Frances Rings facts for kids

Frances Rings is an amazing Aboriginal Australian dancer and choreographer. She used to be a television presenter too! Frances was born in Adelaide, South Australia. She is a proud Wirangu and Mirning woman. In 2023, she became the artistic director for the famous Bangarra Dance Theatre.

Early Life and Dance Dreams

Frances Rings was born in Adelaide, South Australia. Her family comes from the Wirangu and Mirning Tribes. These tribes are from the West Coast of South Australia. Frances has a younger sister named Gina, who is also a dancer and choreographer.

When Frances was three, her parents divorced. She went to live with her father. Her mother stayed on the west coast of South Australia. Her father worked for the railway in Port Augusta. Frances spent some of her childhood there.

The railway station in Port Augusta

Frances and her father moved around Australia a lot. His job took them to Kalgoorlie. Then they moved to Albany in Western Australia. Later, they went to Queensland because of the warmer climate.

Even as a young child, Frances loved to dance. Her family could not afford ballet lessons. But that did not stop her! She made her own theatre in the backyard. She used water tanks to build a cubby house. She decorated it with curtains. She also dressed her siblings in costumes. She made these from bits of material she found. She often put on small shows with her siblings in her homemade theatre.

Learning Dance in High School

At 16, Frances lived in Ipswich, Queensland. She attended a boarding school there. In her final years of high school, dance was offered as a subject. Frances chose dance as one of her electives. She had a great dance teacher. This teacher encouraged her to do her very best.

When Frances was 17, her speech and drama teacher told her about NAISDA. This stands for the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association. It is in Sydney. NAISDA gives Indigenous students a chance to learn about dance and culture. Her teacher encouraged her to apply. After finishing high school, Frances moved to Sydney to attend NAISDA.

Dance Career and Choreography

Frances graduated from NAISDA in 1992. She performed in her graduation show. Stephen Page, who was the artistic director of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, saw her. He invited her to join Bangarra. In 1993, Frances joined Bangarra to improve her skills as a choreographer. She also danced in Stephen Page's shows like Praying Mantis Dreaming, Ninni, and Ochres. She became the first choreographic Artist in Residence for Bangarra.

In 1995, Frances went to New York. She received a grant from the Australia Council. She studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for three months.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in New York City

Creating New Dance Works

In 2002, Frances created her first major dance show for Bangarra. It was called Rations. She went on to create six more works for Bangarra. These included Bush (2003), Unaipon (2004), X300 (2007), Artefact (2010), Terrain (2012), and Sheoak (2015).

Frances has also choreographed for other top dance companies in Australia. These include the West Australian Ballet and Tasdance. She also performed for the Legs on the Wall theatre company in Sydney. She has danced in works by famous Australian choreographers like Meryl Tankard and Leigh Warren.

Internationally, she has worked with companies like Kahawi Dance Theatre in Six Nations, Turtle Islands (Canada). She also worked with Atamira Dance Company in Auckland, New Zealand. There, she was a guest artist and performer for their show MITIMITI. In 2018, she choreographed a new piece for Atamira called Kotahi.

Returning to NAISDA and Bangarra

In 2016, Frances returned to NAISDA. She became the head of creative studies until 2019. During this time, she directed five end-of-year shows. These were Your Skin, My Skin (2014), Kamu (2015), From Sand to Stage (2016), Restoration (2017), and Story Place (2018). After leaving NAISDA, she went back to Bangarra. She became the associate artistic director in 2019.

On December 2, 2021, it was announced that Frances Rings would become the artistic director of Bangarra in 2023. She took over from Stephen Page.

What Inspires Frances Rings

Frances's earliest memory of dance is watching Young Talent Time. This was an Australian variety show on television. It made her want to become a dancer. In high school, her dance class went on a trip to Sydney. They watched the musical Cats at the Theatre Royal. Frances was amazed by how the dancers moved. She realized dancers could use their bodies to create incredible movements.

Her first dance hero was Michael Jackson. Later, she discovered NAISDA. Then she learned about Alvin Ailey. His work greatly influenced her dancing and choreography. This happened after she spent time studying in his studios.

Choreographic Works and Influences

Frances Rings' dance works are often inspired by her childhood. She remembers her father, a German migrant, struggling financially after World War II. He grew vegetables and fruit in his own garden and orchard to feed the family. Frances also remembers climbing fences on the way to school. She would pick figs, nuts, and grapes.

She believes her father helped her feel a "connection to country". This was not from her Aboriginal background. It was from seeing how he worked with the land.

Frances also gets ideas from how her aunts and sisters tell stories. She notices their body language, like their gestures and expressions. She sees these movements reflected in the shapes of trees. In 2022, she said she likes choreography that shows "clean shapes and distinctive physical architecture of body". She wants her dances to show the spirits of culture, Country, and people coming together.

Unaipon (2004)

Unaipon was Frances's third work for Bangarra. It celebrated the life of Ngarrindjeri author and inventor David Unaipon (1872–1967). The dance had three parts: "Ngarrindjeri", "Science", and "Religion". Each part showed different sides of Unaipon’s life and work. The whole show told an interconnected story on stage. Frances saw this as a way to bring Indigenous stories to more people. These stories were often not taught in schools.

Terrain (2012 and 2022)

A signpost near Lake Eyre South

Stephen Page asked Frances to create a dance about Aboriginal views on landscape. She was inspired by her childhood trips to the Flinders Ranges. She also visited Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre. She wanted to show how geographical features affect people's mood and spirit.

Frances wanted to include images of Lake Eyre. She saw the lake full of water one day. The next day, it was empty and shiny. She also took a tour with an Arabana elder. The elder showed her waterholes and sacred sites. Frances saw stone tools and ancient paintings. These mapped secret waterways. Frances was inspired by the physical landscape of the lake. She also explored how humans connect to land and nature. She put these ideas into her work, Terrain, in 2012.

Frances re-staged Terrain in 2022. The show toured Sydney, Canberra, and Brisbane from June to August.

Sheoak (2015)

When creating Sheoak, Frances was inspired by sheoak trees. These trees are used by people for medicine, shelter, and food. Through her choreography, Frances wanted to connect sheoak trees with Indigenous stories. She focused on how Indigenous languages, customs, and knowledge are in danger, just like some parts of nature.

Other Work and Achievements

Frances Rings also acted in the drama film The Widower (2004).

In 2005, Frances was a member of the Dance Board of the Australia Council.

Awards and Recognition

Frances Rings has won many awards for her amazing dance work: