Blak Futures
Australian Dance Theatre, BlakDance and Adelaide Festival are thrilled to announce Caleena Sansbury and Rikki Wilson as the recipients of the 2025 Blak Futures Residencies.
Caleena Sansbury’s Mulammar and Rikki Wilson’s I Am Pirbilya are united by an ambition to unearth complex black histories through a feminine lens, bringing the stories of remarkable women to the stage. Both works-in-development are at once personal, poignant, and complex portraits of the resilience of First Nations people and artists.
The Blak Futures residencies will give each artist access to a fully subsidised space, technical support, mentoring from ADT and BlakDance, access to Cultural Eldership and $10,000 to continue development of their work.
Read on to learn more about Rikki and Caleena and their projects.
Mullamar by Caleena Sansbury
Mullamar is a new project by Caleena Sansbury, in collaboration with Adrianne Semmens and Kaine Sultan Babij, aiming to create a rich, multidimensional exploration of her great-grandmother Mary Cooper’s life.
By blending storytelling, physical movement, and projection, this creative development will investigate the personal and systemic challenges faced by Aboriginal people in the 1940s, highlighting their resilience and cultural significance.
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About Caleena Sansbury
Caleena Sansbury is a distinguished First Nations artist and cultural leader, with Ngarrindjeri, Narungga, and Kaurna heritage. Her work spans choreography, performance, and arts management, drawing from her cultural roots to explore identity and storytelling through contemporary performance. A graduate of NAISDA Dance College, Caleena has worked with renowned figures in Australian performance, including Vicki Van Hout (Long Grass, Les Festivities Lubrufier), Thomas E. S. Kelly ((MIS)CONCEIVE), and Karul Projects (SSSHIFT).
Her diverse career includes acting and physical performance in productions such as InSite Arts' Saltbush and Our Corka Bubs, and Polyglot Theatre's Tangled. Caleena also showcased her talent in the physical theatre work, The Man with the Iron Neck (Legs On the Wall).
Beyond performance, Caleena is a producer and arts leader, having contributed to the Melbourne Fringe (2018) and toured with works like Jacob Boheme’s Gurranda (2024) and Taree Sansbury’s Mi:wi (2019).
Currently, she coordinates the First Nations Dance Program at an award-winning multidisciplinary arts organisation, The Mill. As a lead artist, Caleena is dedicated to creating spaces for authentic Indigenous storytelling, guiding emerging dancers, and contributing to the ongoing conversation about cultural resilience and the future of Indigenous art.
I am Pirbilya by Rikki Wilson
"Pirbilya" - A Journey Back to HERstory
Pirbilya embarks on a profound journey that reconnects the past with the present, tracing the matriarchal lineage of our Wirangu bloodlines.
Guided by ancestors, back to HERstory, as we reach out to the branches of the family tree. This production brings forth the powerful women of our line, who come together to retrace, converse, and share the wisdom of our culture, stories, and knowledge honouring the womb from which we were all birthed.
From the rocky country to the soft sands and saltwater, we trace the veins of our country, discovering our connections to each other and to ourselves.
In this celebration of the Matriarch, we stand united in strength, resilience, and heritage. Pirbilya is a declaration, a reminder, and a testament that WE are, and I AM, the continuation of these bloodlines —a living, breathing part of the land, the water, and the stories that bind us
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About Rikki Wilson
A proud Narungga, Adnyamthanha, Wirangu, Kokotha woman with a foundation rooted in her cultural heritage, she has honed her craft under the mentorship of a diverse range of established dancers, composers, and cultural authorities within her community.
These experiences have fostered a deep sense of identity, allowing her to blend contemporary dance with the rich traditions of her lineage.
Key experiences include, works with Tjarutja Dance Theatre Collective led by Gina Rings, as a performer and performed at Dance Rites, Fringe production; Inma, Dancer in ADT; Raw.
She continues to pursue creative expression through her lineage and cultural heritage, ensuring that her work remains a reflection of her identity and an inspiration to future generations.
In a revolutionary moment for Australian dance, Blak Futures was an unprecedented two-day event that saw First Nations Artistic Directors of multi-year funded dance companies gather on Kaurna Yerta to plant the seeds of the future of Blak dance and artistry.
Facilitated by Marilyn Miller and Wesley Enoch AM, Blak Futures saw Gary Lang (NT Dance Company), Frances Rings (Bangarra Dance Theatre), Jacob Boehme (Idja Dance Theatre), Dalisa Pigram (Marrugeku), Daniel Riley (Australian Dance Theatre), Joel Bray (Joel Bray Dance), Katina Olsen (Dance Makers Collective) and Thomas E.S Kelly and Taree Sansbury (Karul Projects) commune, consult and collaborate with artists, producers, government stakeholders, industry members, and First Nations Elders and artists to mark this moment and look boldly forward.
The 2024 iteration of Blak Futures saw the creation of two collective statements, one speaking to the national priorities of the Blak dance sector and one crafted specifically for the South Australian landscape. These statements are a galvanising call for change that seek to build a sustainable, diverse, and thriving sector that prioritises care, collaboration and creative risk taking. The learnings, ideas and provocations arising from these statements were presented to audiences at a public roundtable discussion that was held on the final day of the 2024 Adelaide Festival.
Noting the incredible history of dance, particularly Blak Dance, in this country, Blak Futures is a starting point that sees some of the nation’s finest artists weave together their collective experience to spark change and ignite important conversations about our cultural landscape, supporting the development of Blak artists, audiences, authentic community consultation and connection, and the development of infrastructure that will have ripple effects for artists in every corner of the community.
Read the StatementsBlak Futures is an initiative by Australian Dance Theatre, BlakDance and Adelaide Festival. We acknowledge the support of CreateSA and the South Australian First Nations community.
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2024 Blak Futures Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the generous contributions of South Australian First Nations artists, industry and community members who provided invaluable insight into the local ecology. We would also like to thank Uncle Rex Angie (Narungga, Kaurna, Bungala, Nauo, Wirangu, Ngadjuri), Aunty Deanna Newchurch (Narungga, Kaurna, Adnyamathanha, Ngaduri, Ngarrindjeri) and Uncle Eddie Newchurch (Narungga, Kaurna, Adnyamathanha, Ngaduri, Ngarrinderi) from Idja Dance Theatre for their Eldership, care, and guidance throughout Blak Futures.
We would like to thank representatives from Arts South Australia, Creative Australia and performing arts companies from all over Australia for attending and supporting Blak Futures. We acknowledge that dance, particularly Blak dance, involves a rich tapestry of artists, creatives, makers, Elders and community members. It is a diverse and thrilling area of arts practice. These statements are a starting point, a kernel of provocation and advocacy that seek to start a conversation with a broad range of creators across the nation through continued consultation. We thank all working in the sector for their artistry, passion and perseverance in creating work that sparks inspiration and connects audiences to culture and country.
Blak Futures 2024 was co-presented by Australian Dance Theatre, BlakDance and Adelaide Festival as part of the Time to Talk Series. The program was generously supported by Arts South Australia. The gathering was held at The Odeon from 16 - 17 March 2024, coinciding with the final weekend of the 2024 Adelaide Festival and the world premiere season of Daniel Riley’s Marrow.
