Rolandi's practice has shifted in recent years to focus on researching states of emotional exposure arising from breaking conventions of form (both in dance and theatre) and the transgression of the traditional spatial boundaries between audience and performers.
His curiosity drives him away from conventional narrative structures into investigations of both durational and ephemeral improvisations where the story is in the mind of the observer and the performer exists in permanent states of discovery.
For almost two decades Rolandi has been at the heart of Strings Attached, the aerial-focused physical theatre company he established with Lee-Anne Litton. Since its inception, Strings Attached has collaborated with both national and international companies including Younnes Bachir (Spain), Touch Compass Dance Company (New Zealand), Cie Bivouac (France), Backbone Youth Company (Brisbane, QLD), and Circus Maxima (Mandurah, WA). The company has presented works at the Hoopla Festival, Underbelly Arts Festival, Sydney Fringe Festival, Backbone Festival, Carriageworks and Pact Theatre, reaching an estimated audience of more than 100,000.
From 2015, Strings Attached has operated on the lands of the Wonnarua Nation in the Hunter Region. This move to the Hunter inspired development of new and unique methodologies surrounding the use of custom apparatuses constructed from steel tubes and supported by aerial systems such as bungee ropes and harnesses. The company also began to offer residential training programs for artists seeking to deepen their craft in performance making.
Rolandi will use his grant from TiNA to explore the performance potential of exposing the body to physical forces like impact, electricity, wind, and other elements that reveal the vulnerabilities, strengths, and curiosities of the human condition. He aims to investigate all these states through informal improvisational performances, inviting peers, mentors and collaborators to witness and participate. Through these interactions he will elicit feedback and create links for future creative development.
Photos by Arkadiusz Kasperczyk.
