Red, hot, dance

Final year BA Dance/Education student, Anya McKee, has choreographed, directed and filmed her first dance video, Catalysts, a duet exploring the intimacy of personal relationships.

Anya says she originally choreographed Catalysts for the stage but found the idea of adapting the dance for video challenging.

"I wanted to utilise the studio space by incorporating it into the choreography as the third dancer and for the performers to fully use the circumference of the room."

Catalysts explores the intimacy between a couple as they literally draft their relationship onto a paper-covered room using only their movements and paint.

"The paper was a deliberate choice, I thought it made the dance more visceral for film," says Anya. "The red paint symbolises how a relationship, whether seconds or years long, can feel after the moment has passed - its mark is neither completely present or absent - but was definitely there."

Anya filmed the work, which was funded by a St George Students' Association Dance Scholarship, over five days, after teaching herself how to use a video camera. She also recorded the sound effects, including her own heartbeat.

"Producing and directing Catalysts has taken me in a whole new direction, now I feel inspired to pursue choreography, preferably for film," she says.

Media contact: Fran Strachan | fran.strachan@unsw.edu.au | 9385 8732 | 0429 410 670