Short Films Screening With Amber McCartney

Wellesley Studios announces a special one-off screening of short films from dance artist, choreographer, and Australian recipient of the 2025 Trans-Tasman Dance Exchange Residency, Amber McCartney.

Amber McCartney is a Naarm/Melbourne-based dancer and choreographer. Her practice incorporates prosthetics, mask-making, film and practical special effects to create new augmented bodies.

In 2023 Amber premiered her solo Baby Girl, commissioned by Tasdance, for MONA FOMA. In 2022 she was honoured to receive a Chloe Munro Fellowship from Lucy Guerin Inc. She won a Green Room Award for Best Performer in Prue Lang’s Project F and was a finalist for Telstra Emerging Choreographer Award. Her film Tiny Passenger was screened in dance(lens), Dancehouse. In 2020 Amber was a recipient of Chunky Move’s Solitude 1 and created her film Softtrap for the 2021 Activators program.

The screening of Amber’s short films Tiny Passenger, Softtrap, and leech 2 will take place at 8:15pm on Monday, 29th September at Wellesley Studios followed by a short talk with Amber.

Please reserve your attendance via the link in our bio. (Instagram) / Please reserve your attendance via Eventbrite here. (website)

Amber will also be teaching IndepenDance class that evening at 6:30pm. To register your attendance please visit @independance.nz on Instagram or independancenz.com.

Tiny Passenger2022_Sugar, give me sugar._Choreographed & Performed by Amber McCartney // Cinematography by EllaSowinska // Mask by Amber McCartneyCreated for The Australian Ballet / Telstra Emerging Choreographer InitiativeSofttrap2021Sound // Morgan HickinbothamProsthetics // Kiana Jones & Amber McCartneyCommissioned by CHUNKY MOVE for ACTIVATORS 2021Initial development SOLITUDE 1 supported by CHUNKY MOVE & THE TANJALIEDTKE FOUNDATION

leech 22025_Terror has no shape._Choreographed & performed by Amber McCartney // Sound by AlisdairMacindoe & Robbie Downie // Cinematography by Cobir Orger // Costume byAmber McCartney // Lighting Design by Matt Adey // Costume Consultationby Aleisa JelabartSupported by Creative Australia

Amber has worked extensively with Chunky Move, Lucy Guerin Inc. and is a creative associate of Tasdance. Amber was commissioned by Sydney Dance Company to create ‘leech’ for New Breed 24. She received the John Truscott Artists Award for her solo Tiny Infinite Deaths, performed in RISING 2023, originally commissioned by Lucy Guerin Inc and The Substation.

Amber is the 2025 Australian recipient of the Trans-Tasman Dance Exchange Residency, a Residency programme in partnership between Wellesley Studios and Dancehouse Melbourne that seeks to build and extend creative relationships, networks, collaborations, and opportunities across the Tasman. She will be Artist in Residence September 29th – Oct 3rd and Oct 28th – Nov 3rd.

The Trans-Tasman Dance Exchange Residency is generously supported by Dancehouse Melbourne, Wellesley Studios, and Creative New Zealand.