NAISDA Diploma Developing Artist Kiarn Doyle and Certificate IV Developing Artist Darcy McGuire share their thoughts on the week-long collaboration between NAISDA’s Developing Artists and the students of NIDA’s Writers and Directors courses, which took place in July 2019.
Tell us about what this week has involved and the importance of it
Kiarn: It’s been a good chance to work with writers and directors and just to look at movement and storytelling in a different way.
Darcy: I know some groups have really stuck to their roles of writing, directing or dancing but my group has been pretty collaborative and we’ve all kind of had a go at everyone’s roles.
We’ve all come in with concepts and ideas and directed tasks. Everyone has been pretty open and willing to try, so it’s worked really well.
How has the week benefitted you, specifically focusing on working with people in a different creative medium and learning what they do?
Kiarn: What I’ve taken out of this experience is a better appreciation for all the roles within production, whether it’s theatre-based or dance. Having that deeper understanding of the working process that they go through.
It’s also been about making connections – you never know who you’re going to collaborate with in the future.
Darcy: Everyone is so different. In each group, there is a variety of ideas. It’s been good to work with people outside of NAISDA and bring together so many different concepts.
Have you come across anything you may not have been expecting through the collaboration?
Kiarn: It’s certainly tested my knowledge of English. They (the other Developing Artists and NIDA students) will use directing terms or writing terms that as a dancer, I am not used to. We would usually describe it in a more physical sense – sometimes it’s been hard to picture, but it’s been kind of cool learning along the way.
We had one of the students try and give us a direction and he didn’t know how to say it technically. He sort of said ‘Do this’ and I understood that better.
What do you feel you’ve been able to explain or share with the NIDA students
Kiarn: I feel like the NIDA students have been getting a cultural education just through how we as NAISDA people see and try to put productions together. It has that underlying cultural aspect to it. I think that they are learning and getting a better understanding of how dancers create and move.
Darcy: Future collaborations for them are important and working like this gives everyone an idea of how to work collaboratively.
How has this experience opened up possibilities of working with writers and directors in the future?
Kiarn: I always thought that drama was drama and physical theatre was physical theatre – they’re two separate things. But by doing this, I’m probably a bit more comfortable going into that theatrical space because I’ve now been a part of that process.
I feel like it’s built my confidence in being flexible.
What has been your favourite part of this experience?
Kiarn: For me it’s probably been the fact that our group’s particular work is site specific, just because we get to be outside and not on a stage. We get to set the boundaries. Choosing the space and creating a story and choosing the energy in that space has been great.
Darcy: Meeting new people and working in different mediums has been great. We’re exploring so many new things.
How do you think what you learnt this week might help you down the track?
Kiarn: I feel the learning aspect of it all, going down the path of different mediums and working with directors and writers, has opened that different way of thinking for me. I can sit back and look at things differently now.
To learn more about the collaboration and hear from other people involved in the project, click here.