Cella is devised and performed by Narelle Benjamin and Paul White, and came out of somatic research the two began in 2015 when Paul was working with the Pina Bausch Company in Germany. Cella takes its name from the Latin, ‘small room,’ and also references cells, the basic structural, biological units of all living organisms. Narelle says, in … Continue reading Cella (2018)

Merging installation, theatre and dance, Tangi Wai…the cry of water transports audiences to the Maori realm of spirits Te Arai, an arduous passage at the precipice of human existence and the afterlife. Here, bodies abandoned by spirit and urged by unknown forces, transform mythology into flesh and bone. Hypnotic and utterly immersive, this ensemble piece … Continue reading Tangi Wai… the Cry of Water (2015/17)

“At the still point, there the dance is…” – TS Eliot Still Point Turning is a ‘danced poem’ exploring our experience of time. From the profane world of clocks, schedules, alarms and itineraries to the grand arc that is our life – birth, death, growth and decay. To how we experience time in a dream or in … Continue reading STILL POINT TURNING (2014)

In this new work from choreographer Narelle Benjamin, two solos, individually crafted for the amazing dancers Kristina Chan and Sara Black, are performed in the same space with separate but overlapping timelines. The audience sits in traverse, and a large floor projection accompanies the dance. Nellie looked towards photos by the American photographer Francesca Woodman as … Continue reading HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT (2014)

Ontosoroh is a collaborative piece between Ade Suharto (dancer/choreographer) and Peni Candra Rini (vocalist/composer) with three musicians from Surakarta, Central Java. The work is motivated by the character Nyai Ontorosoh from This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesia’s most celebrated author. Conceived and written whilst he was in exile as a political prisoner in Buru Island, … Continue reading ONTOSOROH (2013)

credits Pictures from the final dress rehearsals before the premiere performance season of In Lieu, OzAsia Festival, Adelaide Festival Centre 6-7 September 2011. Director, Choreographer & Performer: Ade Suharto Musical Director, Composer and Performer: David Kotlowy Visual Artist and Performer: Mawarini Scenic & Costume Designer: Justine Shih Pearson Lighting Designer: Dave Gadsden Gamelan In Situ: Emily … Continue reading IN LIEU (2011)

Choreographer Ade Suharto and composer David Kotlowy were artists in residence at Nexus Multicultural Arts in Adelaide in October developing the piece. I went across for a week to develop preliminary costume designs (sketch from my notebook below) and made some trial pieces for a showing of the work in progress in a double bill … Continue reading IN LIEU SHOWING (2010)

credits directed by Ingrid Voorendt produced by Parallelo at the Auditorium, Art Gallery of South Australia set & costume design by Justine Shih Pearson lighting by Geoff Cobham performers Zoe Barry, Naïda Chinner, Helen Omand, Astrid Pill, Jason Sweeney, Solon Ulbrich Reviews RealTime DB Magazine Back

Naïda’s full-length work was made in residence at the Artspace, an odd-shaped gallery high up within the Adelaide Festival Centre complex. The audience sat in wooden chairs arrayed through the space, very close to the performers. A playful world-weariness, a slightly tarnished innocence and a storybookish sadness were hallmarks of the piece. I made costumes … Continue reading THE PAPER BOAT (2003)

Jo and Cathy’s show takes as its form, variations on La Folia – on recorder, homemade chimes, a surprisingly tuneful plucked cactus, pieces of bubble wrap. The last growing into a 1950s Hollywood-esque tap sequence, in costumes made from bubble wrap. I was inspired by Busby Berkeley and Esther Williams, picture research of MGM’s stars … Continue reading ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR (1999)

A bilingual (Mandarin and English) production based on real-life experiences of sweatshop workers in New York\’s Chinatown, I utilised a variety of puppet construction techniques – rod puppets like this one, as well as performing objects and large hinged characters which were manipulated by several puppeteers as in Bunraku. The puppets interacted with live performers. … Continue reading AMERICAN TIEN (1998)