“When I was 10, one of my first memories of wanting to be an artist was when I attempted to make a miniature diorama of the Disneyland ride The Haunted Mansion. I made little doom buggies out of clay, had painted my own wallpaper and was figuring out how to build a staircase inside of a small wooden box my Uncle Norm had made for me. Before I ever wanted to be a dancer, I wanted to design roller coasters and theme park attractions, and for a while I wanted to do both. Obviously, you’re reading this either before or after seeing me perform so you know how that turned out. But this influence of Theme Park design has been a constant throughout every aspect of my work and gives a small insight into how heavily this ride has influenced me since I could remember.

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After returning home from visiting the attraction and the 3 months of solo travel that followed it in August of 2023, I was in a state of recovery. Before leaving for travel I had lost my Nan during a choreographic process and didn’t have the opportunity to take time off to grieve. The loss signified the closing of a chapter of turbulence for myself and my family that had taken place since my grandfather’s passing in late 2019. So, my process of grief was undertaken by myself, alone, on the other side of the world, and it was a huge process but one that was inherently necessary.

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Grief seeped into every aspect of my life, I would constantly work myself up thinking about all the people I was meeting on my travels, how I was having these amazing connections, and that I may never get to see these people again. I got my heart broken, sometimes of my own volition, and I simply felt encumbered by thoughts of the past and the future. My ghosts if you will. When I returned home grappling with this personal growth, and all this incredible choreographic research I had undertaken whilst I was away, I needed to get it all out of my system.

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I kept on returning to the idea of ghosts and how we all have them, alive or dead. It was at this point that my want to make my own Haunted Mansion had come to the forefront. I saw how creating this world was cathartic and healing for me but also for the people around me and I think that has been incredibly special. Choreographically I utilized many improvisational techniques that harken to my work abroad, with each task centring around shifting my dynamic perception of the world around me, creating new realities where my brain and body separate from one another in a state of faithful inertia. My aim when making work is always to make things that other people can relate to, escape to, and investigate, it’s why I call my works ‘worlds’. I fully believe this work has every little part of me in it from the sound palette, decore and tone. I didn’t think there was anything else I hadn’t already shared about myself before, but here we are.

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There are many people I owe this frightful display to, but firstly I need to thank my core team. I don’t think I can put into words the impact Caroline De Wan has had on every aspect of my life, she has been such a backbone to the show and her influence cannot be understated. The other members of Alchemy Collective; Hanna Instrell-Walker and Kate Burgess have been incredibly generous whilst also producing other incredible projects, this collective is one to watch. To Fern Mines, thank you for always giving such drive and energy to everything you do, and your technical presence in the show, thank you for being an anchor in even the toughest storms. To Kat, Tim, Chloe, Pete, and the entire team at The Mill we cannot thank you enough for giving us this opportunity and showcasing our community of emerging talent here in South Australia. I want to thank the choreographers whose artistic processes really changed my own ways of making. Jacob Jonas and the rest of the company, you gave me a newfound confidence that I didn’t even know I needed and reignited my passion to be a performer again, so thank you. Annamari and Ryan, your practice has truly changed my life and your mentorship through this process has also been such a beautiful presence, and I won’t forget our 2-hour mismatched time zone zoom calls anytime soon. To my amazing family, I love you. To the people I met along my travels, my friends past and present, to my liefers, thank you for giving me the fullest spectrum of everything life has to offer. Finally, to the two most important inspirations for this work, my grandparents, Len and Maria March. You better be watching old people. I love you and miss you.

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So, to those of you who are about to embark on this journey, thank you for coming and experiencing this show. I hope that you can find your own place in this world we’ve created. I hope that this can encourage you to chase after the things that intrigue you even if they are scary. But most importantly, I hope you encourage everyone to come and add their spirits into this otherworldly incantation. Just be sure to tell them to bring their death certificate.”