32 Facts About Frances Rings

Frances Rings is an Aboriginal Australian dancer, choreographer and former television presenter.

Frances Rings was born in Adelaide, South Australia, and is a Wirangu and Mirning woman.

Frances Rings became artistic director for Bangarra Dance Theatre in 2023.

Frances Rings is a descendant of the Wirangu and Mirning Tribes from the West Coast of South Australia.

Frances Rings has a younger sister Gina, who is a dancer and choreographer.

Rings' parents divorced when she was three years old, and Rings went to live with her father, while her mother continued living on the west coast of South Australia.

Frances Rings continued to show her passion for dance as she created a theatre in her backyard out of water tanks, which she turned into a cubby house and decorated with curtains, as well as dressing up her siblings in costumes which she made out of bits of materials that were available to her.

At the age of 16, Frances Rings was living in Ipswich, Queensland, where she attended a boarding school.

Frances Rings decided to sign up for HSC dance as one of her electives.

Frances Rings said that she had an encouraging dance teacher who pushed her to do her best.

When Frances Rings was 17, her speech and drama teacher at school told her about the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association in Sydney, where Indigenous students are given the opportunity to learn about dance and culture.

In 1993, Frances Rings joined Bangarra to develop her skills as a choreographer.

Frances Rings performed in Page's production of Praying Mantis Dreaming, Ninni, and Ochres.

Frances Rings became the first choreographic Artist in Residence for Bangarra.

In 1995, Frances Rings went to New York on an Australia Council grant, to study at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for three months.

In 2002, Frances Rings made her mainstage choreographic debut with the choreographic production, Rations.

Frances Rings went on to create six more works for Bangarra, including Bush, Unaipon, X300, Artefact, Terrain, and Sheoak.

Frances Rings has danced in works by leading Australian choreographers like Meryl Tankard and Leigh Warren.

In 2016, Frances Rings returned to NAISDA as head of creative studies until 2019.

On 2 December 2021 it was announced that Frances Rings would take over the role of artistic director from Stephen Page in Bangarra in 2023.

Frances Rings remembers being fascinated by the way dancers were able to move their bodies and stated she did not know dancers could use their bodies to create such movements.

Frances Rings believes that because of her father, Rings developed her "connection to country".

Frances Rings mentions being influenced by the way her aunts and sisters told stories, specifically their body language, such as gestures and expressions, and how she is able to see them reflected within the shape of trees.

Frances Rings said in 2022 that she likes choreography that shows "clean shapes and distinctive physical architecture of body", that embodies the convergence of the spirits of culture, Country and people.

Frances Rings saw this as a way of bringing Indigenous stories, which had often been ignored in school curricula, to a wider audience, of bringing them into the mainstream.

Frances Rings wanted to incorporate imagery of Lake Eyre that she had witnessed during her visit.

Frances Rings took a tour with an Arabana elder, who showed her around waterholes and sacred sites.

Frances Rings had access to stone tools and ancient paintings that mapped secret waterways.

Frances Rings was influenced by literal ideas of elements that make up the physical landscape of the lake, and explored figurative ideas of human connections to land and nature which she incorporated into her work, Terrain in 2012.

Frances Rings re-staged Terrain in 2022, with the show touring Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane from June to August.

When choreographing Sheoak, Frances Rings was influenced by sheoak trees and how it is used by people to provide medicine, shelter and food amongst other purposes.

Frances Rings has starred in the drama film The Widower.