The Rise of Frances Rings

The incredible Frances Rings, Bangarra's Associate Artistic Director, joins us on this episode of Talking Pointes. A descendant of the Kokatha people, Frances was born in Adelaide and spent her childhood traveling, dancing, and living all around Australia while her father worked on the railways. However, it was a teacher at her boarding school in Queensland that spotted her talent, and encouraged her to audition for NAISDA, the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association.

And so at 18 years of age, Frances boarded a Greyhound bus and traveled the 12 hours to Sydney. In this beautifully raw and personal interview, Frances talks about her journey into dance, her incredible career with Bangarra, and finding confidence in her own body. But Frances talks about more than that. Her onstage connection with the late Russell Page, becoming a mum, and the pressure but also the importance of not only being a female leader, but a First Nations female leader in dance in Australia.

Listen here or find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify.

For our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners, this episode of Talking Pointes contains the names of people who have passed. Please pause now, if you'd prefer not to hear their names. The Page family have given Bangarra Dance Theatre permission to use their names for the purpose of this interview. And just a trigger warning for this episode, we discuss issues around suicide, so if you'd prefer not to listen or read, please press pause or stop reading now. 

Your host and producer is Claudia Lawson, additional production by Penelope Ford, with editing and sound production by Martin Peralta. And for the latest in all things dance, head to fjordreview.com.

Production dream team ✨

Hosted by @byclaudialawson

Produced by @fjordreview

Additional Production @clinttopic

Sound & Editing @outputmedia

Studios @brightsidesydney

@sawtoothstudios