, 28 Nov).

Elbow Room Update

2008-08-31T02:12:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we enter into the third week of the project. Things seem to be going well for this point in the process. We have been given many tasks and created quite a bit of new dance material and Lisa has then worked on this material and has been playing with where it should sit within the piece. We have also been working closely with Jennifer Flowers (Dramaturg) who has offered new ways to approach the emotional content of the dance material and who challenges us all to move outside of our comfort zones and to work to the very lengths of our capabilities.
It is great to be working with a group of people all dedicated to their art form and to this project.

"Elbow Room" is now advertised in "Metro Moves". To view the Metro Moves publication for September - December 2009 please click on the following link
http://www.ausdance.org.au/qld/metromoves/MetroMoves10.pdf
"Metro Moves" advertises many dance performances that are on around Brisbane so check it out to see what dance performances are coming up!

"Elbow Room"

2008-08-13T05:35:00.000-07:00

Next week - August 18th - sparks the beginning of rehearsals for "Elbow Room" by the 'space_between collective'. I am looking forward to getting back into the studio and into further creation of this piece.

Welcome!

2008-07-29T04:02:00.000-07:00

Thank you for visiting my website.

I hope to use this blog page as a way for those who are interested to get some insight into what I'm doing.

Right now I'm applying for a "Realise Your Dream" award offered by the British Council. I heard about this opportunity one day when I was listening to the Triple J radio station and thought it would could be a wonderful way to enable me to fulfil some of the ultimate dancing goals that I have. I hope to be given the chance to dance with some truly amazing dance companies in the United Kingdom, to experience how they work and to learn new skills to enhance my own dance practice. Contemporary dance is about being current, of the present day, and about discovering the 'new' dance. Therefore, as a dance artist, I believe that it is imperative to try and constantly become more proficient in the art form. Through experiencing different dance practises and by exchanging knowledge between myself and other dance practitioners I intend to expand my expertise within the dance field.

I'm interested in finding out what it is that audiences enjoy about dance performances and what elements they would like to see at future performances. What is there that I can try to do in future dance projects to cater to the interests of the general public to increase the Australian dance population?

My next project is coming up next month (August) and will involve working with an ex-colleague of mine - Lisa Wilson. The project "Elbow Room" will expand upon a pre-existing duet which she choreographed at the end of last year and will emenate in a work in progress showing at the Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm, QLD Australia at the end of September. I am looking forward to working with Lisa again and to collaborating with the other three dancers as well as many other professional artists who will be part of the project.

I will endeavour to report about some of my experiences here on my blog so if you are interested, please continue to check my websites for updates.