FIREBIRD

Firebird is a new work by Fine Lines Dance.

Firebird is a 25 minute dance film, created with Fine Lines Dance. Filmed exactly a year from Melbourne’s lockdown #2, in between lockdown #4 and #5, this beautiful film is a testament to the determination, passion and courage of artists living in COVID times.

Firebird takes the mythic creature of legend as its point of departure. An elemental being, the firebird is dangerously unpredictable and unreflexive. It stands apart, neither good nor bad. Fine Lines’ Firebird explores the notion of internal fire as an immense power ,barely contained within physical form. This new work asks, what do we burn for and how can we do more than burn?

Firebird is a work about fire in the belly, that thing that catapults you forward, drives you to the edge of the abyss. My need to express myself through dance has never dissipated, if anything it has got stronger as the years go on. This is ironic, because as my body moves less conventionally [as a dancer] I am more inventive and courageous. I see this too in the Fine Lines community, a collaboration of mature dancers who continue to challenge the status quo, particularly who can dance, how, when and what about. They are brave. They proudly face the lens and present their unique physicality and stories. Firebird contains many birds. They all hold a fire that sears and scars and stays with you beyond the credits. I am lucky to call them friends.

Due to COVID restrictions, Firebird was premiered online 7pm Saturday 9 October 2021.

Direction: Katrina Rank

Choreography: Katrina Rank in collaboration with Fine Lines Dancers

Lighting design and operation: Jamie Henson

Camera and editing: Takeshi Kondo

Photography: Robert Wagner

Production: Katrina Rank and Shannon Parsons

Media videos: Shannon Parsons

Props: Katrina Rank

Performed by

Philippa Costigan, Kate Reed, Belinda Cussen, Karen Berzins, Catherine Underhill, Joanna Carroll
Anne Gartner, Kym King, Rochelle Louise Carmichael, Judy Leech, Rosemary Simons, Madeleine Aikenhead, Cecilia Ross, Kathryn Niesche, Nicole Ryan, Holly Marshall, Shannon Parsons, Katrina Rank, Jenny Barnett

Supported by the Cit of Yarra, Australian Multiculural Community Services, Australian Cultural Fund donors and Bunnings.

FINE LINES Dance

Fine Lines is a unique contemporary dance collective; a movement meeting place for inter-generational dancers with many different skills and experiences.  The ensemble includes not only former professional and semi-professional dancers but also choreographers, writers, designers, musicians, actors, and critics.

Fine Lines Dance sets out to give older dancers a bold and compelling voice in the cultural conversation, challenging the assumption that contemporary dance is the domain of youthful bodies and physical virtuosity. By creating work that is ambitious and intriguing, Fine Lines capitalises on the diversity and richness of the older dancer, throwing down the gauntlet to a society that can be discriminating and ageist, particularly against women.

Age is often associated with diminishing: physically, mentally and socially. Fine Lines seeks to overturn this negative perception encouraging its dancers to explore and extend their capacity and skills. Age and experience are not only treasured assets but essential company ingredients.

Fine Lines began in 2013. Over seven years, our dancers have developed an aesthetic and a way of working that continues to build and be refined.  Our creative processes include improvisation, object manipulation and task based and choreographic approaches. We find space for stillness and appreciate simplicity.

In Fine Lines we are carving out a unique place in the dance world. We are playful, expressive and irreverent; unafraid to dance differently. We create work that is wholly new, that pushes boundaries and expectations. Now is the time to be making work that challenges ageist assumptions, that showcases older performers, deliberately valuing and respecting their experience and artistic contribution.

Judy by Robert Wagner

FIREBIRD CONCEPT

Firebird references a wild creature from Russian folklore. This bird embodies a dangerous unpredictability and ability to ignite change. The firebird is spontaneous and unreflexive, with an immense power that is barely contained within her own form. This new work takes a deep dive into the embers and asks, what sparks human transformation?

In 2020 we have been globally disempowered by a virus. People have been isolated and frightened; normal life has been overturned; Fine Lines customary classes and practices disabled. It could be tempting to feel frozen by the monumental shifts of our troubled planet, to feel incapable and diminutive because the problems seem so big. But in each of us there is a fire. It has the capacity to unfreeze this inertia and move us forward with courage and conviction.

From the crisis has come the huge opportunity to think differently, to explore new ways of working, to fan the flames of creativity and resilience. Our previous work, The Right, explored aggressive power and manipulation. The Firebird will engage with the fire from within, one that can transform and forge us, individually and collectively.

Firebird will be a strong, unapologetic, artistic work, supported by accomplished technical production from lighting and sound to high quality images and video resources. See below for proof of concept.