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You are sitting on a bench on a warm spring day. A light breeze pulls blossoms from overhead trees and they spiral playfully towards your feet. A book lays open on your lap. You keep tabs on your page with one finger, but you aren’t reading. You are watching the children play, carefree. They giggle, scream in excitement, chase each other, chase nothing. This is a beautiful city and you are grateful to live in it. You think of your modest home, the art you have hung on the walls, the large sofa you often relax on at the end of a long day. You smile as you envision your friends and family gathered around a packed dining table, talking loudly and laughing at things that are now a shadow. You don't know what it feels like to be excluded or ostracised. The soft breeze tickles your shoulders and you remember how excited you are to go for a walk later alongside the setting sun. How the weather is perfect for it and how much you will indulge in the solitude of it. How happy you are that you feel safe in this city under the watchful eye of Hestia.
Hestia, goddess of the hearth, is a benevolent ruler. She guides us with warmth, wisdom, and care. She ensures that no one is left behind. Her spirit resides in the fireplace of each home; ever-present, but never imposing. Womanhood thrives. Sisters are constantly lifting and supporting each other. There is space for people who do not quite fit in. There is no requirement to perform femininity. And there is celebration of the divinity in all of us.
"As a feminist, encouraging, comforting, walking alongside and empowering myself and other women is the number one way I acknowledge the humanity and power of women in everyday life. Speaking out is another way do this; not being afraid to say "no" but also being empowered to say "yes"-that's pivotal. I also choose to learn as much as I can; the feminist movement encourages us to look at how we can do better, which starts with people like me and you.
As a queer woman, feminism goes beyond me as an individual. Not only am I not a man, but I will also never be with a man romantically. This still affects my value, my rights and, how I am viewed by society. It will also affect my future partner and our partnership in the sam ways--simply because we are non-men. Holding up and valuing each person and their story and experiences is what continues to propel the feminist movement and create change. It is also something we can all choose to do daily. I certainly do. Do you?"
-Collaborator, Zoe Simpson
"There are so many things I could say about why I am so passionate about the feminist movement, but we don't have all day. Part of the motivation for making this work is reflected nicely in a few of the reactions I've received from people when I tell them that I'm putting on a feminist show.
"You're not going to want me there then."
"But you're married to a man."
"Oh so you're making an angry feminist dance show?"
I am so grateful to the women who have gone before; the ones who battled for the rights we now take for granted. And for the people who take issue with feminism and the feminist movement, I would urge them to consider this sentiment from Lisa Borden:
"If you aren't outraged, then you just aren't paying attention".
Pay attention and then do something about it."
-Creator, Mara Glass
Collaborator Biographies
Alina Augustine
Alina was born and raised in Saudi Arabia with Indian heritage. She started her
dance journey in Indian classical dance in the form of Bharatnatyam. She then began to experiment with various other styles including Indian folk dances, hip-hop, contemporary, bachata, and more. She is currently part of a traineeship program at IMI Dance Studio in Lidcombe where her focus is on hip-hop and contemporary dance. Alina is in her final semester of a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in International Business at University of Wollongong.
She embodies feminism by defying the stereotypes set for women especially the ones from her culture and upbringing.
Mihkayla Bartlett
Mihkayla trained at Rogersons Dance under the direction of Jennifer Rogerson in the styles of ballet, jazz, and tap. She later moved to Dance Kinetic School of Performing Arts to deeper her foundations of contemporary dance. In 2018, Mihkayla accepted a position as a company apprentice at Austinmer Dance Theatre (now AUSTI. Dance and Physical Theatre). For the next four years, she worked with national and international choreographers including Maurice Causey, Cass Mortimer-Eipper, Martin Chaix, Emma Saunders, Ashley Wright, Sue Healey, Lisa McDonnell, and Israel Aloni. She is currently undertaking a Bachelor’s in Exercise Science at Australian College of Physical Education.
Mihkayla uses feminism to defy expectations around what she does with her body, specifically in terms of allowing herself to eat what she wants without worrying about the bombardment of messages that tell us what we shouldn’t eat, to avoid gaining weight.
Alysha Johnson
Alysha hails from Auckland where she trained at the Auckland Academy of Dance in ballet, contemporary, and jazz. She then transitioned into competitive ballroom and latin dance. She placed 4th in the New Zealand Dance Sport Championship for ballroom in 2018. Some of Alysha’s previous performances include Chicago (2022), Tempo Dance Festival (2016), and Cinderella (2016). She has worked with artists such as, Sarah Foster-Sproull and Rebecca Basset-Graham. She is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Wollongong in Geomorphic Evolution of Oceanic Volcanos.
Alysha expresses feminism in her daily life by going out and doing what she wants to do despite the expectations set by modern society.
Zoe Simpson
Zoe is a Wollongong local who graduated from Wollongong High School of Performing Arts in 2019. She has trained in various styles such as ballet, contemporary, jazz, and hip-hop. Some of the choreographers she worked with include Christopher Richards, Emily Ireland, Rosie Goddery, Nadia Zappia, and Michelle Maxwell.
Zoe currently studies a Bachelor of Arts Psychology with a minor in Indigenous Studies at University of Wollongong.
Zoe describes feminism to her as going beyond herself as a queer woman. She says that learning about women from other women is so important to the feminist movement: "Because as a queer woman I have innately different experiences to straight women, to black women, indigenous women, disabled women, and other non-men gender diverse people, which is the culmination of what the feminist movement fights for".
Creator Biography
Mara Glass
Mara has been dancing since she was eight years old, training primarily in ballet and contemporary. At eighteen she undertook a Bachelor's Degree of Fine Arts in Dance Performance from Queensland University of Technology (QUT). She graduated at the end of 2017 and spent a year teaching in Canberra. In this year off, she realised how much she missed dancing full-time, so she auditioned for Wollongong's AUSTI Dance & Physical Theatre (formerly Austinmer Dance Theatre). She was offered an apprenticeship position and started at Austinmer in 2019. That same year she began a Postgraduate Degree in Writing and Literature through Deakin University, graduating in 2020. She is currently undertaking a Masters of Dance Research for Professional Practitioners through Rambert School in the UK. Let Them Be Messy is presented as a portion of her Master's Dissertation.
Mara has always loved creating movement, and did so in many different contexts as a child and teen. In her third year at QUT she completed her first fully realised choreographic work, Are You Seeing Me? (2017). Since then, she's completed four other works: The Parting Glass (2017), My Battery is Low (2019), Joy Box (2020), and Ankle Deep Water (2022).
Music and Sound Credits
1 Hour of Relaxing Fire Sounds, Fireplace, Bonfire
Released by Epidemic Ambience
Summoning Pan
Written by Spyros Giasafakis
Performed by Daemonia Nymphe
Tokyo/Vermont Counterpoint
Written and performed by Steve Reich
Altar of Tammy
Written and performed by Mary Lattimore and Paul Sukeena
Dripping Tap Sound 1 [1 HOUR]
Released by Global Sound Archive
Booing Sounds- Crowd Booing Stadium Noise- 1 Hour
Released by Ambience
Will Soon Be a Woman (Live au Babylon Istanbul, 2013)
Written and performed by Ibrahim Maalouf
Sound Bites:
Does Feminism Include Trans Women? Female Feminists vs Antifeminists
Released and produced by Jubilee
Do Women Really Have it Harder? Male Feminists vs Antifeminists
Released and produced by Jubilee
We Should All Be Feminists- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - TEDxEuston
Released and produced by TEDxTalks
"Be A Man": Modernists and Traditionalists Debate Masculinity- VICE Debates
Released and produced by VICE
Special Thanks
These people/businesses have done so much to ensure that this show could exist. I would love to write paragraphs about how each of them have made the world of difference to me in creating this work, but for now it will suffice to say:
Thank you. I appreciate you.
Daniel Clarke
William O'Toole
Clare O'Toole
Tilly Wilkins
Liz Ferguson
Katja Vaghi
Ava Dance Centre
Wollongong Pilates Studio
March Dance