Vicki Van Hout

As an independent artist I often have to make work at a relatively fast pace with a group of dancers unfamiliar with my work and each other, compared to a company situation with continuity of history as well as craft.

The responsive residency has always provided a supportive environment for me to explore and create the techniques that will underpin a concept in focus.

I have learned from each residency how to play, to really reach beyond my imagination, to be inclusive and value the contribution of each unique group of people. This way we act as collaborators and gain a shared investment in the acknowledgement and future outcomes of a work. With each residency we develop a new way of working together.

In Busy Hands Speaking Country, we sang Wiradjuri narratives experimenting with several indigenous melodies, painted topographic landmarks of Sydney using the repetition of a dot as inspiration and successive straight lines with steady hands holding twigs as brushes, used cameras at odd angles combined with interactive technologies to draw and trigger sound and visuals to represent the intangible; the ancestral forces come to life through indigenous cultural expression.

Very often I have a work in mind, an idea, a theme or narrative. In order to make each work fresh, I challenge myself to create new processes. This is differentiated from material - it is the backbone of the material. Systems of logic are; to be developed, adhered to, finally challenged and broken. I get to ask questions of myself, my practice, about dramaturgy, about how people might react, about how my community might react.

As a contemporary indigenous artist I get to test boundaries of cultural protocol and history in a safe environment. I get to explore what is acceptable with people who understand the limits and responsibilities of contemporising knowledge which is integral to indigenous cultural perpetuity. This is a safe place where anything can happen, but which may not be seen outside of the residency-yet. It is crucial to developing best current practice in Australian indigenous dance while being mindful of working with integrity.

Because the information I am working with is old, has longevity and is considered the longest continuous, it is a challenge to interpret utilising or fusing with current methodologies. It is erroneous to think that the information has not already changed with the times. I have seen the bombing of Darwin played out in tiwi dances, Yolngu (playing) card, tobacco and drinking (alcohol) dances and have been adorned in bright tinsel Christmas decorations in lieu of woven coconut leaf on Saibai Island. Seen and participated in TSI ‘eggy’ improvisational dance satire.

As a recent mentor (Eric Avery 2014) I have had the rare opportunity to provoke closer inspection of cultural practice, to encourage analysis and daring which is imperative for the future presence of indigenous cultural expression in NSW.