Inhabitance I-V
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Inhabitance I-V is a series of screen dances filmed in rural Victoria, Australia. They explore what it means for a place to inhabit us; how landscapes imprint themselves on our bodies and minds, call to us, and shape the way we move and feel. Can a place resonate so deeply that it feels familiar, even if we are strangers to it? How does our presence in these environments affect them, and how do they affect us?
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The films also contribute to the larger conversation about the urgent need for our collective human behaviours to be gentler and more attentive to the natural world. Beyond this, they serve as a reminder of the restorative and inspiring power of immersion in nature.
Inhabitance I: Meadow
Crickets heighten the silence of an alpine meadow. Set atop the heights and protected by an enclosure of intertwined branches. The eye seeks the horizon but is held in by the trees. A storm slowly gathers far away, there is plenty more sunlight for now. The depth of the mountain reaches up to support the bodies, the trees.
Location: Dinner Plain, Victoria. Gunaikurnai Land.
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Dancers: Hayley Does & Rachel Mackie
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Music: Sophia Kalo
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Director: Sarah Saxon
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Inhabitance II & III: Trace & Clouds
Stillness. Two women trace the contours of the peaks and valleys near and distant. Small beings observing and measuring an ocean of land. Intertwined and present.
Water vapour traced by the gentlest finger tips. Ribs expand and relax in rhythm with the clouds; forming, tumbling and reforming. Proximity and observation. Body becomes like vapour, moulded by the tireless breeze.
Location: The Razorback Mt. Hotham, Victoria. Gunaikurnai Land.
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Dancers: Hayley Does & Rachel Mackie
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Music: Sophia Kalo
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Director: Sarah Saxon
Inhabitance IV & V: Rocks & Coast
Fingertips trace the etchings of ocean-worn rock and cliff face. Feet tread gingerly on sandblasted surface. Three women playfully, gently manoeuvre. A curiosity about these striking, sharp forms.
Wait. Watch. Prepare. Attempt. Play.
Fail playfully, fail joyfully. Frolicking, focussed choreography guided by the eb and flow of waves. One foot in and one foot out, not quite land, not quite sea.
Location: Johanna Beach, Victoria. Gadabanud Land.
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Dancers: Hayley Does, Tamara Bouman & Nancy Martin
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Music: Sophia Kalo
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Director: Sarah Saxon