Merrigong Theatre Company presents a BlakDance production
GARABARI
By Joel Bray Dance
A reimagined corroboree inspired by ancient ceremonial practices.
Garabari invites audiences to plunge into the swirling depths of a new civic ritual by Joel Bray Dance. Bodies, light and sound entangle and loop to reveal hidden meanings in a reimagined corroboree inspired by ancient ceremonial practices.
Garabari is an invitation to gather in a contemporary dance celebration inspired by corroboree. In this work, Joel cleverly crafts an open invitation to audiences to witness and engage in the work. Through clapping, call and response vocals, native fauna dances and the opportunity to celebrate and connect as a community through a large participatory dance – the audience are invited to be part of a huge and thrilling dance party.
Across the globe, First Nations cultures have harnessed the enduring power of rituals to transmit knowledge. Countless generations have undergone rites of passage that have left them changed – closer to others, and more attuned to themselves.
By returning to these unchanging rituals with new eyes, we are changed as we grow in wisdom and stature in the community. Garabari draws from this rich well of meaning to create a celebratory dance work that plugs you into this wellspring of energies. Garabari features lavish costumes by Wiradjuri fashion designer Denni Francisco (Ngali), driving beats by Byron Scullin and otherworldly lighting and projection by Katie Sfetkidis.
About Joel Bray Dance
A part of the current renaissance of the First Peoples cultures of Australia, Joel Bray’s contemporary choreographies breathe new life into ancient ceremonial practices. His works invite audiences to genuinely consider colonisation and create spaces for play, conversation and, ultimately, healing.
Joel Bray Dance was established in 2017. We create, present and tour high calibre works of immersive dance-theatre for metropolitan, regional and international venues and festivals. We deliver workshops, paid internships, work-in-progress showings/sharings and eldership consultation with First Nations communities in Melbourne, Regional Victoria and on Wiradjuri Country (Western NSW).
About BlakDance
Established in 2005, BlakDance is a national industry and producing organisation for First Nations contemporary dancers and choreographers. BlakDance is based on Turrbal and Yuggera Country in Meanjin (Brisbane) at the Judith Wright Arts Centre.
| Choreographer/Director | Joel Bray, Wiradjuri |
| Project Elder Uncle | Christopher Kirkbright, Wiradjuri |
| Collaborating Elder | Uncle James Ingram |
| Song written, translated and performed | Uncle Christopher Kirkbright and Letetia Harris |
| Lighting and Projection Designer | Katie Sfetkidis |
| Sound & Music | Byron Scullin |
| Dramaturg | Luke George |
| Costume Designer | Denni Francisco |
| Performer | Luke Currie-Richardson, Kuku Yalanji, Djabugay, Mununjali, Butchulla and Meriam |
| Performer | Chandler Connell, Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal |
| Performer | Glory Tuohy Daniell |
| Performer | Karlia Cook, European, Mā’ohi and Māori descent, hailing from Norfolk Island, Hitiaurevareva (Pitcairn Island) and Ngāpuhi iwi on the North Island of Aotearoa. |
| Performer | Zoe Brown-Holten, Dunghutti Gomeroi |
| Performer | Nadiyah Akbar |
| Performer | Siobhan McKenna |
| Screen Video Production | NON Studio |
| Additional voices and voice textures | Carolyn Conners |
| Joel Bray Dance Executive Producer | Veronica Bolzon |
| BlakDance Co-CEO Executive Producer | Merindah Donnelly, Wiradjuri |
| BlakDance Community Engagement | Nicole Reilly, Wiradyuri |
| BlakDance Production Manager | Simon Cook, Mamu |
| Tour Manager | Lucie Sutherland |
An artist living in Naarm (Melbourne)
An artist living in Naarm (Melbourne), Joel Bray is a proud Wiradjuri man whose practice springs from his cultural heritage.
His works are intimate encounters in unorthodox spaces, in which audience-members are invited in as co-storytellers to explore the experiences of fair-skinned Aboriginal people, and the experiences of contemporary gay men in an increasingly digital and isolated world. His body becomes the intersection site of those songlines – Indigenous heritage, skin-colour and queer sexuality.
Joel trained at NAISDA and WAAPA before pursuing a career in Europe and Israel with Jean-Claude Gallotta, Company CeDeCe , Kolben Dance, Machol Shalem Dance House, Yoram Karmi’s FRESCO Dance Company, Niv Sheinfeld & Oren Laor and Roy Assaf. He returned to Australia in 2015 to work with CHUNKY MOVE.
Joel’s first work as a choreographer, Biladurang, won three Melbourne Fringe Awards in 2016. Since then Joel has created solo and ensemble dance works including Dharawungara, Daddy, Considerable Sexual License and I Liked it BUT… Garabari, Homo Pentecostus and MONOLITH.
Joel is currently developing a new work Swallow, for premiere in 2026.
During the pandemic Joel created a multichannel video installation Giraru Galing Ganhagirri. This 7 channel work premiered at the National Gallery of Australia’s 2022 Ceremony exhibition curated by Hetti Perkins.
An artist living in Naarm (Melbourne)
Christopher Kirkbright is a Wiradjuri/Wangaboyn Elder and a member of the Shipp-Riley family from Dubbo. He was designated by Christopher Horace Riley as custodian of the cultural knowledge of his family. Christopher was the first NSW registrar of Aboriginal Landrights, a Senior Counsel with the NSW Aboriginal Legal Service and an early pioneer in the reclamation of Wiradjuri language. For thirty-five years he has been teaching Wiradjuri language and culture.
As Project Elder of Garabari he provides support, insight, connection to communities and supports Joel and the creative team as they navigate questions, ideas and politics. He also provides cultural oversight to Joel, to ensure that protocols are adhered to and to ensure everyone’s safety.
Katie Sfetkidis
Katie Sfetkidis is a lighting designer and contemporary artist based in Naarm. She has worked extensively in theatre, dance and experimental performance for 15 years both in Australia and internationally. Katie’s collaborations with Joel Bray Dance include: Monolith; HomoPentecostus; Garabari; Considerable Sexual Licence; Daddy. Other credits include: Ilbidjerri Theatre: Blak in the Room. A Daylight Connections; Chase. Amrita Hepi: The Act Luke George; Homebound; Fell; Still Lives – Melbourne. Melbourne Theatre Company; Much Ado About Nothing; Touching the Void; Abigails Party. Malthouse Theatre: Loaded; Looking for Alibrandi; SS Metaphor; Meme Girls. She is the winner of multiple Green Room Awards and has received numerous nominations. From 2012-2018 she was co-artistic director of Queer Theatre Company, Little Ones Theatre.
Byron J Scullin
Byron J Scullin is one of Australia’s most experienced sound artists and designers. His works, including ‘Bass Bath’, ‘Siren Song’ and ‘The Rivers Sing’, have been presented at art festivals both locally and internationally. He is the co-founder and artistic co-director of MESS, the Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio, a not-for-profit organisation that makes available one of the largest synthesiser collections in the world for use by the general public.
He’s contributed sound to feature films such as Wolf Creek and the documentary Freeman, as well as various contemporary dance and theatre productions by artists such as Lucy Guerin and Gideon Obarzanek. He has created numerous works for museums, galleries and public spaces, including the internationally renowned ‘Meet Graham’ road safety awareness campaign, Creation Cinema as part of First Peoples at the Melbourne Museum, ‘Wonderland’ at ACMI, and ‘Jem’ for Southbank Brisbane.
He/They
He/They
Luke George is a multidisciplinary artist creating work across performance and installation. With English, Irish and Egyptian ancestry, Luke grew up in Lutruwita/Tasmania and based on Wurundjeri Country in Naarm/Melbourne. Luke works with rope, tension, suspension and release. His practice examines how people interact with one another and relate to their environment.
Luke is interested in ‘safe spaces’ that allow for both care and risk. His work is informed by queer politics and communal spaces, where people are neither singular nor isolated. Bodies of difference can intersect, practice mutual listening, and take responsibility for themselves and one another. Luke presents work across Australia, Asia, Europe and North America, including at the Venice Biennale, National Galleries of Victoria and Singapore, and Arts Centre Melbourne. He was a 2019 Australia Council for the Arts Fellowship recipient, appointed inaugural Artistic Associate of Temperance Hall in 2020, bequeathed a Chloe Monroe Fellowship in 2022, and is a studio artist at Collingwood Yards.
Denni Francisco
Denni Francisco is a multi award winning First Nations designer and creative director whose work spans fashion, performance, and collaborative cultural practice. Her approach is to create pieces that support movement, story, and expression without excess.
For Garabari, Denni’s costume work was developed within the vision of Corroboree, drawing on fabrics and materials that echo those that might be found on Country. The garments were designed as adaptable components — able to be worn together in multiple ways — with ease of dressing and removal central to the work.
Her practice approaches costume as an extension of movement, allowing the dancers and the story to lead.
Luke Currie-Richardson
Luke Currie-Richardson is a proud Kuku Yalanji, Djabugay, Mununjali, Butchulla, and Samsep Meriam man. For over 14 years, he has shared powerful Indigenous stories through dance, photography, spoken word, fashion, and film.
He has toured nationally and internationally with Bangarra DanceTheatre and Marrugeku, working alongside artists such as Stephen Page, Francis Rings, Dalisa Pigram, Ghenoa Gela, Rachael Swain, Jacob Boehme, Joel Bray, and Wesley Enoch. In 2023, Luke debuted his choreography GEDOVAIT as part of the Stephanie Lake’s Escalator program.
His photography has featured in Vogue and Marie Claire, and in 2024 he won the People’s Choice Award in the National Photographic Portrait Prize.
On stage, Luke made his acting debut in Kalanga Atu (2022) at the Art Gallery of NSW, and in 2024 performed in Emu in the Sun, an Ilbijerri and Melbourne Theatre Company co-production for the Blak in the Room program. In 2025, he travelled to Paris with Grace Lillian Lee for Haute Couture Week, contributing to her Guardians collection, a bold First Nations presence on the global runway.
As a poet, Luke’s work has been published by Red Room Poetry and performed at Sydney Festival’s The Vigil and 2024 Blak and Bright program of Beneath the Sky. Through his multidisciplinary practice, he challenges perceptions of identity and celebrates the strength, beauty, and complexity of Indigenous culture today.
Chandler Connell
Chandler Connell (also known as Cheeky) is a young emerging Indigenous story teller from The Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal countries. Chandler graduated with a Diploma in professional dance from NAISDA Dance College in 2020. Since graduating, Cheeky has worked as a collaborating performer on the highly acclaimed Jurrungu Ngan-ga by Marrugeku which has toured extensively nationally and internationally, as a performer for Gary Lang’s NT Dance Company and has joined the team of Alice Can Dance, an award winning youth dance initiative created by GUTS Dance // Central Australia. In 2022 Chandler also joined the cast of Garabari by Joel Bray.
As he learns to rise within the performing arts industry, Chandler has been influenced by many surrounding Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists who have become his leaders and mentors. These mentors have and continue to guide Chandler on his journey as he continues to share, inspire and Gari Yala (speak the truth).
Karlia May Cook
Karlia May Cook is a Dancer and Choreographer of Mā’ohi- Norf’k, Māori (Ngāpuhi) and Pākeha Descent, currently based in Djilang, Victoria. Karlia’s practice is grounded in the embodiment of listening and honouring the ever- evolving relationality between her body her ancestry and the lands and water she grew up on and travels between.
Karlia holds a Masters of Dance, graduating from VCA in 2023 and WAAPA in 2021. She has worked with companies and artists such as Chunky Move, Joel Bray Dance, New Zealand Dance Company, Strut Dance, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Guts Dance, Julie Minaai, Bella Waru, Carly Sheppard and Alisdair Macindoe. Alongside this she has presented her own choreographic work two thread at Dancehouse, The Blue Room Theatre and Arts Margaret River Theatre. Karlia is also a founding member of the to-gather collective, a Narrm based pan-indigenous movement collective that is currently developing a new work tough love.
Zoe Brown-Holten
Zoe Brown-Holten is a (Th)Dunghutti, Gomeroi multidisciplinary dance artist, performer, choreographer, actor, and creative mentor working across contemporary dance and movement-led storytelling. Her practice is grounded in embodied narrative, cultural integrity, and First Nations–led processes, with a strong focus on character, ritual, and collective experience. Her performance work spans major First Nations–led productions, with her portrayal of Balana in the dance work Garabari by Joel Bray standing as one of her most powerful roles to date.
Zoe choreographed for First Nations Day at the Australian Open in 2024 and 2026. In 2025, she performed in Lucy Guerin’s Pieces, featured in Hush by Siobhan McKenna. Alongside her performance practice, Zoe mentors and rehearsal directs with the BoonWurrung Ngargee Dancers, supporting cultural transmission, creative development, and community-led practice. She is known for her grounded presence, emotional intelligence, and ability to move fluidly between performer, collaborator, and leader within rehearsal and performance spaces.
Zoe made her screen debut in Knee High Spies (ABC Kids) and has since appeared in Goolagong (ABC), informing her nuanced approach to character and storytelling within movement-based work.
Glory
Glory is a descendant of Indjalandji-Dhidhanu and Alyewarre Aboriginal people, in the North West Queensland and Northern Territory.
Glory Graduated from NAISDA Dance College, she then Joined Bangarra Dance Theatre in 2016 under the Russell Page Graduate Program, performing and traveling with them until February 2023.
The experiences that has made the biggest impact on Glory’s artistic practice are attending cultural residencies with NAISDA to Saibai Island and Mao island in the Torres Strait and Elcho Island North-East Arnhem Land. Returning shows back to country with Bangarra to Yirrkala, East Arnhem Land, Marree, South Australia and Thursday Islands in the Torres Strait.
In February of 2023, Glory made her choreographic debut with Keeping Grounded for Bangarra’s production Dance Clan.
2023 Glory has been on tour with Karul Projects in their Show SILENCE and Performing Lines with Hide The Dog.
Siobhan McKenna
Siobhan McKenna is a Melbourne/Naarm based dance artist. Her experience in dance spans working as a collaborating performer, choreographer, rehearsal director and both teacher or participant in various workshops, classes and residency programs.
Siobhan’s choreographic work and practice has been supported by organisations and venues such as Sydney Dance Company, Dancehouse, Temperance Hall, Lucy Guerin Inc., The Substation, Dance Massive, Darebin Arts, The Gunpowder Trading Post and Critical Path, Australian Dance Theatre and the Tanja Liedtke Foundation, and ImpulsTanz (Vienna). Both of Siobhan’s work’s Utterance and Rhythmic Fictions were nominated for Best Choreography in the 2019 and 2022 Green Room Awards and in 2022, Siobhan was incredibly humbled to receive an independent artist fellowship from the late Chloe Munro AO and Lucy Guerin Inc.
Kiarn Doyle
Kiarn Doyle is a proud man from Dunghutti Nation (Grandmother’s Country). He was born on Bundjalung country and grew up on Darug / Gundungurra Country.
He Danced with Bangarra Dance Theatre for 5 years from 2020 and was a guest artist with WA Ballet (Quarry season), 2025.
Nadiyah Akbar
Nadiyah Akbar (she/her) is a contemporary dancer born and raised on Gadigal land with proud heritage to Pakistan and Bangladesh. Nadiyah has lived and worked across Aotearoa and Australia. She is a frequent collaborator with Joel Bray Dance (Garabari, MONOLITH, Considerable Sexual Licence, Brolga: Queer Koori Wonderland). After graduating from the New Zealand School of Dance (2017-2019) she spent two years dancing for Footnote New Zealand Dance. In 2024 Nadiyah Performed MOTH’s work Belle: A Performance of Air at the Aotearoa Festival of the Arts and Sue Healey’s AFTERWORLD at the Sydney festival.
As a choreographer, Nadiyah creates works under a2 Company, a dance and theatre company she co-directs with Ben Ashby. Since 2023 they’ve made three major works with a core focus on community activism which have toured Australia and Aotearoa to critical success including winning Best Theatre at Melbourne Fringe and The Excellence in Movement award at the Wellington Theatre Awards.
| Artistic Director / CEO | Simon Hinton |
| General Manager | Rachel Francis |
| Executive Team Coordinator | Nicole McLennan |
| Artistic Development Manager | Leland Kean |
| Producer – New Works & Touring | Annie Clapton |
| First Nations Emerging Producer | Lillie Paton |
| First Nations Engagement Coordinator | Danielle Moylan |
| Director – Strangeways Ensemble | Anne-Louise Rentell |
| Artistic Associate – Artist Wellbeing | Bonnie Curtis |
| Program Manager | Penny Watts |
| Program Coordinator – Artistic & Strategic | Samson Soulsby |
| Program Coordinator – Hirer Events | Dayna Huber & Jasmina Naumovski |
| Brand & Audience Strategy Manager | Amandine Durrant |
| Marketing Manager | Samantha Conridge |
| Marketing Coordinator – Artistic | Grace De Liseo |
| Marketing Coordinator – Digital Content | Mina Albert |
| Marketing Coordinator – Strategic & Development | Eileen Stapleton |
| Production & Technical Manager | Pip Rigter |
| Technical Lead | Elly Upsall |
| Senior Lighting Technician | Corey Potter |
| Technical Coordinator | Hayley Metcalf |
| Theatre Technician | Annika Bertinat |
| Facilities Coordinator | James Clarke |
| Box Office Manager | Linda Hanbury |
| Box Office Supervisor | Eliza Swan |
| Food & Beverage Services Manager | Kellie George |
| Food & Beverage Supervisor | Graeme McLuskey |
| Front of House Manager | Flynn Mapplebeck |
| Finance & Business Manager | Eleise Hale |
| Accounts Coordinator | Janki Dave & Jeannine Mulligan |
Key Information
To ensure patrons enjoy the performance, management asks you to note:
• Switch off alarms and mobile phones prior to the performance
The management reserves the right to refuse admission and ask patrons to leave, also to make any alterations to the cast which may be rendered necessary by illness or other unavoidable causes.
Patrons are advised that the WOLLONGONG TOWN HALL has an EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURE, a FIRE ALARM system and EXIT passageways. In case of an alert, patrons should remain calm, look for the closest GREEN EXIT sign, listen to and comply with directions given by the trained in-house attendants and move in an orderly fashion to the open spaces outside the building.
The Illawarra Performing Arts Centre is a company limited by guarantee and supported by Wollongong City Council.
Garabari has been created through collaboration with Wiradjuri Elders, artists, language custodians, and community members. We respectfully acknowledge the sovereignty of Wiradjuri Country and the cultural authority of those who have generously led and contributed to this work.
This work contains and embodies Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property, including the Story of the Making of the Murrumbidgee, gifted to the project by the late Uncle James Ingram. We honour Uncle James as the cultural custodian of this story and respectfully acknowledge his recent passing. His legacy, wisdom, and generosity are carried throughout this Garabari.
We advise First Nations audiences that this work contains the name and contributions of a respected Elder who has passed away. This acknowledgement is made with the consent and guidance of his family and community.
All ICIP remains the property of the community and is held with care, consent, and cultural accountability. Garabari has been developed in accordance with First Nations Protocols and guided by community-determined principles of attribution, agency, and cultural leadership. The artists, presenters, and partners honour the integrity of cultural knowledge and recognise that its use and transmission must be guided by the community from which it comes.
We acknowledge with deep respect the following Elders as cultural authorities whose leadership, stories, language, and generosity form the heart of this Garabari:
Uncle James Ingram – Custodian of the Story of the Making of the Murrumbidgee (dec.)
Uncle Christopher Kirkbright – Project Elder, Wiradjuri language custodian, song writer and performer
Aunty Cheryl Penrith – Senior Knowledge Holder and Community Leader
Aunty Mary Atkinson – Senior Knowledge Holder and Community Leader
Aunty Jackie Ingram – Senior Knowledge Holder and Community Leader
We also acknowledge the many collaborators who contributed to the respectful development and presentation of this work:
Letetia Harris – Song translation and performance
All cast, creatives, crew, and community members who upheld cultural safety, kinship values, and artistic integrity across every stage of Garabari’s development
This Garabari exists because of the collective strength, generosity, and cultural leadership of the Wagga Wagga community. We offer our deepest respect and thanks.
Garabari is produced by Joel Bray Dance with the tour produced by BlakDance. The national tour has received financial assistance from the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.
Garabari was commissioned by Chunky Move with the support of the Tanja Liedtke Foundation, and received support through the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund – an Australian Government initiative, the Australian Government through the Indigenous Languages and Arts program and Creative Australia, the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, BlakDance, the Besen Family Foundation, Arts House, Eastern Riverina Arts, Lucy Guerin Inc and WXYZ Studios. It premiered in 2022 at Arts House Melbourne, presented by Arts House, Chunky Move and Joel Bray Dance
Merrigong is dedicated to delivering experiences that are relevant and impactful to the diverse people of our region. We invest in a range of programs with community groups, schools and artists that deliver tangible outcomes through paid residencies, employment and the development of new theatre work.
There are many ways that you can support this work, from tax-deductible donations, to corporate partnerships, to becoming part of our team of highly-valued volunteers. Your contribution can help us build a brighter future for artists, audiences and our community.
