Episode 8. Frances Rings: Bangarra Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director and Co-CEO on new horizons, continuing conversations and starting where you stand

8. Frances Rings: Bangarra Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director and Co-CEO on new horizons, continuing conversations and starting where you stand"Choreography is a connection to the unseen, in the same way Aboriginal people see the world as part-physical, part-spiritual... when we step into the rehearsal studio, it's a sacred space."Frances RingsOur guest this week is Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Bangarra Dance Theatre, Frances Rings.Frances made her main stage choreographic debut with Bangarra with the work Rations (Walkabout, 2002) and received outstanding critical acclaim. Frances has followed this by creating or co-creating a further seven works for the company: Bush (2003, co-choreographed with Stephen Page), Unaipon (2004), X300 (2007), Artefact (2010), Terrain (2012), Sheoak (2015) and SandSong (2021, co-choreographed with Stephen Page).Frances Rings became Artistic Director in 2023, after Stephen Page stepped down from the role after 33 years. She also leads the company as co-CEO alongside Louise Ingram. Links:Bangarra Dance TheatreFirestarter: The Story Of BangarraA powerful documentary about Bangarra, made to commemorate its 30th anniversary. Frances features prominently.NAISDANAISDA Dance College is Australia's premier Indigenous training collegeConnect with Decoding Cultural Leadership on social mediaInstagram, Threads, X/Twitter:@[email protected]@samuelcairnduffRead Sam's Substack here.Presenter and research: Sam CairnduffCreative Director: Niloofar PashmforooshPresented in association with LimelightDecoding Cultural Leadership | Culture. Society. Conversations