STAUNCH ASF
STAUNCH ASF was presented in Melbourne Fringe 2023 performed at the Meat Market as part of Deadly Fringe's Blak Lodge.
This contemporary dance work immerses itself in Amelia Jean O’Leary’s experience of growing up as a Gamilaroi Yinarr in the suburbs and constantly having to reclaim her Blakness. O’Leary reclaims her autonomy, agency and ancientness through healing and expression.
What happens when you own all of you and nothing of you belongs to someone else? When your body is your body, your time is your time and your space is your space.
"To fight, to rest, to make decisions, to be ignored or crucified. I am sacred yet constantly demystified. Sculpted by the coloniser, wired by the ancestors. Dipped in nutrients, soaked in essence, this is my body right, my life, my dance, our dance." - Amelia O'Leary
Cast and Crew:
Dancer, choreographer and sound designer: Amelia Jean O'Leary @ameliaa.jeann
Set and costume: Savanna Wegman @savannaaas
Lighting design: Giovanna Yate Gonzalez @giovanna.yate.g
Stage and production: Georgie Bright @georgina.brightCo-written with Emma Salmon @pussbah
O'Leary was awarded the Melbourne Fringe Best Emerging Indigenous Artist Award 2023 for STAUNCH ASF and nominated for the Breaking Ground in Dance Green Room Award in 2024.
‘This was so realized and so grounded. I felt really under its spell, like it was very, I was captivated immediately.’ -Carla, Across the Aisle (On STAUNCH ASF (2023)
‘I find all of those questions productive and have been reflecting very closely on this ever since.’ - Philip, Across the Aisle (On STAUNCH ASF (2023)
ACROSS THE AISLE
THE AGE
NORTH WEST CITY NEWS
Banksia: Amelia Jean O’Leary on STAUNCH ASF at Fringe
STAUNCH ASF was developed with the support of Dancehouse and the Sidney Myer Fund. This project received Cash to Create through the Fringe Fund, as part of Deadly Fringe.
ENTER THE ARCHIVE