The Company
Rawcus respectfully acknowledges First Nations Peoples and their ongoing strength in practicing the world’s oldest living culture. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters on which we live and work and their enduring relationship and care for country. We pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging.
Rawcus is a critically acclaimed long term ensemble of 14 performers with diverse minds, bodies and imaginations. For over 22 years, the company has been creating audacious performances and arts experiences.
“world class theatre – sumptuously imagined, visually stunning and profoundly moving” The Age
Collaborating with a core creative team, Rawcus devises new work that expresses the imaginative world of the Ensemble. Drawing on dance, theatre and visual art disciplines, the work is crafted with a precision that supports the performers but allows space for their inherent sense of anarchy. Rawcus’ performance aesthetic is characterised by a marriage of intense physicality and arresting visual imagery. Rawcus’ work is sculptural, unexpected, beautiful, funny and tender.
“work that that leaves you feeling charged and changed” The Age
Rawcus’ work has won numerous awards and has featured as part of Dance Massive, The Melbourne International Arts Festival, Next Wave and Melbourne Fringe. Rawcus has worked collaboratively with diverse Australian arts companies including Restless Dance Company, Born in a Taxi, The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Chambermade Opera.
“For over a decade, Rawcus Ensemble has been quietly redefining the possible for artists with a disability. Under artistic director Kate Sulan, the company has built up a body of work of sculptural delicacy and concentrated presence.” The Age
Rawcus’ public program makes quality art works of meaning in and with the community enlivening people, places and perceptions
“So many people from diverse backgrounds worked together so well with kindness, support and respect to produce an amazing outcome” —Public Program Participant
Rawcus has been described as;
“a moving assertion of humanity with a wicked sense of humour” The Age
“a sense of adventurousness, a command of presence, and a frisson of unpredictability, a willingness to embrace risk and crucially, the critical rigor to make that risk pay off in aesthetic terms.”The Age
“the pleasure is in the spontaneous expression, diverse physical virtuosity, unpredictable leaps and turns and alternative communication skills”
Realtime
Rawcus was founded by Kate Sulan in 2000 who led the company as Artistic Director from 2000-2022