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Brolga: A Queer Koori Wonderland Rating

★★★★★

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Saturday, 26 October, saw Bay 17 at Carriageworks Redfern transformed into a psychedelic spectacle, the latest incarnation of multidisciplinary artist and Wiradjuri man Joel Bray’s Brolga: A Queer Koori Wonderland. The interactive dance party, running as part of the 2024 Liveworks Festival, promised to fill every nook and cranny of the space with ‘light, colour, projected image and ecstatic dancing bodies, inspired by First Nations stories of the dancing Brolga’.

The brolga, known as the ‘dancing bird’ holds a lot of cultural significance for Indigenous Australians. Bray stated before the event that many Indigenous stories about the brolga describe its ability to shape, shift, and transform. He sees this as particularly symbolic for queer, gender fluid Indigenous people. Traditionally, corroborees were events where community members had the opportunity to share songs and dance in a ritualised setting. Brolga: A Queer Koori Wonderland can be seen as a contemporary incarnation of those corroborees performed for millennia.

Kicking off at 9pm, our self described ‘Aunty for the evening’ (and clad in an amazing silver outfit) gave the Welcome to Country, reminding us that we were on Gadigal land – land that had never been ceded. We were also reminded of Redfern’s importance in the history of Blak culture and resistance and so it was very symbolic that this night was able to take place there.

Set up around the cavernous space was a floor-to-ceiling screen displaying rainbow images reminiscent of an acid trip. Next to this, a crafting table filled with glitter, masks, glue, and tape encouraged partygoers to adorn themselves for the night ahead—a nice touch for those who might have overlooked wearing a costume out. It also provided an opportunity for early arrivals to chat and perhaps make new friends.

For the next six hours, Bay 17 truly became a wonderland. Drag performer and Miss First Nation 2017 winner Josie Baker sizzled as she danced and sang for the first performance of the night. Highlights of the party included amazing performances from queer artists, including drag performer Felicia Foxx and the gender-ambiguous DANDROGYNY. Compelling music from DJ Jonny, BVT, SOVBLKPSSY, Basjia and Crescendoll kept everyone on the dancefloor well past midnight.

In a deliberately interactive experience, partygoers were encouraged to roam freely, watch video installations, and take time out from the dance floor in the chill-out room, replete with bean bags and lounges.

Brolga: A Queer Koori Wonderland proves that Indigenous culture in Australia continues to thrive and transcend boundaries. Hopefully, we will see the dance party back in Redfern next year for another night of vibrant queer celebration.

This show is part of the Liveworks Festival 2024, which will be hosted at The Carriageworks Performance Space from 23rd to 27th October.

Follow the link to book in for this or any other shows during the festival @ https://carriageworks.com.au/events/liveworks-festival-2024/

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

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The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave

The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave Rating

★★★★★

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‘The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave’ is a dance and movement work that pulses with all the varied energy of an hours-long dance floor. Created in Auckland by queer, indigenous director Oli Mathieson, three dancer-choreographers in the cavernous Bay 21 at Carriageworks create such a concentrated swirl of storytelling movement that the audience cheers and hollers at the most striking moments.

Lucy Lynch, Sharvon Mortimer and Oli Mathieson move in mesmerising unison for the majority of the piece, making their moments of breaking out of it exhilarating. Stylistically, dance forms from the rave and techno worlds need personality, not just precision, and they bring it in spades. Their sneaker-clad feet hit the floor in such tight rhythm that the beat feels like it could be coming from their steps, not the booming sound system.

The lights hang low and blue as the trio begins in the far corner, moving even as we enter. People have their phones out filming and taking photos as we find places to watch from; the program encourages this. The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave doesn’t let up the pace once.

The soundtrack is the entirety of ‘Nocturbulous Sounds’ by Suburban Knight, an album with no breaks that flows through gritty beats from across the techno spectrum, harsh and pulsing in turn. The movements, as they take us through the experience of a 3-day rave over the course of an hour and a half, follow this same arc: elbows and limbs are thrown with both abandon and precision, sweat towels are lowered from the ceiling, and there’s crawling, rolling, grabbing each other’s hands like a life-raft. Their dancing makes you want to dance.

The sweat rolls off each performer, and the red cups they grab twice throughout the show to hydrate are thrown offstage to keep dancing. The minimal props feel mainly like tributes to different rave subcultures rather than specific features and are less important than the bodies manipulating them.

Of the Liveworks program in 2024, ‘The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave’ is one of the sexier, more high-octane offerings. There are strobe sequences, a brief and striking use of black light and transcendent performances from the three dancers. There is a wild commitment to every movement, and Lynch, Mortimer and Mathieson seem to have both the soundtrack and their choreography in their bones rather than brains. The delivery of the show is slick, despite relishing in the essence of the dirty dance floors it was inspired by, and absolutely transporting.

This show is part of the Liveworks Festival 2024, which will be hosted at The Carriageworks Performance Space from 23rd to 27th October.

Follow the link to book in for this or any other shows during the festival @ https://carriageworks.com.au/events/liveworks-festival-2024/

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

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