We’re excited to announce LGI’s Moving Forward Residents for 2025.
As part of our commitment to supporting artists in developing their choreographic practices and creating new works, our Moving Forward Residencies provide artists with time, money, and support to further develop projects that are ready to be refined and approaching an outcome.
At the culmination of their in-studio time, Moving Forward Residents will present a showing of their work or share part of their artistic process through a workshop, talk or publication.
Ben Hurley – UpAndUpAndUpAndUpAndUp
A never-ending spiral of ascension, UpAndUpAndUpAndUpAndUp unfolds with slapstick humour and irrational decision-making, queering identity in situ. A bright red light beams as a lost and scrambling French boy searches for his bearings. Time collapses into a vortex of vivid colour, synth techno, looping sketches, and a dripping wetsuit suspended in midair. It never ends. This solo work premiered at Temperance Hall in 2022. During the residency at WXYZ Studios, Ben will develop it into a full-length piece, ahead of a three-week development with Compagnie Flak in Montreal.
Alex Dobson – GUSH
GUSH is a mesmerising fusion of choreography and ephemeral sculptures crafted from different materials including ice cream, milk, saliva, urine, water, and steam. Over extended durations, these elements create a visceral exploration of time, interweaving themes of queerness, bodily autonomy, sexuality, and chronic illness. Drawing inspiration from Susan Sontag’s Illness as Metaphor, the work reflects on how the language of illness reveals cultural fears, taboos, and power dynamics. During this residency, Alex will continue developing GUSH in preparation for its premiere season in July/August 2025.
Jack Bannerman – Disposable Income
Disposable Income is a performance work exploring the marketing and representation of queer identities in the media. Originally conceived as a solo, Jack Bannerman has developed the piece into a duet in collaboration with Naarm-based dance artist Sebastian Geilings. The work interrogates how misrepresentation in media can result in micro-traumas for the queer community, subtly shaping daily experiences. It also questions whether the dominant media narratives surrounding queer identities obscure deeper, systemic issues of discrimination. Disposable Income was first developed and presented at Festspielhaus Hellerau in Dresden, Germany, and subsequently at Kommuna Warsawa in Warsaw, Poland. During this residency at WXYZ Studios, Jack will continue to develop the work into a fully formed performance piece, with a focus on movement-based collaboration.
Yuiko Masukawa – 3
3 is a choreographic work in public space that blends contemporary movement practice and aesthetics with ballet. The first iteration of this work, a film recorded onsite at Narrandjeri Stadium, won The Australian Ballet and Telstra’s Emerging Choreographic Award in 2023. During this residency at WXYZ Studios, Yuiko will develop 3 into a full-length dance and live-cinema work, ahead of a confirmed presentation in September 2025.
Prue Lang – POESIS
POESIS unites performers Amber McCartney and Benjamin Hancock with renowned composer and DJ Chiara Costanza. This work celebrates the virtuosic and exquisite qualities of dance, inspired by the sensory perception of humans and animals. The work draws from biomimicry, physical intelligence, and philosophy, and is examined though the lens of counterpoint. During this residency, Prue will continue developing POESIS for its premiere season later in 2025.