‘Blue’
Choreographed by Dean Webster
Facilitated by Australian Dance Festival
Watch the full video here
Read more below
Awareness and Empathy
“You were born bluer than a butterfly,
Beautiful and so deprived of oxygen,
Colder than your father’s eyes,
He never learned to sympathise with anyone”
Grief and Acceptance
“I don’t blame you,
But I can’t change you,
Don’t hate you,
But I can’t save you”
I see this piece as a journey inward at the same time as it is an understanding of what happens externally and interpersonally. The core of what this piece discovers lies in the centre of it and we are shown different perspectives at the beginning and the end. That is a whole bunch of fluff though, so what are we really saying here?
The central themes of this piece are of grief and acceptance. The catalyst of that though, is our relationships - especially ones that have hurt us or where we have hurt others. The point that I am aiming to make is that when people are hurt, they can hurt others and we can do the same thing ourselves, intentionally of otherwise.
The question that I am asking though is what do we do with that? To be hurt can lead to so many feelings and experiences - denial, confusion, frustration, anger, sadness and loneliness which can lend itself to an insecure identity, poor self-esteem and repeating unhealthy patterns. This pain is often an endless and unrelenting cycle until we learn to accept what or who we can’t change.
Once we are able to conquer that, we are capable of so much more than we would have been otherwise. It’s the space in which self love and compassion, trust, freedom, expression and truth can exist. Those things speak for themselves. They are undeniable. They are powerful.
Projecting
“Wherever I go,
I’m only as good as my mind,
Which is only good if you’re mine,
Which is only good if you’re mine”
Perseverance and Self Discovery
“Pull back my fringe,
Exposing,
There’s something you should know”
Non-Linear Healing
“Wherever I go,
I’m only as good as my mind,
Which is only good if you’re mine,
Which is only good if you’re mine”
The underlying message is that we are both sides of the coin. We have all been impacted by something or someone bigger than ourselves and we all have an impact outside of ourselves. The question we must ask is what do we then do with that information? That is our choice.
In the past (and frankly, in the present) I have tried to run. Run forward, run back, run away from this problem. But I think the truest and healthiest thing to do is sit with it. Breathe it in and breathe it out. Sit with it for long enough that it doesn’t seem as scary and so that we can forgive that part of ourselves that is hurting and then move forward.
This is an understanding that I will need to continue to develop and practise. I always will. This piece isn’t aiming to be all-knowing or to have the answer to everything, or anything really. It’s just a small piece of the puzzle for me. It’s one of the ways I’m learning to move forward from the ways in which I have been hurt before - by learning to forgive and accept what I cannot control.
Featuring:
Aaliyah Paea
Amara Shin
Amira Mollenhaur
Archer Rose
Bradyn Davis
Candace Lees
Cooper Cossettini
Diego Garcia Rend
Dylan McClelland
Espoir Alpha
Estella Howell
Gemma Worthy
George Mandziy
Imogen Cook
Ira Tahana
Jackson Easey
Jamila Escobar
Jaiden Caltabiano
Jazlyn Pettiford
Liam Papanicolaou
Max Ostler
Mia Van Haarlem
Roland Gomes
Terah Hope