Hello out there dear graduates, 

My name is Melanie Lane, I'm an independent choreographer and performer from Australia, based in Naarm/Melbourne. I'm super grateful to be invited to chat with you about my 'Under-story'… in deep solidarity with you all during this surreality <3

I'm currently in Ngunnawal country/Canberra, Australia where I am in limbo at my mum's place as I wait to return to my home in Melbourne which is in heavy lockdown. I've been in limbo for a while – I was one of those Australians that was in the UK when Covid hit, had many a flight cancellation before making it back and went through the bizarre experience of hotel quarantining. I've been writing and making during this time in a somewhat messy way, adapting and imagining ways to keep working with my body. Sometimes fleeting, other times obsessive – mostly playful and weird. I've been reaching out to my peers to dream with me, whether just through a zoom/wine yarn, or some remote collab-researching-making. Thinking of the live arts communities across the globe navigating this holding bay - especially those of you who are graduating, hoping for a world that can answer to the desires you have been dreaming into.

My pathway into dance was via the good old ballet school way, then into a Diploma of performing Arts at WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts) where I shifted my interests into contemporary dance and choreography.

It was the late 90's when I graduated, the internet had just sort of started, I got my first email address, it was a very different world… I was extremely naive and insecure when I graduated.

I came out of uni with limited knowledge of the world outside of Australia, however I had managed to build a solid interest in choreography. I successfully applied for a grant to audition for P.A.R.T.S., so flew to Brussels, didn't get past the 1st round, and then flew back to Australia because I didn't have any money to stay. It was a whirlwind trip, my first time to Europe which I was supremely romanced by, but also super crushing to have failed the audition after such a long and pivotal journey.

On my return to Australia I took 2 years off. Yep, I didn't do much dance-related activity for 2 whole years – for a number of reasons; there was not much work on offer in Australia at the time, I wanted to return to Europe for longer so I worked retail and in a nightclub, to raise some cash. I was so exhausted from working, I didn't have the time or energy to maintain a practice in dance. But tbh, I was really enjoying a different social space at that time, I was loving the adventure and experimentation, 2 years flew by quickly.

I ended up in London working in a surf shop in Carnaby St (?!), then felt the undeniable need to return to my body and to dance. I embarked on the European audition tour and landed my first dancing job at a small German Stadttheater. It was kind of a car crash entry, having not trained for a while I was so out of shape, but my body quickly responded – youth!, hungry to return and to be learning again.

This 2 year hiatus when I graduated made clear that my body was embedded with a language that I couldn't shake, a valuable reminder that pauses are OK. Pauses give SPACE. The body will forever hold history, imagination and practice. This trust in my body to retain its knowledge and experience has gotten me through the many pauses I've taken over the years, including the one we are currently faced with.

What's not mentioned in my bio?

I've done loads of musicals, operas, operettas – a bonus of being a dancer in the German Stadttheater. 'Hair', 'West Side Story', 'Tommy', yes singing too…. I can't remember all the operas I danced in. You know what, now I question why I don't mention them in my bio? How awesome – I did Musicals! I think this history has definitely had influence on the way I think and make, exploring the economy of the body and occupying territories of 'entertainment'. Other missing bio mentions are - how many times I was broke; working as a casual florist in Berlin; the loneliness of solo/work travelling.

Advice I would offer - embrace your dance community with love and support. I would not be still practicing without the support of the arts communities I have been a part of, and my close circle of dance peers that have forged long lasting kinships and collaborations with me over my career. I'm forever grateful for being lifted by others in times when I needed it and am proud to lift others when they need amplifying. Share resources, have big art/wine discussions, be inspired by each other, check in on each other when it's been a while.

2020; permission to not know what to do, transformation, conversation, actioning, learning, radical dreaming, reading, listening, resting, dancing, attempting newness, searching both within and beyond the limits of our bodies. My hope for what comes from 2020 is that these experiences will bring positive change for the dance sector, recognising fluid practices, the power of the arts community/ecology, actioning equality, new models/modes/formats to reach audiences. It's been challenging but also potent, I can't wait to see how you all evolve inside-out of this and into the world, there is so much potential for what is to come.