Leah Robyn’s residency at PICA will focus on the development of a new performance piece entitled The Game, a dance-theatre work that highlights the importance of women’s sport while also advocating for stronger pathways for queer and gender diverse people in sport. Combining dance theatre with the structure and dramatic effects of a soccer game, the artists will undertake training with a professional sports coach, research gameplay and draw on published text and interviews with women’s sporting figures, including professional and community players.
Since the success of the Commbank Matildas in the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the popularity of women’s soccer in Australia has skyrocketed. The Game will delve into this success to draw attention to the wide-spread necessity for equity in all women’s sports. The work will utilise the current popularity of women’s soccer in Australia as a tool to contribute to current cultural discourse and to attract a diverse crowd to a show about women’s sports.