Welcome to the Marrow digital program

Existing part-way between rave and ritual, Marrow tears up the falsehoods of the past in a clear-eyed exploration of the smoky forms of Australian identity.

Here you'll have an opportunity to explore the ideas behind Marrow, ge to know the creatives and delve deeper into the smoky netherworld of the work.

A note from Director, Daniel Riley

Honesty. Generosity. Compassion. Now more than ever, these all feel like radical ideas. What if we all went home, to Country, unplugged from social media and took a break from the political news cycle for an extended period of time. What if we all began to think for ourselves and started to listen to our heart over our head? With this moment of pause, how would the environment begin to heal itself, how would we begin to grow empathy and understanding for each other and seek genuine connection?

Not connection that is masked in give and take, but connection that is compassionate and full of generosity and understanding. It is sad to think that these ideas may be considered radical. It’s this radical-ness though where we began the journey of this work.

“IMAGINE THIS COUNTRY AGAIN” – Stan Grant.

The quote above by one of our leading First Nations journalists and thinkers, was the spark that ignited this work. Following the unsuccessful referendum for a First Nations voice to parliament in 2023, I was heartbroken, and felt, as I continue to do, that we need to keep having conversations and opening dialogue that will move us forward as a Nation, towards an identity that we can all be proud of, respectfully and without prejudice. As a fair skinned, tattooed, urban living Wiradjuri Artistic Director of an arts organisation that has historically never entered into First Nations politics or stories, based on Kaurna Yerta, I acknowledge the privileges and burdens associated with my position and my many identities. I’m afforded the resources to have these conversations, but I also feel the weight of this opportunity, and the weight of history.

It’s these complexities that feed my sense of identity and belonging in this contemporary world. Marrow doesn’t have the answers as to what is next, or what a new path might be. We wanted it to be a pause and a moment of exchange to continue engaging with the complexities of our world. A chance to feel, very deeply, what a different version of an Australian experience might be, and to dream into a new direction.

At the outset of the development period, I asked the Company Artists to research and bring in any book, article, newspaper clipping, song, script or any other piece of written text that directly spoke to them about an Australian experience. From this source material we were able to dig into the words and context to develop a physical language that allowed each of them to find a character that could be used throughout.

Place, and the importance of it inspired us through the process also. By confining and restricting space, we wanted to ensure it also held a character and influenced the imagery and our stories, acknowledging that we are not separate from our environment or our surroundings, we are born of it and live beside it.

It has been an absolute joy to create this collectively. Thanks to James, Ailsa and Adey for your contributions and belief in the work. Deep respect and thanks to Uncle Moogy who came into the studio to share knowledge and stories with us. Continuing to share Cultural knowledge and stories is essential for our First Nations Cultures, and I’ve been very grateful to Uncle for the time he always has for me and the ADT.

ONLY LOVE CAN MOVE US NOW – NOEL PEARSON

This is a work borne from generosity, empathy, conversation and above all, love. We hope you feel and absorb some of this energy and carry it home with you. Thank you for supporting Australian Dance Theatre (ADT).

Yindyamarra
Daniel

Listen to the story of the Waatji Pulyeri

Australian Dance Theatre was privileged to welcome Major 'Moogy' Sumner AM into the development and rehearsal of Marrow.

While we interrogated the work, Uncle Moogy generously shared the story of the Waatji Pulyeri, or the blue fairy-wren.

This ancient story speaks to the misinformation and the deceit that sit at the core of our cultural
imagination or, rather, in Australia’s marrow.

Here you can listen to the story, which informed the development and foundational ideas of Marrow.

Marrow on vinyl

Take the rave home. James Howard's thumping score for Marrow is pressed to clear vinyl so you can delve deeper into the netherworld.

Howard has crafted a thrilling musical journey that cuts to the core of the First Nations Australian experience. Sculpted with the medium of vinyl in mind, the record’s first side is an inhalation of bated breath. Industrial techno rhythms and droning ambience paint a vivid soundscape of mechanistic oppression. Flipping the record over provides the offering of release.

An exhalation of layered voices, hints of melodicism, and space for healing, ceremony and reconciliation. Released on clear vinyl, Marrow continues in the tradition of Australian electronic music making while carving out new pathways for First Nations storytelling.

Through the Bone by Claire G. Coleman

Award-winning Noongar novelist, poet and essayist, Claire G. Coleman explores how Daniel Riley's Marrow seeks to cleanse, heal and challenge Australia in an essay which explores the symbols at the core of the work, the enduring power of dance and the subtle differences between 'rage' and 'rave'.

About ADT

We make rebellious dance.

Since our inception, we’ve expanded the horizons of contemporary dance in this country. Our work asks big questions, unearth untold stories and shake the very core of our identity. We create cutting-edge choreographies where the ancient and the contemporary collide.

Led by Artistic Director Daniel Riley (Wiradjuri) and Executive Director Nick Hays, ADT is made up of an ensemble of professional dancers, supported by a dedicated team of staff, ADT centres artistry, care and collective creativity.

We are based on Kaurna Yerta and take our work across South Australia, Australia and the world.