This winter Carriageworks, one of Australia’s most significant contemporary multi-arts organisations, will present a compelling line-up of major new dance works and an accompanying public-facing program of workshops and events. Headlining the season are world premiere performances by Australia’s leading First Nations arts training organisation, NAISDA, and preeminent multidisciplinary movement-based theatre company Force Majeure.
From 21 – 22 July, NAISDA, Australia’s leading arts training organisation for young First Nations dancers, will present ATI: A Dance Reckoning Of Truth, Place and Belonging. The performance is a powerful declaration of survival and belonging shared through cultural and contemporary First Nations dance stories, vibrant projections and an emotionally charged soundscape of song and live voices. Directed by celebrated choreographer and NAISDA’s Head of Dance Deon Hastie, ATI voices the First Nations experience performed by Australia’s next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance artists.
Delving deep into the impact of inequitable systems and processes on First Nations people, families and communities, at the heart of the production lies the power of reciprocal connection to ancestral land, and the evocative spirit of Country alive and healing. ATI leaves an indelible impression on hearts and minds as it weaves together stories, memories, and timeless connection to First Nations culture and Country.
From 22 – 26 August, Carriageworks resident company Force Majeure will present its brand-new performance piece idk, a mesmerising blend of movement and story examining the private and public territories of the body and the nuances of navigating the multiple dimensions of consent that we encounter throughout our lifetimes. Directed by Force Majeure’s Artistic Director and CEO Danielle Micich, and inspired by her work as an intimacy director including on the Stan original series Bump, idk encourages exploration of the unsure and unspoken in human interaction. The performance features three bodies on stage interweaving movement and dialogue, while video cameras offer a curious different perspective and put the complexities of consent under the microscope. Bold, playful and intimate, idk invites audiences to discover the edges of their own boundaries and provokes a new way to continue the conversation about consent.
During the season on 24 August, there will be a special panel discussion with Micich in conversation with artists to delve further into the many layers and types of consent and unpack what audiences can learn from navigating intimacy in a professional creative setting. This discussion forms part of the Carriageworks Nights program titled Consent, supported by the NSW Government through the Culture Up Late Program, and includes performances by artists, sex workers and BDSM practitioners, including Sidney McMahon, Mistress Tokyo, Demon Derriere, Luke George and Weizen Ho and music by BVT and Haiku Hands.
Acting Carriageworks CEO Jonty Claypole said, “It is with great excitement that Carriageworks announces its program of major dance works being presented this winter. Both NAISDA and Force Majeure are at the forefront of contemporary movement and storytelling in Australia, and we feel privileged to be able to support the current and next generation of leading arts practitioners in their presentation of never-before-seen works.”
In addition to these major dance works, the accompanying public-facing program includes Carriageworks Nights event MOVE on 9 June, featuring Riddim Nation dancers responding to the architecture of Carriageworks. Using improvised gesture, rhythm and energy Tony Oxybel, Charles ‘Chux’ Montano, Jamie ‘Jazz’ Theam Kha, Gabriela Quinsacara and Tiffany ‘Soul Red’ Nung will move to the pulsing sound of featured DJs, led and curated by Azzam Mohamed.
Beginning 22 July, Carriageworks and Jannawi Dance Clan will present weekly cultural dance classes for children aged four to nine. Held in the Public Space during the Farmers Market, the classes teach children the stories, language, songs and dances from local Sydney custodians.
Resident company Marrugeku will present a two day symposium from 14-15 July at the culmination of their laboratory Dance and Cultural Dramaturgies on Contested Land. The symposium will share outcomes of two previously held dance research laboratories curated and facilitated by Marrugeku’s Co-Artistic Directors, Yawuru/Bardi choreographer and dancer Dalisa Pigram and Anglo settler director and dramaturg Rachael Swain. The two days will include performance excerpts and panel discussions and feature guest artists from the lab including dancer, choreographer, curator and scholar Mique’l Dangeli of the Tsimshian Nation of Metlakatla, Alaska and choreographer Radouan Mrigiza of the Amazigh Peoples of Northern Africa. The full program will be announced at the end of June.
For more information, visit carriageworks.com.au.
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