Hometown debut for Maddy

Former MJ dancer set to perform on Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre stage

Maddy Macera has built a strong resume as a professional dancer but next month she will tick off a personal milestone – dancing for the first time on her home stage, Mount Gambier’s Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre.

The MJ Dance Studio alumni is part of the upcoming May 4 performance by Restless Dance Theatre of their acclaimed production Exposed.

“I am so stoked to be performing at home, it will be the first time I perform on the Sir Robert Helpmann Stage as a professional dancer,” Maddy said. “I’m really excited for Mount Gambier to have the opportunity to be able to see live art and to see something they may have not had the chance to see before.”

Restless Dance Theatre comprises of seven dancers with and without disability providing the core cast for their works and Exposed, directed by Michelle Ryan, explores the minutest terrors, both physical and emotional, in which the most necessary, yet hardest, thing is asking for help out of sheer shame or fear. And for Maddy, Exposed is a deeply personal project she can’t wait to share with a hometown audience.

“It was the first show I did with Restless that I was creatively involved in, so it has a special place in my heart,” Maddy said.

“Exposed explores themes and concepts I think we can all relate to; loneliness, isolation, vulnerability, acceptance, support, and community just to name a few.

“…I am so stoked to be performing at home…” Maddy Macera

“It has such a raw quality to it, and I think that’s why it has been so wildly popular with audiences.

“The creative process started with Michelle, our director, asking about our fears and what makes us feel unsafe, and we created movement and scenes, either solo or with others, from these tasks.

“Pretty quickly the show came together, it was quite an organic process. Of course, there have been many edits, and we continue to make edits and changes right up until we go on stage, but that’s the beauty of live performance.” Exposed combines the choreography of Michelle Ryan and the musical compositions of Hilary Kleinig.
“I recently had an experience as a person living with disability where I was made to feel very vulnerable in the public space. I felt overwhelmed with fear and distress at the lack of empathy shown,” Michelle said. “I initially showed my vulnerability but quickly realised the situation required me to show strength. This work questions what happens when your usual defences are challenged. Do you stay and fight? What’s your fallback? Who do you trust? When do you let your guard down? What happens when we are taken out of our comfort zone and we lose control?”

Hilary, who co-wrote the musical score, said it was only when we let ourselves be vulnerable – exposed – that people see who we really are.

“When we share our full humanity – flaws, beauty, strengths, and weaknesses – we allow people to love us and accept us for who we truly are,” Hilary said. The dancers’ lived experience of disability informs the Restless work, with humour, warmth, and searing honesty and Maddy has enjoyed the experience and the new dimension it adds to a performance..

“Working alongside the Restless dancers has been such a beautiful experience,” Maddy said. “We have a wonderful team with so many different abilities and personalities and I learn so much from each and every one of them.

“I’m so privileged to be able to spend every day in the studio with, creating and sharing ideas and making work that breaks preconceived stereotypes about what dance should be on stage.”

“…there’s a lot of stuff going on – but I’m super excited and wouldn’t want to be doing anything else…” Maddy Macera

The Mount Gambier performance is just one performance in a jam packed program for Maddy and restless in 2023.

“We have a huge year this year,” she said. “Alongside our regional tour of Exposed, we are also taking the show to Hobart and the Sydney Opera House. I can’t even believe I’m saying that.

“We have a really cool show in Adelaide’s Illuminate Festival in July, called ‘Shifting Perspectives’ where we have collaborated with some world-renowned lighting, stage, sound, and costume designers to produce this really modern, experimental show.”

And then there’s another passion project where Maddy is again part of the development.

“We have started to develop a piece called ‘Counterpoise’, which was created in collaboration with a South Korean-based dance company called 29 Dong,” she said. “We had the opportunity to have the Korean dancers come to Adelaide in November last year to work with us in the studios, and it was such a beautiful and inspired collaboration of creative work.”

That work is also set to be produced as a dance film later this year.

“There’s a lot of stuff going on – but I’m super excited and wouldn’t want to be doing anything else,” Maddy said.

MOUNT GAMBIER – SIR ROBERT HELPMANN THEATRE Thursday May 4, 7pm

HOMETOWN DEBUT: (Above) Exposed Dancers Maddy Macera, Charlie Wilkins & Bhodi Hudson. Photo courtesy of Roy Vandervegt