Creative Development 2024 – Bundjalung (Broadwater)

The Smoke team wrapped up two weeks of creative development on Bundjalung Country in May, bringing together the growing creative team led by Kirk and Jade. We were joined by performers Katina Olsen, Janessa Dufty, Robbie Tinning and Stuart Shugg, and Assistant Stage Manager Sandra Byers. The two weeks involved returning to the sites and diving back into the world of Smoke, reviewing choreographic research and sections developed during the last development, refining our work to date and extending on new ideas.

We were joined in the space by Design Consultant, Joey Ruigrok who we worked with to begin developing a set design brief. We also travelled to Naarm (Melbourne) to join sound designers Ria Soemardjo and Anna Liebzeit to continue developing the Smoke sound design.

At the end of the Creative Development, we opened our doors to peers and collaborators from the region and connected with the extended arts community from across Bundjalung, Yaegl, and Gumbaynggirr territories to share the current form of Smoke.

What’s next is completing the work. We are looking at finding the balance of form and expression through dance, visual storytelling and text from an intercultural lense – Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Javanese, Australian. We are in the final stages of sound and set design before we head to market so we can share this work with audiences locally and nationally.

This creative development was supported by Creative Australia.