ABOUT
Ladyfinger was conceived in laughter, over a small but memorable and raucous dinner. It is the company name for the ongoing collaborations of Dawn Albinger and Julie Robson, who have been working together since 2000. After more than 15 years of performing, producing and publishing, we have formalized our endeavours and created this website. Ladyfinger stands for contemporary performance that is ‘hand made’ by women and gives voice to the female imaginary.
LADY
The word lady is a polite term for a woman, specifically the female equivalent to, or spouse of, a lord or gentleman, and in many contexts a term for any adult woman. Once relating specifically to women of high social class or status, over the last 300 years it has spread to embrace all adult women, though in some contexts may still be used to evoke a concept of “lady-like” standards of behaviour.
FINGER
A finger is a limb of the human body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of humans and other primates. Fingers are usually moved under conscious control. In humans, they are used for grasping, typing, grooming, writing, caressing, and many other activities. They are also used in signaling, as when wearing a wedding ring, finger counting or when communicating in sign language.... Aside from the genitals, the fingertips possess the highest concentration of touch receptors and thermoreceptors among all areas of the human skin, making them extremely sensitive to temperature, pressure, vibration, texture, and moisture. Thus fingers are commonly used as sensory probes to ascertain properties of objects encountered in the world.... wikipedia.org
THE DIRECTORS
Julie Robson is an artist, educator and researcher. Following her degree in theatre education at Queensland University of Technology, Julie worked in vocal, jazz and theatre ensembles, including a cappella troupe Sister Moon Ensemble, Tokyo-based jazz trio Honeybeeswing, and performance group sacred COW. She co-founded Magdalena Australia, a women in contemporary performance network linked to the international Magdalena Project. After her award-winning doctoral studies on siren vocality, she coordinated the Contemporary Performance program at Edith Cowan University. Julie was then a postdoctoral fellow at ECU, focusing on innovation and arts learning. She has served as a board member for the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, an Associate Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative industries and Innovation, and an adjunct Senior Lecturer at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Returning to Brisbane, she worked for Flying Arts Alliance, managing the professional development program for visual artists and educators.
Dawn Albinger is an award winning actress with over 25 years experience in creating solo and ensemble performance. Solos include ruthless, heroin(e), and No Door On Her Mouth - a lyrical amputation. Critics have variously described her work as “stunning”, “astonishing” and “bracingly comic”. She co- founded performance group sacredCOW and the women in contemporary performance network Magdalena Australia, and was artistic director of the 2003 International Magdalena Australia Festival, Theatre-Women-Travelling. She has taught drama, theatre, and performance at Griffith and Edith Cowan Universities, and gender studies at the Australian Catholic University. Her doctoral studies, undertaken at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, investigated the diva icon and its usefulness to feminist theatre praxis. Dawn regularly facilitates women’s retreats for High Spirits and is co-proprietor of Archives Fine Books.