Centring the rally of tennis and Krump’s passing the buck, 40-LOVE is an improvised dance performance set to the 2025 Australian Open Women’s Final between Madison Keys and Aryna Sabalenka.
How would you describe your show to someone who knows very little about it?
40-LOVE is an improvised dance performance that uses the game structure of tennis to showcase Vogue Femme and Krump. Freestyle in street and club styles is a challenging art form, and these two emerging artists have mastered it very well. Each performer plays one of the players from the 2025 Australian Open Women’s Final. I’m really passionate about aesthetic access, and the entire work is captioned and audio-described.
What makes it stand out, and why should people see it?
I’m humbled to say that I keep coming back to Fringe to make work that stands out and that is entertaining. I find that in Australia we have a funny dichotomy between entertainment and conceptual practice. Even though I cannot solve that on my own and all right now, the Fringe Festival is the perfect place to do something entertaining, fun, and obnoxious. I can always do something entertaining and conceptual; audiences come! What makes it stand out is how absolutely camp and how serious it is about being very stupid, smothered in joy.
What attracts you to Fringe?
What attracts me to Fringe is that it’s an open-access festival, and in Australia, a lot of major festivals are gate kept for independent artists. Fringe always opens the door for everyone, and I think when I make works that are more commercially focused and draw on my background in street and commercial dance styles, this festival feels like the safest and most joyous place to present that kind of work.
How long was the process from idea to writing to stage? Any challenges along the way?
The research has taken me three years, and now I am enacting my research.
I completed a doctorate in 2024 on my philosophy of Soft Participation and, within that, how to gamify dance practice. When I lose a game of Uno, I don’t feel so sad, but when I lose in a dance battle, my rejection sensitivity dysphoria spikes. Through my research, which I started in 2021, I tried to unpack and soften the boundary between winning and losing in performance, and to see whether game design could help me get there.
So, the research is 4 years old; this project began in June, and I’m still working on it. I am my own sound designer for this work, and that has been a humbling but super rewarding experience. I can’t wait for everyone to hear the customised audio description key where each video game sound corresponds with a different dance move.
How would you describe your relationship with the audience and what do you love the most about live performance?
My philosophy of Soft Participation is my Quran/Torah/Bible for my practice and rules of engagement with the audience. When I structure dance like this game, the fourth wall does not disappear so much as it softens. Our relationship to the audience becomes permeable, negotiable, and ultimately generous. The result is an art form that mitigates visible and invisible risk, centres access, expands who feels welcome, and returns autonomy to every person in the room, including the dancers.
Who would you say have been your biggest inspirations?
First off, for my inspirations, I gotta shout out to Caroline Bowditch, Melbourne Fringe’s Cultural Equity Consultant , who gave a stunning keynote as part of the festival’s professional development day. Her talk on access inspired elements of my performance, including the digital on-demand service so people who can’t go up the stairs at Dancehouse can watch the show in the privacy of their own home.
Now to the dancers, the beautiful muses of this performance.
Aremtiz aka Lil Antagonize, whom I have known for almost a decade, since she was a young student at KSTAR in the western suburbs. I watched her blossom into an adult, evolve from being a child protégé (please put accent) in Krump to a stalwart of the form in Australia. She, and her lightning-speed coordination of musicality to her body, is a privilege to work with.
Speaking of coordination, there is Chantal 007 Revlon, a member of the iconic House of Revlon. She has such a regal quality and, just like her counterpart in this work, is unapologetically herself and always brings her style to the forefront. She always has a story to tell in her hand performance, and combined with the concept of her arms being like tennis rackets, it’s going to be explosive, and it’s definitely going to serve—literally.
What are three things that would surprise people to learn about you?
I am a second-degree black belt in taekwondo.
I once danced for Guy Sebastian on tour.
My mixed-race heritage is always a bit of a surprise to people. My father is Syrian, and my mother is Cantonese. I love both cultures, and they shape who I am today.
What do you love most about performing at Melbourne Fringe?
What I love most about performing and choreographing—as I’m not performing this year, but I have in other years—is that a different kind of festivalgoer comes to this festival. There are a lot of curious people and, particularly, advocates for bold art that is relatable, and that’s why I keep coming back to this festival.
What comes after the Fringe Festival for you?
My dear friend Yiwen Xu, aka E-1, are performing at the ALTER STATE Opening Party on 2 December, presented by Arts Access Victoria and Arts Centre Melbourne. Tickets are free, and we’d love to see you on the dance floor. And I am also performing, so if you’re itching to see me dance, this is your next chance.
https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/2026/festivals-and-series/alter-state/alter-state-opening-night-party
40-LOVE transforms the match by using experimental and conventional Audio Description as choreographic instructions, abstracting bodily direction and technique through a collision of Vogue’s geometric precision and Krump’s explosive theatrics. By framing the dance within this game structure, 40-LOVE highlights how movement can empower performers and audiences through choice, response, and failure.
October 7 – 10
melbournefringe.com.au
