New Breed Choreographer Spotlight: Rachel Arianne Ogle

Rachel Arianne Ogle is a Perth-based performance artist and one of the four choreographers creating new pieces for our third edition of New Breed (29 Nov – 10 Dec) at Carriageworks.

 

A magnetic and electric world, perpetually expanding and contracting, relentlessly spiralling in on itself.

My work is distinguished by precise, physically demanding and acutely complex choreography. I have a very detailed approach to kinesthetic movement and energy, allowing intricate and elastic dynamics to emerge, and immersive experiences to manifest through the dancing body. Focusing on the body as a site to explore temporal concepts of time, space and self, I aim to interrogate the physical language and signification of dance as a mode for both performer and audience to engage with the world as revealed in the body.

My choreographic practice centres on an ongoing fascination with the dynamics of time and space, and the interconnectedness of all aspects of our being with the universe. Our existence in an infinite expansiveness of space made of and by forces far greater than ourselves yet intrinsically connected to our core, is a driving focus in my explorations. The cosmos captivates me.

For this work I was inspired by gravitational collapse – the process a star goes through in death, collapsing under the weight of its own gravity. I find this to be a powerful and evocative image, invoking a parallel to the process our own bodies pass through at the end of life. We are born from the dust of exploded stars; we return to dust at death. We are in a constant state of decay and regeneration. The dust constantly passes through us. The cycle of life and death is present in all things.

Being invited to choreograph for New Breed is definitely the highlight. I am constantly surprised by the worlds and pathways that emerge and transpire for me in choreography. I have also been fortunate to have some incredible mentors throughout my career who have had an enormous influence, and helped me to find my own voice. I feel blessed to be able to continue to develop that voice through this opportunity.

I find contemporary dance to be an incredibly powerful yet elusive art form that transcends words, continually leaving me moved, affected, perplexed, and intrigued. It can be deeply felt and experienced by all, purely through the shared experience of the human body in time and space. It has the power to transport and move an audience. It demands the dancers be completely present to the point that they become transparent – so that the audience can see and experience the world through the dancers bodies.

New Breed
29 Nov – 10 Dec, Carriageworks
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