Exxy

Making a return to Sydney Festival for the first time since 2018’s powerful Beast, Dan Daw takes us back to where it all began: a working-class Aussie childhood and the start of his long journey towards becoming an internationally celebrated, proudly queer and disabled dance artist. 

With raw honesty and scorching stagecraft, Daw lays bare the pressure of success and the fragile balancing act of self-belief, asking what it costs to stay at the top of your game when you’ve always been made to feel on the outside. 

In EXXY (slang for “expensive”), Daw is joined by three extraordinary performers who move like him. Together, they echo, mirror and multiply his presence, conjuring the tantalising possibility of blending in after a lifetime of standing out. 

Visually provocative, emotionally fearless and threaded with humour, EXXY refuses to offer easy answers. Instead, it invites us into the contradictions Dan Daw embodies: bold yet insecure, triumphant yet uncertain, longing for community yet determined to be one of a kind. 

Stick around for a post-show talk following the 7.00pm show on 17 January. The post-show talk will be hosted by Ebony Wightman and will last approximately 45 minutes.