The Bill extends improvised performance practice through the sensibilities of Contact Improvisation.

A monthly platform dedicated to dance improvisation performance where moments of high exposure and fleeting visibility are caught in the flow of spontaneous production. Moments are made and remade, and failure is an option.

Happening at Dancehouse in Naarm (Melbourne), The Bill is curated by Two for Now (Emily Bowman and Joey Lehrer). At each event, an established guest or group is invited to perform in a double bill alongside Two for Now, for a duration of up to 30 minutes each, followed by an Artist Chat. The Artist Chat takes place between the performers in a casual manner where they delve into questions around process and practice, provocations, and approaches to making dances in real-time. This improvisation model is low-tech and celebrates an exchange between artists and audience, that supports the sustainability and continuity of practice, that is, practising performance by performing.

The event happens monthly-ish on a Thursday night and is 90 minutes in duration. This event is open to the general public and welcomes everyone to attend. The Bill builds on the lineage of Cecil Street Studio, State of Flux, Conundrum, The Little Con, Now pieces and other improvisation performance models.

Tickets: $80 season pass and $15 per single event. 

#1
7pm, Thursday 6 April | Two for Now, Kimberley McIntyre (NSW) and Joerg Hassmann (GER / QLD)

#2
7pm, Thursday 18 May | Two for Now and Olivia Millard

#3
7pm, Thursday 6 July | Two for Now, Peter Trotman and Andrew Morrish

#4
7pm, Thursday 3 August | Two for Now & Born in a Taxi

#5
September (Postponed) | Two for Now & Alice Will Caroline

#6
October (Postponed) | Two for Now & Paea Leach

#7
December (TBC) | Two for Now & Ros Crisp

About Two for Now:

Emily Bowman and Joey Lehrer are an improvisational duo [ two for now]. They have been dancing, researching, teaching, performing and documenting their Contact Improvisation (CI) collaborations together, for the past decade. Between them, they have collectively over three decades worth of CI experience.

Their practice has been supported by various prestigious national grants as well as residencies for performance research such as Tasdance (2017), Bundanon Trust (2018), Strut dance SEED (2018), Dancehouse Artist Cut (2019) and Dancehouse’s Emerging Choreographers Program (2021). In 2022, they presented their first full-length collaborative improvisational work titled Weathering as part of Dancehouse’s Season Two program.

As individuals, Emily and Joey have taught and performed CI extensively across Australia, as well as around the world (New Zealand, Malaysia, Germany, United States, Canada, India, Japan). They are respected practitioners of the CI form and key contributors to the Australian CI community. Emily is currently undertaking practice-led research (PhD) at Deakin University, which involves researching and performing CI with Joey.

The Bill is supported by Dancehouse and their Dancehousing program, and the Melbourne Contact Improvisation community. It is funded by a Yarra City Arts Engage Grant.