QPAC

We pay our respects to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestors of this land, their spirits and their legacy. The foundations laid by these ancestors give strength, inspiration and courage to current and future generations, both First Nations and non-First Nations peoples, towards creating a better Queensland.

Preparing Ground means to prepare land for our future survival.

In 2019, leading First Nations choreographers Marilyn Miller (Kukuyalanji and Waanyi), Jasmin Sheppard (Tagalaka and Kurtitjar) and Katina Olsen (Wakka Wakka and Kombumerri) first seeded a powerful new dance project showcasing First Nations-led responses to the environmental devastation of colonisation and climate change. The work's development, which included a creative development in Brisbane in September 2021, will continue into 2023.

How can a dance work go beyond capturing and presenting stories of these impacts, and actually hold the space for reciprocation of knowledge, intention and Culture with community, for our collective survival?

Preparing Ground is more than a dance work with a conscience. Embodying First Nations protocols of respect and exchange, these artists express a unique methodology of creative practice derived from four different Nations in conversation with community and kin. Repeatedly returning to their Wakka Wakka, Kukuyalanji, Tagalaka and Kombumerri homelands over three years, these artists nurture long-term cultural exchange, listening to and learning from Country to engage with millennia of knowledge in land management and cultural survival.

Preparing Ground does more than embody the resilience of the world’s oldest surviving culture. It shows us how dependent our collective survival is on an enduring connection to land and sea.

Produced by BlakDance. To find out more about Preparing Ground click here.