Skip to main content

SILENCE

8 – 11 May 2024

In the Studio

Dance

Through raw physicality, humorous skits, and a power anthem soundtrack, we disrupt the silence of a 250+ year struggle. The same questions echoed through generations. SILENCE pulls the Treaty conversation out from under the rug and slams it back on the table. Because the conversation about a TREATY cannot be silenced in Australia.

Is this the Commonwealth of Australia? Yes? This is your Landlords speaking!

Funny and irreverent and reverberating with power… If you think you know Australian contemporary dance, you haven’t seen SILENCE. With thrashing live drumming and a raw aesthetic, Thomas E.S. Kelly has combined intimate storytelling with significant moments in Australian history as SILENCE interprets an ongoing conversation for a new generation.

There’s silence between the stars as the Emu travels across the night sky. There’s silence in the dancer’s energy when they hit the cut, the rupture between rhythms and movement creating a vibrational glitch for the spirit world to enter. It’s also the deafening silence under White noise.

We have marched across our Country. We have had promises made and promises broken. We stand on a stage, to the beating of a live drum kit, as bodies thrash through white noise to continue the conversation. Towards action. Towards resolution.

Jhindu Lawrie’s audacious rock drumming full of dynamism, grunge and raw power calls back to Thomas E.S. Kelly’s choreography, in brash, yet vulnerable and visceral scenes, with Kelly’s trademark charm and wit interspersed in between.

SILENCE
CREATED BY KARUL PROJECTS 
Produced by BlakDance

Sydney Opera House and Karul Projects present

SILENCE is produced by BlakDance and the national tour has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, through Playing Australia.

SILENCE is bold and uncompromising

Richard Bell

A highly sophisticated piece of theatre, where entertainment happily weds subversion

Stage Whispers

High intensity dance meets live percussion

Koori Mail

Watch a sneak peak of the riveting performance

Trailer

Creators and artists

Choreographer/Writer/Performer
Thomas E.S. Kelly, Minjungbal-Yugambeh, Wiradjuri and Ni-Vanuatu

Rehearsal Director/Performer
Taree Sansbury, Kaurna, Narrunga and Ngarrindjerri

Choreographic Dramaturg
Vicki Van Hout, Wiradjuri

Dramaturg
Alethea Beetson, Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi and Wiradjuri

Percussion Composer/Performer
Jhindu-Pedro Lawrie, Mirning and Wuthathi

Performers
Benjin Maza, Yidindji, Birri Gubba, Meriam Mer and Tanna Island
Keia McGrady, Githabul Migunberri-Yugumbeh
Glory Tuohy-Daniell, Indjalandji-Dhidhanu and Alyewarre
Olivia Adams, Wulli Wulli
Tamara Bouman, Birpai

Music/Sound Designer
Sam Pankhurst

Lighting Designer
Karen Norris

Costume Designer
Selene Cochrane

Producer
BlakDance 

Other information

You may also like

Oscar©

8 – 23 Nov 2024

Christopher Wheeldon’s Oscar© blends history and humour in an awe-inspiring production about Oscar Wilde, accompanied by Joby Talbot’s score. A sensational addition to The Australian Ballet’s repertoire.

  • Dance
  • The Australian Ballet

Behind the Scenes with The Australian Ballet 2025

22 Apr 2025

Watch from your theatre seat as the dancers go through their morning training routine, with commentary from The Australian Ballet’s artistic staff.

  • Dance
  • The Australian Ballet

Nijinsky

4 – 22 Apr 2025

Acclaimed narrative ballet choreographer John Neumeier examines Nijinsky’s final performance, charting the rise and fall of a creative genius in vivid detail. He recalls his troubled family, his ill-fated romances and the transcendent performances that brought him fame.

  • Dance
  • The Australian Ballet

Checking availability