FOUNTAIN - RISING FESTIVAL - 2025

VCA Dance students pivot, step and face off. A Fame-and-Fonda-inspired performance, embodying the high-stakes mania of an audition.

Perspiration, inspiration and the drive to live forever (or, at the very least, catch a break). Choreographed by Phillip Adams, Fountain sends an exceptional group of dance and production students through the psycho-physical gauntlet of an audition. Absurdity mounts as the dancers channel the frenzied energy of a Jane Fonda aerobics class and the razzle-dazzle audacity of Fame and A Chorus Line. Retro synth-pop propels them across the stage. An eerie score of prepared piano, theremin, and bells cast a pall over the reach towards glamour and glory. Psychological and emotional limits are pushed. How far are they prepared to go?

Director & Choreographer : Phillip Adams

Composer : Jordan Gilmour

Dramaturg : Cam Appleby

Set Designer : Nethmi Oshadi Gunasekera

Costume Designer : Isobel McCauley

Lighting Designer : Andrew Thompson

Sound Designer : Jett Manzie

Vision Designer : Amy Todd

Assistant Vision Designer : Lochlan Maher

Stage Manager : Yolanda Box

Assistant Stage Manager : Lucy Christiansen

Technical Manager : Jackson Passlow

Head Electrician / Lighting Programmer : August Johnson

Deputy Electrician / Lighting Operator : Iris Donaldson

Sound Technician : Kirsten Drake

Workshop Head of Department : Georgia Formosa

Workshop Head of Department (Props) : Natalie Wing Hei Lau

Workshop Assistants : Grace Hicks, Eli Ismail, Melody Keys, Grace Lucas, Georgia Maynier, Anneka van der Velde, Toby Vasilić and Zac Waddington

Senior Costumier : Lindsay Gerhardt

Costume Manager : Sarah Haines

Costume Assistants : Megan Black and Astrid Brenchley

Dancers : Rikia Bell, Leyla Boz, Mia Canton, Sarah Ceraso, Flynn Dakis, Grace Galimberti Espinoza, Natalie Hardy, Jesper Harrison, Belinda Hunt, Indi McQueen, Brontë Paruit, Kitana Price, Toni Stathopoulos, Ava Sugden, Cassidy Thompson, Natalie Trainor, Angelique Van Kempen, Isabel Walsh and Keely Wood-Hill

Photography by Gregory Lorenzutti