The Sydney Festival’s celebration of Art’s capacity to connect, delight, challenge and inspire was on full display last night in EXXY, a dance performance setting the gold standard in accessibility and inclusion. Pre-show access, a breakdown of trigger warnings and complimentary ear plugs and fidget spinners welcomed a diverse audience who reciprocated with warmth to a performance that explored the vulnerability and exhaustion of seeking to belong in a world where accommodations for individual capabilities are impacted by expectations of conformity.
Artistic Director (DCCP), Co-Director and performer Dan Daw is himself queer and disabled. His experience of growing up in Whylla, South Australia, anchors the performance as Daw honours his grandmother for providing him with the space to be himself. It takes no time for Daw to extend that freedom forward by encouraging the audience to tic, stim or do whatever makes them comfortable. With that small gesture, we breathe a little easier as connection is established and we stead ourselves for the performance ahead.
A giant, lopsided billboard poster advertising the show is centre stage, including an image of Daw posing seductively which foreshadows both Daw’s cheeky humour and ideas of representation and visibility that simmer through the performance. Tennis balls hurl through the air, tearing through the poster like canons, highlighting the hard-hitting paradoxes of living with a disability. Daw’s success in overcoming barriers is underscored with the daily struggle of living with disability, expressed through the words “I tour the world but I can’t butter my own bread”, composed by Guy Connelly.
Set and costume Designer Kat Heath’s minimal set ensures the performers remain the focus. A rusted corrugated iron shed backdrop is balanced with the laid-back comfort of lawn chairs. Planted saltbush is strategically placed across the stage, later emerging as a profound motif representing the resilience necessary to thrive in a competitive world. Metallic grey costuming paired with heavy black boots adding an urban, rebellious edge that offers an exterior harshness to counter the vulnerability each performer exposes.
Daw is soon joined by Tiiu Mortley, Joseph Brown and Sofia Valdiri, who each contribute their experience of disability through their distinctive stories, voice and movement. Well-placed moments of humour balance with anguish to convey the challenges of navigating an uncompromising world. Lighting Designer Nao Nagai effectively reinforces these tensions as the narrative thread unfolds, and the audience recognises the relentless and exhausting demands of living with disability. This is a well-timed performance that reinforces the values of friendship and collaboration, the audience encouraged to participate and actively cheering performers and delighted by their success.
The final tableau is a moment of inspiration as the performers reject the pressure to conform, challenging directives aimed at maintaining the status quo to instead express themselves freely and in doing so reinforce the power of love.
Production photography by Neil Bennett
When: 15-18 January
Where: Sydney Opera House, Drama Theatre
Duration: 60 minutes (no interval)
