Questions of cultural, political and personal decolonisation in Australia and New Caledonia are the focus of the bold and breathtaking Le Dernier Appel / The Last Cry. Inspired by the New Caledonian referendum on independence and Australia’s long-running debate on constitutional recognition for First Nations people, this energetic inter-cultural performance examines the ways dance has been shaped by colonisation.

Six dancers express the anger, longing, frustration and despair over years of talk that has yet to get the results the Indigenous people of both countries want. With rapid-fire contemporary movement, acrobatic street styles and traditional Indigenous dance, the performers move across the stage to the backing of electronic, techno, future soul and ambient soundscapes.

Le Dernier Appel / The Last Cry captures the forces of decolonisation through dance – the drive for independence, the collapse of old systems and the vulnerability of a future standing alone. Intense and visceral, the movement gathers into a driving pace and an urgent call to be heard.

Presented by Arts House and Marrugeku as part of Dance Massive 2019