5.4K
Downloads
47
Episodes
Beyond the Curtain breaks down barriers and explores the human stories of successful performing arts individuals. It delves deep into their life journeys, shares tips for success and fosters human connection.
Episodes
Saturday Jun 20, 2020
Saturday Jun 20, 2020
It is an absolute joy and honour to bring you today’s episode with the divine Frances Rings. Fran is the Associate Artistic Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander modern dance company. She has enjoyed a long standing, successful career with Bangarra, starting as a dancer in the company, spreading her wings to become an award winning choreographer and returning in 2019 as Associate Artistic Director.
In this special yarn, Fran generously shares her thoughts and feelings in response to the Black Lives Matter movement across the world and the impact it is having here in Australia. She credits her Indigenous peoples’ ability to mimic and adapt to fit in and cope with ever-changing and ongoing challenges, noting their quiet and strong nature.
We discuss the need to dismantle structures in this country and how Australia has had the opportunity to do this in the past and yet have continuously fallen short due to fear of change. Fran beautifully articulates how a flame has been lit all over the world and what once was acceptable is now inappropriate. If you turn away you are complicit and a part of the problem. She also shares the heartbreaking fear experienced as a mother of Indigenous children in Australia today.
We discuss Fran’s childhood upbringing and introduction to dance, training here and abroad, transition from dancer to choreographer at Bangarra Dance Theatre and the challenges faced as a female Indigenous choreographer.
It was a very moving interview which ended in overwhelming emotion and tears. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.
I would like to acknowledge our traditional custodians of our beautiful land and pay respects to our Indigenous brothers, sisters and elders, past and present.
+ Follow Bangarra Dance Theatre
+ Visit Bangarra Dance Theatre website
+ Keep up to date on our insta @beyondthecurtainaus
+ Find us on Youtube
Saturday Jun 13, 2020
Saturday Jun 13, 2020
I am so excited to bring you the beautiful soul that is Samuel Akins!
Whilst taking time to pause, reflect, learn and unlearn during this radical time in history, I came across a powerful video on social media that the gorgeous Sam Akins posted. In this video he openly and honestly shares some of the racial discrimination he has experienced in Australia’s Ballet industry.
He is brave and vulnerable and I want to shine a light on his story. He has also encouraged me to share some of my experiences. I am aware that I have been brought up in white privilege, but as a mixed race person of colour I have also experienced discrimination which we discuss in this episode.
Sam is a very talented ballet dancer who moved from Birmingham, Alabama to New York City to study ballet at the young age of 14. Whilst studying he had many performance opportunities and danced with New York City Ballet.
Since graduating, Sam has performed various principal, soloist and company roles with Los Angeles Ballet and Alabama Ballet. Some of these include Cavalier, Tea and Candy Cane in George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” and Bluebird, Puss in Boots, and Rose Adagio Suitor in “The Sleeping Beauty.”
Sam recently moved to Australia to continue his ballet career and in this chat he shares some of the adversity he has experienced here.
I hope you enjoy this powerful conversation and thank you for listening to Sam’s story.
Sam’s petition for Racial Equality in the Ballet World: http://chng.it/cZSfqckqww
+ Follow Sam
+ Keep up to date on our insta @beyondthecurtainaus
+ Find us on Youtube
Saturday May 30, 2020
Saturday May 30, 2020
Today I bring you the powerhouse that is, Tarik Frimpong!
I can’t wait to tell you all about him, but first I need to say this.
It’s been a heavy week in the world with the police murder of George Floyd in America. I found myself overcome with emotion, finding it hard to breathe and concentrate on anything in my life. How could I record a sparkly introduction to a performing arts podcast episode with such weight overwhelming me? So I decided to get on the mic and speak my truth.
Ultimately, this podcast explores humanity - there are many parts to this, good and bad. Racism is not new in our world, it is just being filmed now. I implore anyone reading this to follow Shaun King to educate yourself, join the conversation and take action to create change. It is going to take as many people as possible, and the time is now. Use your voice.
It is also National Reconciliation Week in Australia, and it is important to own and remember what our ancestors have endured and the injustice that still exists here today. I would like to acknowledge our traditional custodians of our beautiful land and pay respects to our indigenous brothers, sisters and elders, past and present.
When I contacted Tarik to share the way I wanted to start his episode, he was right there with me. He is advocating hard. In retrospect, this episode seems like divine timing. Both Tarik and I are mixed race African descendants and we found our chat naturally flow in a direction that explored these themes when we recorded long before the events of this week.
So who is Tarik?
Tarik is a trail blazing actor, singer and dancer from Melbourne who is making his mark on the performing arts industry worldwide. He has worked as a commercial dancer for the likes of Justin Bieber and FKA Twigs, performed in musicals such as The Lion King, Aladdin, Bring It On and MADIBA in Australia and on the West End, and made his Disney Motion Picture debut in the role of Angus in Mary Poppins Returns. In this film he starred alongside acting royalty including Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Meryl Streep and Colin Firth. In our chat we discuss his experience on set of Mary Poppins Returns, as well as another Disney Motion Picture he was involved in filming before COVID hit.
We discuss overcoming self-doubt and self-sabotage, as well as Tarik’s life mantra, “If you want something, go get it. Period.” This guy is seriously relentless, he truly lives the advice he gives. He is also super creative which you will get a taste of during our chat. There is plenty to take from this one!
I hope you enjoy the chat, it’s hard not to be inspired by Tarik Frimpong.
. . .
Please use your voice and take action here: https://www.justiceforbigfloyd.com/#petition
#BlackLivesMatter
+ Follow Tarik
+ Tarik's website
+ Keep up to date on our insta @beyondthecurtainaus
+ Find us on Youtube
Saturday May 23, 2020
Saturday May 23, 2020
I’m super pumped to be bringing you this episode with Cat Santos today!
She is an incredible human being who is a true light and leader in the Australian performing arts industry.
In our chat, we explore all the glorious parts that make up Cat ~ dance, gut health, illustrations, mindset and more. There’s a lot to take from this one!
Cat shares the origins of her latest dance project, Home Feed, a collaboration between Cat, Zoee Marsh and Caetlyn Watson. We also discuss a number of her other projects including The I.Am.Her Project and Illustrations by Cat.
We talk about self-doubt and how it’s okay not to feel super positive all the time ~ how it’s your second thought to encourage positivity that is key! We also discuss coping with life in isolation and the importance of not being so hard on yourself.
Hope you enjoy listening to this chat. It is high energy, there’s lots of giggling and it is truly bursting with inspiration!
Welcome to a little insight into Cat’s world.
Witness the magic that is Cat Santos and be inspired to rediscover your own.
+ Follow Cat
+ Cat's website
+ Visit Illustrations By Cat
+ Follow Illustrations By Cat
+ Keep up to date on our insta @beyondthecurtainaus
+ Find us on Youtube
Saturday May 16, 2020
Saturday May 16, 2020
So today’s episode features an interview I had with Peter Wallace quite a few months ago now, pre-COVID! I had been saving it for when the Moulin Rouge was coming out to conduct auditions in Melbourne this year, hosted at Peter’s studio. Since all things travel are now out of the question in the foreseeable future, I thought it was time to release the episode.
If you’ve ever dreamt about dancing at the Moulin Rouge in Paris this is the episode for you. Consider it a bit like a Moulin Rouge history lesson! Peter spent 13 years in Paris working as a dancer and dance captain at the Moulin Rouge and Lido, and choreographer at La Nouvelle Eve. He is good friends with Janet Pharaoh (Artistic Director of Bal Du Moulin Rouge) and knows what she is looking for in a prospective dancer.
In this chat we also discuss Peter’s fight with cancer, living abroad and marrying his now husband after 30 years together.
Enjoy the chat!
+ Keep up to date on our insta @beyondthecurtainaus
+ Find us on Youtube
Saturday May 09, 2020
Saturday May 09, 2020
In honour of Mother’s Day this weekend, I have a very special episode for you with the gorgeous Lucy Doherty. Lucy is a talented contemporary dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of One Dance Collective. One Dance Collective is an independent Australian Arts organisation facilitating empowerment and connection through the art of dance and movement.
Lucy began her career dancing across the world as Ariel at various Disney parks, as well as performing at Universal Studios. Her passion for contemporary dance followed her throughout her travels and when she settled back in Australia, her career in this field quickly took flight before she ultimately created her successful company, One Dance Collective.
Lucy has a gift for following her intuition and producing moving dance works that tackle the heavy and difficult parts of life. A big influence in her life and career has been the passing of her beautiful mother a few years ago. We discuss the often unspoken topic of grief and how dance has helped Lucy navigate these difficult emotions. There were tears from both of us and I am grateful to Lucy for her open vulnerability.
I hope you enjoy our chat and find something healing and inspiring for yourself.
This episode is dedicated to Lucy’s mother, Jane Doherty.
+ Follow Lucy
+ Lucy's website
+ Visit One Dance Collective
+ Follow One Dance Collective
+ Keep up to date on our insta @beyondthecurtainaus
+ Find us on Youtube
Saturday May 02, 2020
Saturday May 02, 2020
Today I bring you, Jordan Pollard!
Jordan is a very talented musical theatre performer and an all round good human being with a positive attitude and hard work ethic.
In our chat we discuss his childhood introduction to performing through his dance teacher mum, the variety of musical theatre shows he has performed in from Guys and Dolls to West Side Story, and what it is like bringing up a child with his beautiful and talented wife, Cristina, who is also a performer.
The Tap Pack, a high energy, tap comedy show inspired by the infamous “Rat Pack”, is Jordan’s show baby and a production company that he has created and worked on with his friends for the past seven years. The company has gone from strength to strength and they have just completed their first American tour. Jordan shares the napkin moment that sparked the idea for the show, how it has grown to the success it is today and what it is like running a production company.
There’s something in this episode for everyone, enjoy the chat!
+ Follow Jordan
+ Follow The Tap Pack
+ Visit The Tap Pack
+ Keep up to date on our insta @beyondthecurtainaus
+ Find us on Youtube
Saturday Apr 25, 2020
Saturday Apr 25, 2020
You are in for a treat today! I am so excited to bring you the glamorous Philmah Bocks!
With a dazzling career spanning over 25 years, Philmah has performed all around the world. She is the current AAMI ambassador, has rubbed noses with Aussie icons such as Kylie Minogue and even launched an exhibition with Jean Paul Gaultier himself. She has earned two fabulous Sydney Mardi Gras awards for her costuming creations and runs her very own ‘WerkShop’ specialising in the manufacture of glamour.
But today’s interview is with Daz Partington, the amazing man behind the queen that is Philmah Bocks. Daz’s life is rich with fascinating stories and experiences. In our chat he shares what it was like growing up as a homosexual in a small country town in a time that was less accepting than today, his interesting career as an animator that took him around the world and the evolution of Philmah Bocks. He is one of those people who is insanely talented at everything ~ from make up and costuming to animation in the advertising industry, he can and has done it all!
Daz is such a beautiful human being which you will hear for yourself in this chat and he really has paved the way for drag queens today.
Grab a cuppa or go for a walk and get this one into your ears for a super fun listen. Enjoy!
+ Follow Philmah Bocks
+ Visit Philmah's Werkshop
+ Keep up to date on our insta @beyondthecurtainaus
+ Find us on Youtube
Sunday Apr 19, 2020
Sunday Apr 19, 2020
I’m very excited to bring you this episode with Yvette Lee today.
Yvette is a successful leading Choreographer in the Australian Dance Industry with over a decade of experience and a crazy long CV to back it up! Her choreography spans over a broad range of mediums including music videos, stage, musical theatre, modelling, commercial and corporate. She is also a talented performer, and was most recently rehearsing for the production of Dance Nation before COVID-19 hit and they had to close the show on opening night.
Despite all of her success, what is crystal clear is how truly humble and grounded Yvette remains. She is beautifully open and generous with the insight and advice she shares during our chat.
We recorded this remotely because #coronavirus. If you listen out you may hear a typical Melbourne tram or two passing by at the start of the interview.
I hope you enjoy listening to our chat and witnessing the magnetic force that is Yvette Lee.
+ Follow Yvette
+ Visit Yvette's website
+ Keep up to date on our insta @beyondthecurtainaus
+ Find us on Youtube
Saturday Apr 11, 2020
Saturday Apr 11, 2020
Today we feature the first actor on Beyond The Curtain.
Ethan Panizza is a talented actor, most recently seen on our screens in the Channel 10 show Playing for Keeps.
He has an interesting journey where he was on a straight road to one life in footy and changed course to follow his heart and pursue an acting career. Whilst playing professional footy for Claremont Football Club in Western Australia, the team his Dad played for, and obtaining an electrical apprenticeship; it was an injury that gave him the space to listen to his deep calling for acting.
In our chat we discuss his road from footy to acting, his experiences in LA and most recent time on set of Playing for Keeps. Ethan is also super open with his experiences with depression and what he has done to combat this and prioritise his mental health.
Something in this for everyone, enjoy!
+ Follow Ethan
+ Keep up to date on our insta @beyondthecurtainaus
+ Find us on Youtube