- My name is Maisey
Early in September I had the pleasure again of seeing a performance from the Bachelor of Creative Arts second and third year students in Dance from the Adelaide College of the Arts, working together with fellow students in Technical Production & Design.
I wondered, I have to andmit, about the name of the work. Who was Maisey? Well, it seems that one chair, amidst the various chairs that were used in the show, was especially significant. One of the students told me it represented ‘grandma’s chair’ and that the choreographer’s grandma was named Maisey. Later I discovered via the program that this was indeed the case.
Choreographed by Rhiannon McLean, the ‘narrative’ of the work, according to program notes, is: ‘… a reference to time and memory of what we hold in our body as knowledge, what our minds read as fact and what one person might remember over another, in the same place, in the same room, at the same time.’
I’m not quite sure what the purpose of the chairs was but I suspect, since all the chairs were different, they represented individuals present and past? But I particularly enjoyed one section—an expressive fight over a chair, danced by the two male dancers in the group.
All things considered, the work was beautifully danced by all, whether they were performing singly, in a group, or with another dancer in a duet. It is always a thrill, too, to see the way in which the Adelaide College dancers and technical students work so well together. A terrific training experience for future professional careers.
- BOLD 2026
Liz Lea established the BOLD Festival in Canberra in 2017 and went on to present further BOLD events in 2019, 2022 and 2024. BOLD celebrates the legacy of dance in all cultures, and from dancers of all abilities and generations. This year, 2026, BOLD is partnering with the Craft + Design Canberra Festival and, as a result, the focus is on dance and design with further emphasis on dissent and disability. BOLD 2026 will run from 6-15 November at various venues. It will include a two day symposium at the Canberra Museum and Gallery on 12-13 November and a great range of other events.
The full program is still being finalised but a selection of live performances and films has been publicised. Just as a taster, the Festival will close on 15 November with a triple bill, Being BOLD. Anca Frankenhaeuser, Patrick Harding-Irmer and Chrissie Koltai will present I Thought You Were Dead But Here You Are and Sue Healey will share two of her films, Angels, My Angels, My Glorious Angels, choreographed and performed by Frankenhaeuser, and The Cry of the Whistler, a film about Jane Mortiss—a dancer, artist, naturalist and farmer who battled mental illness through her art. This is the story of her last work.
Stay tuned for further information.
- Press for September 2026
– ‘Choreographer Batchelor investigates Bodenwieser.’ Review of Reviewing a Pedagogy for the Bodenwieser Technique, James Batchelor and colleagues. CBR CityNews, 07 September 2026. Online at this link
– ‘Dancers and audience go ‘All In together.’ Review of All in, Dance Makers Collective and colleagues. CBR CityNews, 25 September 2026. Online at this link
– ‘Vivienne conquers her problems … with cake’. Review of The Whole Cake, Vivienne Rogis. CBR CityNews, 28 September 2026. Online at this link.
MIchelle Potter, 30 September 2026
Featured image: A moment from My name is Maisey, Adelaide College of the Arts, 2026. Photo: © travels by gabi
