LGI/

In this latest conversation in LGI’s Dance Dialogues series, Artistic Director Jacob Boehme shares an insight into the journey of Wild Dog in conversation with artist Mariaa Randall.

This is an online event, please register here: https://bit.ly/3kHsTCa

About the talk
Jacob Boehme is a Narungga and Kaurna man, an artistic leader of First Nations people and a critical creative voice in the Australian arts community. Boehme’s leadership is defined by his lifelong commitment to creating theatre, working closely with Elders and community and being actively engaged in the public discourse.

Boehme first came to know of the Wild Dog / Dingo ancestral story in 2011. He was working with songmen on Mornington Island, creating a contemporary dance and puppetry work for Cairns Indigenous Art Fair. In his meetings he became aware that the Dingo songline travels the expanse of the Australian continent, from south to north. Beginning in Gawler, on Kaurna Country in South Australia, passing through Uluru and Ali Curung in the Northern Territory, before resting on Lardil Country, Mornington Island.

Boehme conceived the Wild Dog project to map the songline and establish ongoing collaborations between different nations. His goal is to ensure the continuance of urgent intergenerational knowledge transfer between Elders and next generations.

“Ancient storylines such as the Wild Dog enrich the overall cultural fabric of our shared country. It is through revealing and telling these stories that we as Australians can better understand and celebrate our unique global position as the beneficiaries of the oldest living culture in the world.” — Jacob Boehme

A gathering of nations will take place in October 2021 as part of Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art (presented by the Art Gallery of South Australia). This will include a theatrical presentation, dance, workshop and exhibition.

Jacob Boehme is LGI’s inaugural First Nations Resident, an annual opportunity for Senior First Nations dance artists created through a multi-year partnership with BlakDance and Lucy Guerin Inc.

Read more about Wild Dog: https://bit.ly/3rrG4bE

Access
Auslan interpreters will be provided throughout the talk as well as a live transcription, which will be provided in a separate browser window. The link will be provided in the email from Zoom confirming your registration and pasted in the chat at the start of the talk. Audio description will be embedded in the talk by the speakers. If you have any further questions or queries, please contact estelle@lucyguerininc.com.

About Jacob Boehme
Jacob Boehme is a Melbourne born and raised artist of the Narangga and Kaurna Nations, South Australia.

Alumni of the Victorian College of the Arts, (MA in Arts – Playwriting, MA in Arts – Puppetry), Jacob is a multi-disciplinary theatre maker and choreographer, creating work for stage, screen, large-scale public events and festivals. Jacob has led the artistic direction of Tanderrum (Melbourne Festival), Boon Wurrung Ngargee (Yalukit Willam Festival), Thuwathu (Cairns Indigenous Arts Fair), Geelong After Dark and is the founding Creative Director of Yirramboi Festival, recipient of the 2018 Green Room Award for Curatorial Contribution to Contemporary and Experimental Arts.

As a choreographer, Jacob engages forms across visual theatre creating multidisciplinary puppetry and dance works like Idja and Lu’arn, based on traditional knowledge and story. He has created work for the opening ceremonies of FINA World Swimming Championships, Dreaming Festival, Dreamtime at the G and the Cricket World Cup. Jacob is the writer and performer of the critically acclaimed solo work Blood on the Dance Floor, recipient of the 2017 Green Room Award Best Independent Production.

Jacob sits on the Board of Directors for Dance House and Polyglot Theatre and is a member of the Ministry of Culture Taiwan South East Asia Advisory Panel. Jacob is currently the Artistic Director of The Wild Dog Project, reconnecting the dingo songlines between South Australia, Northern Territory and Far North Queensland and is an Australia Council for the Arts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Fellow.

About Mariaa Randall
Mariaa Randall is a Gidabul, Gulibul and Yaegl dance maker from the Far North Coast of New South Wales (NSW). She is a NAISDA Dance College graduate and more recently a Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) graduate obtaining a Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Arts Management, a Graduate Diploma in Performance Creation and a Masters in Animateuring (by Research).

In 2019, Mariaa premiered Same But Different at Dance Massive, presented Footwork/Technique at the Performance Space New York City, performed Painting the Dance at the inaugural Matriarchs Uprising Festival in Vancouver, and has been working with Sinsa Mansell on her new work BlACK in Hobart.

She continues to create works that empower Indigenous women which include Divercity that premiered at Dance Massive 2017, HA LF her solo work, and Poetry in Motion created in collaboration with 2nd-year dance students at the VCA.

Her most memorable achievements have been choreographing Jacob Boheme’s Blood on the Dance Floor and producing YAPENYA, a new Dja Dja Wurrung ceremony based on old stories.

At present, Mariaa is developing her new work, SiStem. SiStem amplifies the Indigenous female warrior, the way in which Randall sees First Nations women. The work aims to showcase their strength, resilience and unwavering presence in the face of adversity.

About Dance Dialogues
In Dance Dialogues, invited dance artists discuss their perspectives on practice and art-making, sometimes around a particular theme, in a relaxed hour-long chat which includes an audience Q&A. Since September 2020, Dance Dialogues have been hosted either online or in dual mode (in-studio and livestreamed), making them accessible to an audience beyond those who can join us at WXYZ Studios in Melbourne.

Image: Jacob Boehme in Blood on the Dance Floor. Image credit: Bryony Jackson