Jianna Georgiou, who lives with Down syndrome, has been a professional dancer, director and choreographer for more than a decade. She shares her inspiring story – and the South Australian support that helped her get there.
The Ruby Awards are South Australia’s premier arts and culture awards, celebrating artistic excellence, creative achievement, innovation, community involvement and inspirational leadership.
Named after the late arts patron Dame Ruby Litchfield, these awards have been a significant part of South Australia’s cultural landscape for 18 years. Run by the state government, the Ruby Awards’ 11 categories cover a range of artistic endeavours, recognising artists, organisations, performances, exhibitions, festivals and community events.
Jianna Georgiou: A Ruby Award success story
One super inspiring Ruby Award winner is Jianna Georgiou, who won the Frank Ford Memorial Young Achiever Award in 2020. Jianna, who lives with Down syndrome, has been a professional dancer, director and choreographer for more than a decade through to her involvement with Adelaide’s award-winning Restless Dance Theatre.
From dream to reality
“Growing up, I always wanted to be a ballerina and to be on stage,” Jianna says. After joining Restless at 14, Jianna got to experience performing to an audience, which inspired her to keep learning. “I was also lucky enough to be inspired by various dance professionals, which I had a chance to work with,” she says.
Jianna says Restless “was and still is the reason I am performing and living my dream”. “Restless proves that even someone with a disability is able to dance and to perform as a career.”
Jianna’s career has been full of highlights, including stepping up as a leader as well as a performer. “Restless artistic director Philip Channells inspired me early on to try directing and choreographing. Peter and Lisa Heaven were my mentors for this,” she says.
Jianna says her time as the recipient of the 2013 JUMP Mentoring Program through the Australia Council, mentored by Lisa Heaven, was another highlight. That same year she was an inaugural South Australian recipient of the Creative Young Stars Program.
She’s even tried her hand at acting, collaborating with Sophie Hyde of Closer Productions and Kat Worth on the multi-award-winning film Necessary Games: Sixteen. “I think that was one of the most exciting things for me,” Jianna says.
Dancing around the globe
Jianna has performed in various critically acclaimed productions with Restless, both in Adelaide and around the country, at events including DreamBig Festival, WOMADelaide, plus the Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney Festivals. In 2023 she performed with Restless in Exposed at the Sydney Opera House, and this year danced in the company’s Shifting Perspectives at the Vivid Sydney festival.
Her international performances have taken her to the UK, Singapore and South Korea. She also performed in the 2018 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony with Archie Roach and Amy Shark.
Jianna is currently a star of the dance theatre work, Private View, which garnered rave reviews during its sold-out premier season at the 2024 Adelaide Festival, and is now touring nationally.
Meanwhile, she’s busy with new Restless works, Holding Space and Excerpts from Kontakthof. Looking forward, Jianna’s keen to direct and choreograph her own works.
The importance of arts in South Australia
“I think arts and culture are very important for our state and the rest of the world,” Jianna says. She emphasises the need for inclusivity in the arts, which allows everyone to participate and be enriched as spectators: “Without arts being inclusive, I would never have had a career, and audiences would not be able to be inspired to get involved in the arts”.
She says it’s crucial for both governments and communities to support the arts in SA because it’s something we’re famous for. “I hope that the arts in SA continue to be supported so that more people have the opportunity to be a part of it,” she says. “I think there seems to be a lot more artistic people in South Australia which means there are more opportunities to perform and view art.”
“I would also encourage young people to pursue a career in the arts as it has made me more confident and I get to do what I love all the time,” she says. Jianna hopes her contribution to the arts inspires other young people to do what they love in the arts as well.
Nominate for the Ruby Awards to shine!
“I would definitely encourage artists to nominate for the Ruby Awards,” Jianna says. “When I was lucky enough to win one, it was the greatest feeling of achievement.”
The Ruby Awards, through the Frank Ford Memorial Young Achiever Award, recognises outstanding artistic or cultural achievement or contribution by an individual young South Australian aged 30 years or under. This award category is open to arts and cultural sector workers, community workers, individual artists (professional and emerging), local and state government workers, not-for-profit sector workers, private enterprise workers and volunteers, and is a great way to raise your profile as a standout young South Australian in the arts.
If you or someone you know deserves recognition, nominations for the 2024 Ruby Awards are open until 2pm on Monday, 19 August 2024. Find all the instructions for nominating here.
