Local Artist Spotlight: Hayley Does
Published on 18 January 2022
Emerging choreographer and dancer Hayley Does is a recipient of a Creative Industries Professional Development Grant from Frankston City Council and her first major choreographic development ‘Don’t mark it, do it properly’ for OUT OF BOUNDS, is also supported by Lucy Guerin Inc. and Phillip Adams BalletLab.
A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, Hayley completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Following three years living in Melbourne, Hayley moved back to Frankston and is ‘appreciating it through a new set of eyes’, returning with a greater appreciation for being ‘surrounded by so much greenery, the fresh air, the parks and beaches’.
While the pandemic did not affect Hayley’s tertiary studies, many of her post-university opportunities disappeared overnight, including ‘plans to travel to Amsterdam to seconde with a choreographer and perform at a few festivals’, though she was able to work on Zoe Bastin’s ‘That Which Was Once Familiar’ which premiered online through BusProjects and will be part of Midsumma Festival this year.
Hayley found that the pandemic changed her approach to creating, allowing her to look into her own backyard and discover the ‘incredible diversity of colours, textures, patterns within her 5km radius.
Hayley was first introduced to the capabilities of creative digital media and coding in performance based works while working at VCA with Alisdair Macindoe and his AID (Artificially Intelligent Dances project). Through lockdown Haley found herself watching old dance videos and began thinking of different ways it may be possible to notate dance outside of the traditional video recorded and written methods.
"Data and coding is a tool that is a part of our everyday lives yet has very limited explorations in relation to dance, and I think it poses some great opportunities for the coming future."
Hayley found that the Professional Development Grant gave her a "sense of validation and confidence to allow [herself] to follow [her] instincts in where [she] currently seeks interest, rather than attempting to fit a mould of what has been rewarded in the past" and looks forward to her future works.
"It will be amazing to connect with artists from around the world and see how everyone practices have evolved over the past year. I am so excited to be able to get back into the studio, have a boogie, and workshop new tools and ideas the course sparks, and hope that it will create opportunities for more collaborations within my local community."
Frankston Council significantly expanded its Community and Business Grants program during the pandemic to support artists and creatives.
Designed to help artists and those working in creative industries to pursue their passion while delivering culturally important work to the community, they included Artist Project Grants and Professional Development Grants.
This was a result of the $6.434 million Relief and Recovery Package, which the council created to help Frankston City recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information about artist grant recipients and opportunities for local creatives, subscribe to the Frankston Arts Centre e-news.