600 SECONDS – MOVES

Let’s get moving

An exciting partnership with STRUT Dance brings you five brand new dance and movement works curated and mentored by powerhouse Co-Directors, James O’Hara and Sofie Burgoyne. Showcasing the vibrancy of WA’s dance artists, you can expect a multi-sensory experience of rigorous and innovative movement performances.  

Echoes of Expansion by Elsa Bignell and Meg Scheffers
Echoes of Expansion delves into landscapes and how the rhythmic nature of differing spaces and places affects our trajectories.
Team: Elsa Bignell, Meg Scheffers and Cameron Park

Moving words by Lara Dorling
A solo improvised performance using writing, dancing and voice. What stories arrive in the moment through deep listening to the words in your mind?

The Mist by Jiarui Lin
Unintentionally, he senses the fog before him, driven by instinct to try and unravel it. Yet, is the truth within the mist something he can bear?

Risk pas de deux by Patrick Gunasekera
A man hides his true feelings around his friend. This tender ballet uses realism and dialectical theatre techniques to explore the risk of overcoming isolation.
Team: Patrick Gunasekera & Adam Kelly
Content warnings: masc self-image themes, sexual references, confronting scenes

The Scramble by Shaun Johnston
The Scramble is a dance theatre work that embraces all of the frictions found in wrestling to examine the codes of touch & intimacy in male relationships.
Team: Shaun Johnston, Nathan Turtur and Luther Wilson

More on the Mentors

Sofie Burgoyne

Sofie Burgoyne is an artist and cultural worker with a background in dance and choreography who gestures towards culture and community through performance, creation, collaboration, curation, and teaching. Sofie’s choreographic work has been presented in the USA, UK and throughout Australia and she has worked internationally as a performer with choreographers such as Miguel Pereira, Eszter Salamon, Thomas ES Kelly, Theo Clinkard and Jean Claude Gallotta.

Sofie has collaborated with a number of visual artists and institutions including Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Dark Mofo, Constance ARI, Pope Alice, A Published Event, Diana Baker Smith and Seaborg, with music group “Group A”, with theatre companies Frantic Assembly, Erth Visual and Physical Inc., Terrapin Puppet Theatre and the Channel 3 (UK) television series, ‘HUMANS’. In 2021, Sofie completed a Masters in Choreography with a specialisation in New Performative Practices at Stockholm University of the Arts and previously completed a Graduate Diploma of Art in Public Space at RMIT University (2019) and a Bachelor of Arts (Dance) at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (2006).

Recent artist credits include a curatorial role for ‘Rehearsing the future’ at Contemporary Art Tasmania, authoring a publication ‘Red Sandstone’ for A Published Event’s ‘Lost Rocks’ project as well as the choreography and staging of ‘Close Encounters’ for Pope Alice at Dark Mofo 2021 and 2022. Sofie commenced as STRUT Dance Co-Director in June 2022 

James O’Hara

James O’Hara has been a collaborator his entire career. With 20 years of experience as a dance performer, teacher, choreographic assistant and director, James is immersed in dance communities all around the world.  Born and raised between the Swan River and the Indian ocean in Walyalup (Fremantle) WA, James was a member of Ballet Junior de Genève and recipient of a Princess Grace Foundation Bursary in 2004. He has worked with Ballet Preljocaj, Matthew Lutton (Malthouse, Melbourne), Ross McCormack (Muscle Mouth, NZ), Yang Liping (China), Marina Abramović (USA) and Stephanie Lake (Australia). As a guest he has performed with Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet/Ohad Naharin, The Australian Ballet/Gideon Obarzanek, The Norwegian National Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet and The Bolshoi Theatre.

He has collaborated extensively as both performer and assistant with Marina Mascarell, Michael Keegan-Dolan (Teac Damsa), Damien Jalet and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (Eastman). Growing up involved in STEPS Youth Dance Company in Perth, a collaboration that continued for over 16 years, fuelled a passion for youth dance and ignited his investment in community engagement. He was Assistant Director at the National Youth Dance Company at Sadler’s Wells (London) 2015-17 and has taught at many universities and institutions throughout the world. James was a full time tutor at the New Zealand School of Dance 2017-18.

James has made works with STEPS, Cross Connections (Copenhagen), Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts, University of Melbourne, New Zealand School of Dance, Purchase (NY), Transformation Montreal, Footnote Dance (alongside Eliza Sanders), and with the Royal New Zealand Ballet. He has been nominated for Helpmann, Green Room, and Australian Dance Awards and is a recipient of a West Australian Dance Award. James was Co-Artistic Director of the New Zealand Dance Company from 2020-2022. James commenced as STRUT Dance Co-Director in June 2022.