Joel Bray Premieres MONOLITH at Arts House

Monolith Arts House, 3 - 15 June, 2025 MONOLITH is a powerful new dance work by Joel Bray Dance that echoes and honours generations of protest and rebellion.

Together, five fierce Brown present themselves as obstacle and resistance to colonising power. They evoke a monolith – the ancient rock formations that sit-in the landscape and defy the deforestation and urbanisation of surrounding Country.

Wiradjuri artist and creator Joel Bray says, “Our Elders sat on Freedom Ride buses and in Tent Embassies. They sat and endured the indignities of rotten fruit and the brutalities of arrest.”“As we developed MONOLITH, we spoke about our Elders’ experiences, the power of silence and the act of taking up space. We danced together as a declaration of group power,” says Bray.

MONOLITH explores geological time and the cadence of Country. It includes a dystopian island designed by artist Jake Preval as well as delicate and driving beats by composer Matthias ShackArnott. While Bray is best known for his immersive and participatory dance-theatre works, MONOLITH is an exciting return to the craft of collaborative dance-making.

Arts House Acting Artistic Director, Olivia Anderson , says it is a privilege to present MONOLITH with RISING.

“Joel Bray Dance is renowned and celebrated for creating thought-provoking and electrifying works. MONOLITH promises to be transformational,” says Anderson.

RISING co-Artistic Director, Gideon Obarzanek says “RISING is where to discover what’s new in art, music and performance. Revealing a connection between people and land through his unique choreography, Joel Bray’s MONOLITH is a powerful and exciting new work.”