Dance Australia catches up with the winner of the 2013 Tanja Liedtke Fellowship, Joseph Simons.
2013 Tanja Liedtke Fellowship winner, Joseph Simons, says that he almost changed his mind about going for the prize. “I found the application quite overwhelming, so overwhelming in fact, I very nearly didn’t apply,” he admits. “It [involved writing] a proposal for a project to be worked on during the studio residency, along with an explanation of who you are, and what you are able to offer the dance world.”
Things got easier for Simons once the initial application was completed. “After the shortlist had been notified, I was asked to attend an interview in Melbourne where I met the trustees. This was the most exciting part for me because I was able to show the panel how excited and passionate I was about the project – rather than writing ‘I’m passionate’ which can feel kind of lame sometimes,” he remarks.
Although Simons was clearly comfortable with his interview, he was, nonetheless, very surprised when he discovered he had been successful. “I was speechless when I received the phone call,” he remembers. “It’s a strange but wonderful feeling to have someone believe in you. Suddenly it’s not just you running around trying to convince people to give you an opportunity to prove yourself.”
Given Simons’s track-record since he graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, it seems that he is pretty good at convincing people to give him an opportunity to prove himself. After a year dancing with West Australian Ballet (WAB), Simons moved to Melbourne, where he toured with Chunky Move on Antony Hamilton and Byron Perry’s I Like This. Since then he has worked with Lucy Guerin Inc, Jack Productions, Force Majeure and, again, with Chunky Move. He has also guested with WAB, performing the title role in Ivan Cavallari’s 2012 production of Pinocchio. As a choreographer, Simons received a Chunky Move Maximised residency to begin creating a solo work, Not On My Watch which he performed at Perth Fringe World early last year.
Listening to Simons talk about his plans for the fellowship, it’s not hard to see why it appealed to the Tanja Lietke Foundation’s panel. “One of the main parts of my fellowship is a three-week residency at Ada Studios in Berlin. The project I’ll be working on will be a solo for myself, inspired by the streets of Berlin,” he explains. “I’m interested in discovering what makes people stop, pull out their phones, and record street performers. I want to see if there is a way to bridge the gap between people who stop and watch on the street and an audience in the theatre. Is it possible to create work that ‘street audiences’ would be interested in paying to see and committing to sit through?”
Simons is going to find out the answer to his question in collaboration with the artists he finds on Berlin’s streets. “I’ll be wandering the streets, armed with my camera and journal, looking for buskers and performers, and I’ll invite them to improvise with me,” he continues. “This could take place right there on the street, or back in the studio, but a short collaboration will be filmed. The final development showing at the end of three weeks will be a response to everything I have encountered in Berlin. The inspiring, the unusual, and even the ‘failures’, will be fuel for this new choreographic work. This particular showing will be my first outside of Australia and will no doubt test my understanding of universal themes and relatable content.”
That sounds like plenty of work, but that’s not all Simons has planned. “I’ll also participate in the Tanzlabor_21 International Summer Lab in Frankfurt, which will be a wonderful opportunity to meet, talk to, and dance with emerging and established artists from around the world,” he enthuses. “In addition, I’ll have the opportunity to see the wide variety of works being presented at the Tanz Im August festival, which will be on during my residency. I’m looking forward to seeing as much as I can. I love seeing other people’s work. I’m always intrigued by the choices other creators make, and deciding whether I think it worked or not.”
It certainly sounds like Simons will be making the most of the fellowship. “For me, this fellowship is quite simply a chance,” he says, “A chance to show what I can do, but more importantly, a chance to learn more, develop my craft, and become a more informed creator.”