Mandurah DTX Studios raises awareness for domestic violence

The group performed a distressing yet eye-opening piece of choreography in front of a crowd of hundreds at the WA Performing Arts eisteddfod in Bunbury.

DTX Studios owner and choreographer Tash Kennedy said some members of the group were particularly close to a domestic violence situation, which inspired the choice of topic.

“A couple of the girls know a person who is going through something similar, perhaps just on a smaller scale, so we really wanted to raise awareness and hopefully inspire people to walk away from situations like that,” she said.

“We decided there was more to it than just dancing for trophies – we wanted to make a difference.”

The interpretive dance began with a real-life 911 call from a child, screaming into the phone as her mother is brutally attacked by her father.

Confronting music enhanced the fear of the moment, while a dancer on stage painted in fake blood mimicked the abuse.

While the dancer replicated abuse, others who represented members of the public, turned a blind eye to the situation.

“More people are starting to raise awareness about violence, but a lot of people still avoid the issue, so we wanted to show that people should speak out about it,” Ms Kennedy said.

The dance does not finish with a happy ending, as the abuse victim is shot by her rampaging partner.

Ms Kennedy said a number of the performers were emotional following the production.

“There were some tears around the room after the dance, but most of all we were really proud of what we had done,” she said.

Judges of the eisteddfod responded by rewarding DTX Studios with first place in the senior open age creative contemporary category.

The performance also inspired the WA Performing Arts committee to consider offering annual grants to artists wanting to raise awareness for issues in society.

“We were blown away – we knew what we had created was quite confronting and quite a risk, so we didn’t know what the response would be like,” Ms Kennedy said.

“A lot of people told us it was inspiring which is exactly what we wanted to do.”