Ashlee Barton

Into the Maze is the first collaboration between Jane Karnowski, Amber Riches & Ashlee Barton. The trio are teaming up with sound composer Lucas Morgan to present the work as a Dancehouse YOUR WAY open season (Melbourne Fringe).


An immersive work. A sharing of visual arts and physical movement. Inhabiting the space as one.

‘Into The Maze’ is a new work that explores the physical thresholds of the human body and gravitational forces. Can we absolutely give in? Or only ever partially? What energy is created when giving in to gravity? And how is this transferred to the viewer?

Choreographed and performed by Ashlee Barton and Amber Riches, ‘Into The Maze’ is framed within a translucent mise-en-scene created by Jane Karnowski — a stage set drawn in charcoal, of pathways, mirrors and doubled screens.


Presented as part of a double bill with Nebahat Erpolat's 'Urban Rupture'. Performed by Alice Kristina Dixon & Rachel Heller-Wagner, sound by Ros Brandt and costumes by Christina Di Natale. 

Dates: September 23 - 26
Time: 8:30pm (running time 75minutes)
Where: Upstairs Studio

Book tickets at: www.dancehouse.com.au

A little about how the work came about...
The work started earlier in 2015 whilst working solo at Cecil Street Studio (Melbourne). During this time I was delving into physical research through improvisation scores that focused on the energy created by movement. I then became interested in how I would go about transferring this energy to a viewer. I have always had an interest in cross discipline arts works so I decided to ask Jane is she would be interested in collaborating on this project. How would we go about transferring energy through multiple mediums? From there we successfully applied to present the work as a Dancehouse YOUR WAY open season.  - Ashlee Barton

The total cost of the project is upward of $3000 and this does not include paying any of the artists involved. 

Costs include: 
* Dancehouse hire = $1925 
* Rehearsal space = $185 
* Set/Costume = $600 
* Documentation (video & photography) = $400 
* Fringe registration = $195 
* Marketing/Advertising = $200

The artistic team and I are using this opportunity to present 'Into the Maze' as a way of getting our name out there and to create the possibility for future work. As such, we are just aiming to raise enough money to cover half the costs of hiring Dancehouse as well as the costs to professionally document the work. This will help to take the pressure off the ticket sales, allow us to fully commit to the creation of the work and be prepared for the work's future post Melbourne Fringe. 

Our main challenge is not reaching this Pozible campaign target. The project is unfunded but as we've explained above, there are costs involved with putting on a show. We were aware when applying to be a part of the festival that funding is limited and this Pozible campaign may not be successful. We have factored this into our personal budgeting, however your support will help us when pitching to funding bodies to further this work beyond the Fringe Festival.