About Ruby’s Residency

“My current developing work Hold Still is a reflection on perception of self through the perspective of the inner and outer experience.

During my time in the Make A Start residency I have considered the definition and the space between the duality of dissolving vs curating. How building one perception of the self can curate another whilst breaking the previous and what systematically donates itself towards this idea.

When researching this manner of expansion, I have been questioning the points of intention, what is authentic and what is performative. Through observation, conversation and lived experience I have become fascinated with the means of structuring a self and how natural and unnatural this can take form. The means to wire a character through attraction or rebellion is inherent but is occupied on a scale from innate to obsessive. I further question if this morphing can eventually become obligatory instead of voluntary and under what circumstances.

I am so grateful for my time at WXYZ Studios. It has not only allowed me to physically and cognitively explore the bounds of these considerations but also deepen my practice through making my first full length work as an independent artist.”

– Ruby English

About Ruby
Based in Naarm, Ruby is an emerging contemporary dance artist who has recently completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts. She is currently intrigued by the inevitable communication of the body to its exteriors and investigating how that narrative can be distorted.

Amidst and beyond her training, Ruby has worked with artists through collaborative, company and directorial processes. In 2020, she began making as an independent artist predominately exploring collaborations with both musicians and videographers. Ruby has performed for choreographers including Amrita Hepi, Rachel Coulson, Adam Wheeler, Amber McCartney, Alice Lee Holland, Alice Dixon, Caroline Meaden and Daniel Riley.