I commenced my Master of Fine Arts (Dance) at the VCA in 2019, relocating to Melbourne Victoria. At the same time, it would be the final year of running my business, Mill Street Studios.
The MFA was a two year full time course, however with COVID 19 in 2020, my MFA took three years. This was due to a number of factors including needing to form new creative collaborations due to border closures in Australia. Postgraduate study, despite numerous challenges, proved to be remarkably rewarding and enjoyable. Researching through my creative practice was in many ways invigorating.
My MFA investigated experimental methods for dance filmmaking and placed cinematic elements including location, cinematography, and editing at the centre of the creative process as the means to shift and subvert expectations in dance film.
At the conclusion of 2021, I submitted my folio of work which included four dance films, and a 20,000 word thesis.
I was thrilled to graduate the following year with first class honours.
The graduation ceremony included traditional photos taken in the graduation regalia. The photographer asked if there were any other photographed I wanted. I said yes.
The graduation was a lovely way to close a chapter that spanned from 2019 to 2021. I’m also quite proud of the dance films that were a part of my studies and that have been screened in over 90 film festivals, winning several significant awards.
My thesis is here: http://hdl.handle.net/11343/317067
