REVELLING
About Project
REVELLING was a participatory dance and film project exploring belonging, connection and collective expression. More than fifty community participants from across three municipalities contributed movement, personal stories and creative ideas to the development of a shared public artwork.
The project brought people together through dance, storytelling and film, culminating in public presentations that transformed participants' creative contributions into a collective performance experience.
Impact
In the best of times—and in the most urgent—we ask: how do we gather, as we are, and move together? REVELLING begins with this question. It is an invitation to dance with the bodies we have today, to locate ourselves through movement, memory, and place. This work asks how art might help us think and feel in the face of crisis—how cinema, choreography, and site-responsive practice can offer ways to remember, reimagine, and relate.
Rooted in care, reciprocity, and a striving for right relationship with Country, REVELLING is a socially engaged dance film shaped by collective process. Across generations, cultural identities, and levels of dance experience, participants came together to explore their ancestral threads and personal stories through embodied practice. Their presence is the work—their gestures, silences, hesitations, and offerings shaped the choreography as much as any formal structure.
Filmed on Bunurong Country at Mt Cannibal Flora and Fauna Reserve—where granite boulders over 350 million years old rise from the earth—the land itself became a collaborator. The site’s ecological and cultural significance shaped our process, challenging us to move with humility, attentiveness, and respect.
REVELLING is both a celebration and a call: to honour where we come from, to deepen how we relate, and to imagine how we might move forward—together.
REVELLING, Director & Choreographer Gülşen Özer, Videographer & Editor, Vanessa White, Associate Choreographer, Vivienne Rogis, Assistant Choreographer, Sara Di Segna, Composer & Musician, Matt Stonehouse, Collaborators & Dancers, Ann Maree Billings, James Dalton, Gem DeMarco, Sara Di Segna, Fran Dishon, Liliana Flood, Bronwyn Gardner, Ellise Peart, Christine Phillips, Laure Pradier, Vivienne Rogis, Juliet Sironi, Desrae Ukena, Danni Vitalich
REVELLING created an inclusive environment in which people of different ages, backgrounds and levels of dance experience could participate as artists. The project supported social connection, confidence, and belonging while demonstrating how contemporary dance can create meaningful community experiences without requiring prior training.
Testimonials
“I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of Revelling, and am grateful to have had such a wonderful experience. We shared our special personal stories and meaningful cultural dance movements in a safe and welcoming space nurtured by our supportive leader.”
“All of the elements were professionally directed, giving a great sense of belonging, connection and achievement. Letting everyone contribute with a dance move was a totally winning idea.”
Location: Cardinia Shire; hillsceneLIVE Festival, Yarra Ranges; Bunjil Place Plaza, City of Casey
Date: 2025
Artists: Lead Artist, Facilitator & Producer — Gülşen Özer; Choreographic Assistants — Vivienne Rogis and Sara Di Segna; Filmmaker — Vanessa White; supporting artists
Collaborators: More than fifty community participants; assisting artists and creative contributors
Organisations / Partners: Cardinia Shire Council; hillsceneLIVE Festival; Bunjil Place
Funded / Supported by: Cardinia Shire Council Arts Grant; presenting partners
Photography: Gregory Lorunzutti; Vanessa White
