Experience Collider is a gauntlet of shared obstacles; a performance of fantastic exchanges.

21 young people are on a journey together, moving through the Experience Collider. They all explore it differently. Some move suspended in the air, some in chairs or on wheeled platforms. Some sing, some sign, others carry lights and video cameras. They take turns playing the boss while others play the workers, but they all need to find a way through the Collider as a group. Always together.

Experience Collider, a contemporary performance work combining dance, circus music and theatre, opened the 2019 Awesome International Arts Festival for Bright Young Things, performing before capacity crowds at the Western Australian State Theatre Centre. Under the guidance of Artistic Director Sam Fox, and produced by DADAA’s Simone Flavelle and CircusWA’s Jo Smith, Experience Collider brought together a cast of 21 from CircusWA’s Youth Troupe and young people with disability and high support needs.

Developed over 18 months, the work explored new choreographic movements with inclusion at their core. In partnership with Circus WA, funded by Telethon, and presented by Awesome Arts, the project was also part of a Quality of Life study conducted by a research team from the Telethon Kids Institute. One of the first studies of its kind, the research was focused on the application and evaluation of an inclusive circus intervention to enhance participation and wellbeing in individuals with high support needs. The study’s findings highlighted the critical importance of participatory arts practice in building community, meaningful relationships and inclusion, and how these significantly impact wellbeing and quality of life.

You can read about the development of the project here:   Experience Collider blog

Artists
Caleb Barrett, Amelie Bobojcov, Benjamin Brewer, Belle Butler, Isaac Campbell, Lila Campbell, Sebastian Caruso, Arlo Corfield, Jana Crommelin, Hugo Flavelle, Samuel Freeman, Evan Gallant Harvey, Josh Harvey, Mikayla Kennelly, Harriet Kenworthy, Dawn Kunum, Ashton Mackessy, Storme McCleod, Emily Millen, Richter Mortensen, Edie Serra-Barker, Charlie Schmah, Emily Shoesmith, Leila Shrestha, Eliza Skinner, Dayna Sulaiman, Hayley Tucker, Isabel Turpin, Mohammed Waheedy, Harrison Wunderlich

Artists/Collaborators
Laura Boynes, Tyler Hill, Bernadette Lewis, Nel Simpson, Roly Skender

Artistic Director
Sam Fox

Producers
Simone Flavelle and Jo Smith

Produced by DADAA and CircusWA in partnership with the Telethon Kids Institute and supported by Telethon

Presented by Awesome Arts