Travelling dance troupe Co3 helps Broome residents touch the sky

A contemporary dance crew on a WA road trip made a pit stop in Broome this week to run community workshops and showcase their latest production. Dance troupe Co3 began a five-week regional tour of WA last month, as part of their Under The Same Sky program which involved travelling to communities across the State to run workshops and perform. The visits invited the community to take part in dance workshops run by professional teachers Russell Thorpe and Mathew Morris, as well as bird-making tutorials which taught participants to create a “bird” from an old item of clothing. The bird-making workshops let participants create their own contribution to the production, with the troupe’s set made up of more than 1500 fabric birds. The birds were made during COVID-19 lockdown and were collected along with written stories reflecting the life of the clothing, immigration and isolation experienced during the pandemic. These stories were then displayed on a wall for audiences to read while entering the performance, with the birds soaring above as a collective symbol of endurance and hope. Participants were also treated to a free public screening of the production, which featured an inter-generational cast of 21 dancers and celebrated themes of community, exploring ways individuals respond and care for each other in times of crisis. Artistic director Raewyn Hill said Co3 aimed to give regional communities access to a diverse array of contemporary offerings. The workshops were held at the Broome Civic Centre on Wednesday.