‘Holding Breath’ by all-female Aussie act Merpire is a captivating, dark but modern cinematic track. The driving beat and solid bass paired with eerie synth flourishes and haunting vocals provided our choreographer with an intense soundscape against which to design movements reflecting the subtle but powerful struggle between characters.

“It’s about the power of words and body language. About how one person who you carry your heart for can go from making you feel on top of the world to the depths of despair in a single sentence or motion,” says singer-songwriter Rhiannon Atkinson-Howatt.

Lyrics like ‘you are holding your tongue’ and ‘save her with whatever love you have left’ are a somewhat aggressive description of how this feels, speaking to the lack of conversation in our society around the issue of consent, and the importance of open communication during sexual encounters.

We asked women around the world to share the way they tried to say to say ‘no’ that were overlooked or ignored by the other party. 50 real women gave us 50 real verbal or physical cues they used to try to stop a sexual encounter. We then printed these cues on a range of t-shirts which were worn by female cast in an online film, The film depicts a series of scenarios where women did not give consent to participate in sexual encounters. The film then depicts different women in varying scenarios, with one man being cast to represent ‘everyman’.

Filming in a neutral warehouse space, the women and their performances drive the power of the film and the rawness of the subject matter.

On the 13th of January, the online publication Babe.net published an account from an anonymous woman titled: “I went on a date with Aziz Ansari. It turned into the worst night of my life.” https://babe.net/2018/01/13/aziz-ansari-28355 In the article, the woman recounted her date with the actor, which ended in a sexual encounter. While Ansari claimed he believed the encounter was consensual, his date did not. The woman, according to the story, used “verbal and non-verbal cues to indicate how uncomfortable and distressed she was” throughout the evening.

This article sparked heated debate online. Many spoke out saying the woman was assaulted, others said it was simply a ‘bad date’ and she should have ‘just said no’. What was clear, however, is when it comes to consent, there is a grey area.

50 Shades of No seeks to eradicate the grey area and educate men on the ways women demonstrate non-consent.