Horizon

There is a place between sea and sky — a sacred realm, where the sun rises and falls and the light is new.

From two of the world’s great First Nations comes a brand-new work: Horizon. Some call it a feeling, some call it the mother spirit. It’s the place where sea meets sky, the horizon we all look to, the compass that guides us home.  

In our first mainstage cross-cultural collaboration, leading Māori choreographer and Arts Laureate Moss Te Ururangi Patterson joins beloved Bangarra alumna Deborah Brown. Together they guide our award-winning ensemble in stories that honour their mother countries and the spirit that calls them home.

Brown is a proud descendent of the Wakaid Clan and Meriam people in the Torres Strait, and has heritage from far across the seas in Scotland. She carries strength and resilience from her ancestors. Patterson, born near Lake Taupō, is a proud mokopuna (grandson) of the Ngāti Tūwharetoa tribe, and describes his sense of home as something alive, a fire inside, that he carries like a beating heart.

To open the program, Saibailayg (Saibai Islander) Sani Townson expands his acclaimed work Kulka, debuted in Dance Clan in 2023, to make a thrilling opening piece, paying homage to Sani’s grandfather and his Torres Strait heritage.

Come explore the cultural forces that bind us together, across oceans and eons. Experience the resilience of the First Peoples of the Oceania region, that extends across the continent now known as Australia, the Torres Strait Islands and Aotearoa, our southern neighbour.

Horizon is a double bill opening with Kulka by Bangarra alum Sani Townson, followed by the primary piece, The Light Inside, choreographed by Bangarra alum Deborah Brown and Māori choreographer and Arts Laureate Moss Te Ururangi Patterson.

Running time: Approximately 90 minutes, plus an interval.

Video by Cass Eipper
Photo by Daniel Boud