A call to join First Peoples’ care of Land — an urgent act for our shared future.
Preparing Ground is a powerful new language that dances the weight of history and the fire of resistance. It holds the warmth of family voices, quiet moments of care, and the heartache of displacement.
Three women share the stage, their bodies carrying stories through cycles of resilience and reclamation. Projections reveal a landscape that is both sacred and stolen, while sound and movement entwine to evoke a connection to Country for the audience, and for the performers one that cannot be erased. Over 60 minutes, Preparing Ground shifts between past and present, tradition and disruption, asking us to listen, witness, and remember.
Developed over six years through collaboration with the performers’ communities on their Countries, Preparing Ground embodies First Nations storytelling Sovereignty, and what it means to belong to a land that remembers.
This is a call to join First Peoples’ care of Land — an urgent act for our shared future.
Dates & Times
5 - 7 Sep
Duration: 60 minutes, no interval
Venue
Cremorne Theatre
Prices & Ticket Info
$25 - $45
Accessibility
- Assistive Listening
- Wheelchair Access
Important Info
Production may contain haze machine and strobe effects
Credits
Marilyn Miller (Kukuyalanji, Waanyi) - Performer/Co-director
Jasmin Sheppard (Tagalaka, Kurtitjar) - Performer/Co-director
Katina Olsen (Wakka Wakka, Kombumerri) - Performer/Co-director
Audrey Goth - Towney (Wiradjuri) - Collaborative Understudy
Victoria Hunt (Te Arawa, Ngati Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata Maori) - Dramaturg
Karen Norris (Moriori Maori) - Lighting Designer
Samuel James - Set and Projection Designer
Samuel J Pankhurst - Sound Designer
Aleisa Jelbart - Costume Designer
Simon Cook (Mamu) - Production Manager
Emma Holgate (Mandaburra) - Production Coordinator
Zara Thompson - Stage Manager
Merindah Donnelly (Wiradjuri) - Executive Producer
Nicole Reilly (Wiradyuri) - Senior Producer
Luke Peacock (Samsep/Meriam) - Associate Producer
Hero image by Sam James, Simon Woods & Matt Cornell.
Produced by BlakDance.
Preparing Ground is co-commissioned by Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), BlakDance and Brisbane Festival, with support from NAISDA Dance College, The Art House Wyong.
It is supported by the Australian Government’s Indigenous Languages and Arts program, and the Major Festivals Initiative, managed by Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body, in association with Brisbane Festival and Sydney Festival, with additional project funding from Creative Australia. Preparing Ground is also supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, Sunshine Coast Council and the City of Gold Coast. Additional support has been provided by Bulmba-ja Arts Centre, HOTA (Home of the Arts), Brisbane Powerhouse and Judith Wright Arts Centre