Sydney-based dance company Bonnie Curtis Projects make their Queensland debut at Anywhere Theatre Festival with their acerbic parody about the experiences of modern women, 'GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS'.
Company founder and namesake Bonnie Curtis is a choreographer, dancer and filmmaker whose work unashamedly delves into the taboo and deals with the darker side of the human experience.
“As an artist what I'm most interested in is things that affect us as humans, human existence and especially the darker side of human existence,” Bonnie says.
“So I think that a lot of people don't necessarily know how to express their feelings or maybe they don't know what their feelings are and I really want to make work that stimulates something in people, that makes them question their beliefs and question what they feel inside, whether it's good or bad.
Bonnie says her goal is to produce work that creates a visceral impact on the viewer and ignites their passion, for better or worse.
“If you love something or hate something, it's a passionate feeling and I want people to get a passionate feeling about my work; whether they love it or hate it I want them to feel something. If you see something and never think about it again then it hasn't made an impact on your life and that's not what art is about,” she says.
'GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS' is a confronting piece of contemporary dance that challenges long-established notions about how women are expected to behave and subverts those preconceived myths of femininity.
“The work explores our experience and thoughts as modern Australian women,” Bonnie explains.
“We had some brainstorming before we started working on the piece and constantly throughout about what things were important for us as women to convey, because the piece is performed by all women, there's no men. It explores body image, which I think is universal for all women regardless of age... And how there's this idea of the perfect body.
“When I was growing up everyone got breast implants and in the '90s/2000s everyone wanted to be like Pamela Anderson, this fake, Playboy, blonde bimbo. Now it's turned into this Kylie Jenner, fake face, fake everything, and it's much more mainstream than it was five or ten years ago. This fixation on celebrity culture, selfies, fake lips, having a perfect thigh gap and being this perfect woman that doesn't f***ing exist.”
When 'GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS' premieres at Anywhere Theatre Festival, it will also be the first time Bonnie Curtis Projects has toured a show interstate.
“It's our first time ever going to Queensland and it's our first time ever going on tour, so we're very excited to be popping our cherry at the Anywhere Theatre Festival,” Bonnie says.
“I hope [audiences] can relate to the piece somewhat, whether it's through their own experiences or the experiences of people they know, and I hope they come away realising that women aren't these objects that are to be moulded into something that we perceive as perfect. We're human beings and just the way our society is is insane; I hope people can see the ridiculousness of our current lives and our obsession with looks. That's what I hope the audiences take away, and maybe they make a change in their lives.”
