SMOKE

Image Credit: Tajette O'Halloran & Kirk Page

SMOKE is a new intercultural dance theatre work in development, created by Munanjali and Badu Island choreographer Kirk Page and Javanese Australian artist Jade Dewi Tyas Tunggal.

The work brings together First Nations and Southeast Asian performance traditions with contemporary choreography, exploring themes of fire, survival, memory, home and ceremony.

Creative development for SMOKE took place on Bundjalung Country in November 2025.

Through trance like movement, sound and embodied storytelling, the performers navigate the layered histories held within the body. The work reflects on how ancestral memory, cultural displacement and personal mythology shape our understanding of identity and belonging.

At the centre of SMOKE is the question of how we witness one another’s experiences without judgement. The work explores the complex histories of brown bodied people raised within colonial structures, and the ways those histories live within the body, influencing how we understand family, home and place.

SMOKE creates a powerful performance environment where movement, sound and visual imagery combine to reveal the body as a site of memory, resilience and transformation.

The project continues to develop through collaborative research between artists, designers and cultural practitioners.

CREATIVE TEAM

Co-Creator - Kirk Page, Munanjali, Badu Island in the Torres Strait

Co-Creator - Jade Dewi Tyas Tunggal, Javanese-Australian

Performer - Katina Olsen, Wakka Wakka/Kombumerri

Performer - Wayne Blair

Performer - Stuart Shugg

Performer - Glory Tuohy-Daniel, Indjalandji-Dhidhanu and Alyewarre

Design Consultant - Joey Ruigrok

Sound Designer - Anna Liebzeit

Sound Designer - Ria Soemardjo

Visual Artist - Aaris Prabawa