Frances Rings


Frances Rings is an Indigenous Australian dancer, choreographer and television presenter. She was born in Adelaide, South Australia and is a descendant of the Kokatha people. She is a member of the Dance Board of the Australia Council

Dance

Rings took a dance elective at high school, later enrolling at National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association Dance College and while studying, toured with the Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre and performed with Bangarra Dance Theatre, where she was previously a choreographer..
Frances joined Bangarra Dance Theatre in 1993, performing in Stephen Page's Praying Mantis Dreaming, Ninni and Ochres. In 1995 she took up an Australia Council grant to study in New York City at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Career highlights include performing in the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games, at New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of the Next Wave Down Under Festival, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.. In 2002 Frances made her mainstage choreographic debut for Bangarra with Rations, the first half of the acclaimed production of Walkabout.

Television

Rings has starred in the documentary drama The Widower and presenting television shows SBS TV’s ICAM and ABC TV's Sunday Arts program. She presented live-to-air coverage of the Corroboree Walk 2000 across the Sydney Harbour Bridge for SBS.

Awards

She has received numerous awards for her work including a Helpmann Award and an Ausdance Outstanding Achievement Award for Choreography.