“An enlivening experience
that celebrates our earth,
our first peoples and
everyone else in the freest
way imaginable”
Lee Christofis - Limelight Magazine
Plunge into the swirling depths of a new civic ritual by Joel Bray. Bodies, light and sound entangle and loop to reveal hidden meanings in a reimagined corroboree inspired by ancient ceremonial practices.
Joel Bray Dance invites you to gather in a contemporary dance celebration inspired by corroboree.
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, 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, driving beats by Byron Scullin and otherworldly lighting and projection by Katie Sfetkidis.
Garabari was crafted in close collaboration with the Wiradjuri community in and around Wagga Wagga. The work is performed by five Indigenous and non-Indigenous dancers, with a little help from you. Join the circle and dance.
A key element of this work is that it was made in genuine collaboration with the Wiradjuri community in Wagga-Wagga and the Riverina. Uncle Christopher Kirkbright, Joel’s father, is the Project Elder providing oversight and insight to the creative process. The creative team spent time on Country yarning with the elders, offering work-in-progress showings to the community and workshops for young people. In addition, local Elders, artists and youth were invited to contribute designs, songs and stories that have been woven into the work. Garabari is a work Contemporary Performance o f scale, that disrupts Western ideas of individual authorship and, like a ritual should, feels like the common property of the whole community.
Joel Bray was the inaugural Choreographer-In-Residence at Victoria’s flagship dance company CHUNKY MOVE, 2021-2022.
Premiere Season: Arts House, Melbourne, December 2022.
GARABARI is in pre production for an Australian tour in 2025 and international touring 2026.
Contact Veronica@joelbraydance.com for more information.
Garabari is supported 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 through the Australia Council for the Arts, the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, BlakDance through BlakForm, the Besen Family Foundation, and Eastern Riverina Arts.
Joel Bray was supported by Chunky Move and the Tanja Liedtke Foundation through the Chunky Move Choreographer In Residence program.
Show images: Tiffany Garvie & Jeff Busby
Video: NoN Studio
