AGE

What does age mean to young people? How does it define them? Is it just a number? AGE is fresh, raw and honest, tackling the preconceived ideas of what it truly means to be defined, measured and respected by the length of time you’ve spent on this planet.

This new major work assembles twenty five of our junior and senior DRILL company members to create rich stories and observations on contemporary life. We’ve been working with collaborators Elle Evangelista and Risa Muramatsu Ray on this project, injecting their creative ingenuity into the studio alongside local sound designer, Jonathan Dieckfoss.

This work aims to question these inbuilt narratives around age and ageing and illuminates what it means to be a young person right now.

THE IMPORTANT DETAILS…

WHERE: Studio Theatre, Theatre Royal - nipaluna/Hobart

WHEN: Thursday 17th + Friday 18th of August 7pm , Saturday 19th of August 2pm + 7pm

(Schools performance Friday 18th of August at 12pm) More details here.

We can’t wait to have you at our party. This is one for the AGEs. Purchase your tickets via the Theatre Royal website

*Check out Theatre Royal’s dance offer - 20% discount when booking our show, plus at least one other ticket to Sydney Dance Company, Restless Dance Company or MADE – find the discount here

Presented in association with the Theatre Royal, AGE has been assisted through Arts Tasmania and by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Image by DARCIE RICHARDS

COME DANCE, CREATE AND PERFORM WITH DRILL!!

DRILL seeks interest from young people to join our Junior and Senior Companies to participate in the creation and production of AGE, our 2023 major show to be performed at the Theatre Royal, nipaluna/Hobart in August.

Attend our Call Out for performers to see what it's all about!

WHEN: Saturday 18th March 2023

WHERE: Kickstart Arts Creative Living Centre, New Town

TIME: 10am - 12pm for ages 9 - 12

12:30pm - 2:30pm for ages 13 - 25

Visit www.drillperformance.com/callout for all the information on the process timeline, rehearsal schedule and info on the 3 VERY AWESOME choreographers you could be working with. Importantly please register your attendance for the Call Out.

Our Call Out for performers will be co-lead by current Artistic Director Isabella Stone and DRILL’s next Artistic Director Bec Dundas. We encourage you to come along to be introduced to DRILL’s creative process and approach to dance, as well as to the themes and ideas brewing for this years major performance AGE.

No previous dance experience is necessary to be involved and we encourage you to attend and give it a go. The call out does not commit you to the project, it’s a chance to meet us and decide if it is also the right fit for you.

Presented in association with the Theatre Royal, AGE has been assisted through Arts Tasmania and by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Come and See Be Here

Be Here will be performed by DRILL Senior Company members as part of Ten days on the Island this weekend!!

Saturday at 9am + 11am

Sunday at 11am

All performances are free! Find us in St David's Park, corner of Sandy Bay Road and Davey Street, nipaluna/hobart.

We invite you to come and be washed over by the beautiful sound and music made by esteemed local musician Rachel Meyers and share time with us. You will witness half an hour of a chorus of young bodies, as they move together and be still together, through improvised known and imagined landscapes.

We're so lucky to have had the chance to work with the very awesome local dance maker and performer Risa Marumatsu Ray across this project - thanks Risa! 💚

Presented in association with Ten Days on the Island, Be Here has been assisted through Arts Tasmania, the City of Hobart and by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Please note, there is no seating for this 26 minute performance, and audience members will stand or sit on the grass. Feel free to bring a picnic blanket.

And please remember to stay home if you feel unwell.  There will be a photographer and filmmaker documenting the show, please contact us if you would be uncomfortable being filmed or photographed.

Program details available here.

Welcome Bec Dundas - DRILL's Next Artistic Director

The Board of DRILL Performance Inc is delighted to announce the appointment of Bec Dundas as our next Artistic Director. 🔥✨🧡

Bec impressed the national selection panel with her capacity to step into and build the DRILL AD role. She has a deep understanding of what this role entails and a genuine interest in championing youth voice. Her experience is broad, covering choreography, performance, marketing, producing, working with large groups and working with young people in and out of school settings.

Bec is currently working as acting Artistic Director for Stompin, and Associate Producer at Tasdance. She is a passionate and accomplished leader who will confidently build relationships in the south of lutruwita/Tasmania whilst maintaining her strong connections across the state and beyond. We look forward to welcoming Bec and her family when they relocate to nipaluna/Hobart.

Bec will begin the role at the start of May following handover time with Isabella Stone in the months prior.


A message from Bec about starting her role here:

'I am thrilled to be stepping into this role and embarking on a new chapter in nipaluna/Hobart working with an ensemble of wonderful young people. I am incredibly passionate about youth dance culture and its impact on developing young adults and feel that this is the perfect time in my career to positively contribute to that landscape.

This appointment is one that I feel truly privileged to accept and look forward to continuing to provide meaningful dance experiences and creative opportunities at DRILL. '

What amazing things we have to look forward in sharing with Bec!

More about Bec Dundas -

Bec Dundas is a performer, producer, director & educator living in lutruwita, Tasmania. 

Bec studied at Adelaide College of the Arts, completing a Bachelor Dance Performance Degree in 2009. 

As a dancer, Bec has performed with Australian companies Leigh Warren and Dancers, Opera Australia and Tasdance and performed in works by Prue Lang, Frances Rings, Graeme Murphy, Jukstapoz, Liesel Zink, Gabrielle Nankivell and Stephanie Lake. 

Through company work, Bec has been fortunate to tour to international festivals including The Holland Dance Festival, The Oz Asia Festival, Edinburgh Festival & national festivals in Melbourne, Brisbane & Adelaide, broadening Bec’s experience of arts landscapes in unique places. 

Bec has a deep curiosity for cross-pollinating movement forms and engaging with hybrid artists from multiple movement disciplines.

In 2018 Bec began a creative exchange with Finnish artist, Anna-Maria Vaisanen - with visits to and from Tasmania & Finland - resulting in their work premiering at Paikallisliike Festivaali in Kuopio (supported by ITAK) Lonely in the Rain Festival in Joensuu (supported by Salamanca Arts/Arts Tasmania).

Passionate for dance in education, Bec thrives in youth dance contexts. Lecturing in some of Australia’s most highly regarded institutions, including Adelaide College of the Arts, The VCA, WAAPA (LINK) & Brent Street Studios, Bec has had numerous choreographic opportunities and enjoyed nurturing emerging dance artists. 

Through working across marketing in both the arts and tourism industries, Bec has evolved into an artist with a diverse skill set that spans across the spectrum of performing, directing & producing. Working with Junction Arts Festival, Assembly 197 and independently, Bec has co-produced shows for outdoor theatre & in festival environments. This pathway has led Bec to her current position as Associate Producer at Assembly 197 & as owner/operator of her consultancy business, Little Local.

Currently, Bec is the Acting Artistic Director for Stompin Youth Dance & will deliver their major show in March 2023 for Ten Days on the Island Festival. 

Bec continues to work in lutruwita, land of the palawa people & acknowledges that sovereignty has never been ceded. 

📸 by Luelle Images

DRILL to Farewell Artistic Director Isabella Stone

The Board of DRILL Performance Company Inc. today announced that they will farewell Artistic Director Isabella Stone, who is resigning after three outstanding years working with the young people of the company. She will finish her role at the end of March 2023.

DRILL’s Chair, Lesley Graham thanked Isabella and acknowledged her contribution to the company: “Isabella has been an inspirational leader and has been instrumental in raising the profile of the company. While mentoring our young people, Isabella has connected DRILL to an array of artists through creative collaborations and partnerships within our community. Her skill as an artistic director has brought together the ideas and talents of the young people to create many remarkable performance works.”

“Isabella began her journey as our Artistic Director in February of 2020, successfully steering the company through the challenging environment of Covid-19. She has continued to build a strong company culture of acceptance and kindness.”

“The board would like to thank Isabella for the dedication, compassion, and creativity that she has given to making DRILL what it is today: a vibrant and sustainable youth arts company with well-developed relationships in the community, a great reputation for important arts practice and deep engagement with young people.”

Following DRILL’s first performance project of 2023, Isabella will return to Western Australia to be with family and reconnect to her own performance and choreographic practices.

In the coming days DRILL will commence a national call out to recruit a new Artistic Director to lead the company, delivering our 2023 program and including our major performance, AGE, presented at the Theatre Royal.

Image by Gracie-Lee Jean

Premiere of A Call To Arms

A CALL TO ARMS - A Samaya Wives Film

Presented by DRILL Performance Company Inc. and the Bob Brown Foundation

Join us for the premiere of the new short dance film by Internationally regarded dance film artists Pippa and Tara Samaya.  Featuring eight local performers, the making of this film began in January this year between studio practice in nipaluna/Hobart and filming on location within takayna/Tarkine.

The film traverses the landscapes of takayna; from coastline to button grass, to the deep ancient temperate rain forests , exploring through movement, the embodied effects of its landscapes and the sensation of its contrasting strength and fragility. A Call To Arms is a statement made through the body and collective energy – to listen to and to protect these incredible places. 

A Call to Arms originally started as a project for Art for takayna, with conversations beginning in 2019. After postponements, staff changes, and weathering the pandemic, we are extremely excited to be premiering this project of importance and artistic integrity, that could only be achieved through strong partnerships and a huge group effort.

Hear about the making of the film, and from the participants, producers and collaborators about the experience.

A Call To Arms is assisted through Arts Tasmania.

Image by Pippa Samaya

Collective Writing - Collective Dancing

Junior Company perform Collective Writing - Collective Dancing

When: Saturday December 3rd

Where: Hobart Library

Cost: FREE

Please book at https://events.humanitix.com/collective-writing...

Performances at 10:30am, 11:30am and 12:30pm

Book launch and Q&A with the young stars at 1pm

This is a HUGE and ambitious project we have achieved in partnership with local organisation The Story Island Project. Three site specific performances taking up space in the Hobart library celebrating 14 young people's stories imagined, embodied and written!

Please join us!!!

This project is assisted through Arts Tasmania the City of Hobart and is delivered in partnership with The Story Island Project and Libraries Tasmania,

Photo by Gracie-Lee Jean

It’s been a long time coming… finally STILL DROMPIN is here.

In a first for DRILL and Stompin Dance, lutruwita/Tasmania’s youth dance companies, the north and south are coming together for 3 big days of dancing, connecting and creating at Assembly197 in Launceston!

The two companies will spend time getting to know each other and learning from local pros from Hobart and Launceston including Angela Barnard, Adam Wheeler, Rikki Mace, Bec Jones and Gabriel Comerford, curated and lead by Artistic Directors Isabella Stone (DRILL) and Caitlin Comerford (Stompin).

Join us for a celebration on Friday evening (7 October)- a ‘studio sharing’ presenting dance, provocations and musings by our young artists, followed by a little party- Stompin might blow out some birthday candles and Trey L’Trash will be around to host the fun. All at Assembly 197 Launceston - 197 Wellington Street Launceston.

6-7pm - Studio Sharing + Q and A

7pm-9pm - Party with Trey L’Trash, Tunes and birthday cake!

Let us know you can make it - Email rachel@stompin.net

Big thank yous to Regional Arts Australia RANT arts, Tasdance, City of Launceston Official and Arts Tasmania

STILL DROMPIN is assisted through Arts Tasmania and RANT arts. This project was made possible by the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia.

Join Junior Company!

DRILL is looking for young people aged 9-14 to create new stories, poems, drawings and a youth dance performance.  DRILL Performance Company Inc. is nipaluna/Hobart’s youth dance company, and is running a program of youth art creation in partnership with local story writing organisation the Story Island Project.

Collective Writing – Collective Dancing explores the freedom and relationship between story writing/poetry, language and movement and provides skills development for young people in literature, artistic expression, movement and physical resilience.

Register now for the call out now on the Junior Company page.

 Junior Company is assisted through Arts Tasmania, the City of Hobart, and is delivered in partnership with The Story Island Project.

Photo by Jesse Hunniford of Leviathan 2021.