Ediacaran Trace Fossils

The connection of trace to my practice of dance and drawing lead me to explore the early movements of the first creatures to move- those of the Ediacaran Era from 550million years ago. There are sites throughout South Australia where extensive communities of this era have been discovered where the soft bodies organisms have left traces of their pathways and impressions of their symmetrically shaped segmented bodies.

The pathway of my work insired by these fossils has started from an invitation to the South Australian Museum to choreograph and perform at the Waterhouse Gala 2014, then becoming the recipient of two residencies.

The first was Tracing the Anthropocene through Guildhouse afforded me access to the SAM collection, connection with bio palentologist Diego Garcia- Bellido and the delivery of school holiday workshops and the filming of a virtual workshop which you can view on the South Australian Museum website .

The second residency was through Australian Dance Theatre’s International Centre for Choreography, 8weeks in the Tanja Liedtke Studio (Thanks to the TLFoundation for their generous support). This work in progress film was developed during that time and the creative research is leading towards an installation style durational performance work with aspects filmed of dancing on sites such as the Ikara National Park (to be launched to the public in August 2021) in the FLinders Ranges, SA.

I also look forward to delivering workshops with Mary Lou Simpson and the Ediacara Foundation ensuring that future generations have access to this new information. Alongside scientists and artists these workshops will connect to curriculum aligned with STEAM principles through a creative lens with the Department of Education and South Australian Museum’s Community Engagement platform.

Very grateful to all the collaborators on various stages of my ongoing work with Exploring Trace:

Louise Flaherty (Visual Artist), Jessie McKinlay, Andrew Searle, Tobiah Booth Remmers, Gabrielle Nankivelle (Dancers 2020), James Peter Brown (Composer), Jessie McKinlay and Tobiah Booth Remmers with dancers from ACArts (2014) and Cul-de-sac Creatives (2014 for the Waterhouse Gala)