INDance

INDance returns to the Neilson Studio in 2026 for its fifth year, presenting Emma Harrison’s High Octane, Jenni Large’s Wet Hard Long, Christopher Gurusamy’s 5 Arrows and Oli Mathiesen’s The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave.

Drawing inspiration from V8 racing, rave culture, love, desire and feminine resilience, INDance 2026 features of four bold independent choreographers shaping contemporary Australian dance today.

Emma Harrison’s High Octane (“★★★★★” Stagedoor podcast), is a visceral exploration of ambition, success, class and hypermasculinity. Blending, rigorous physicality, music and early-2000s-inspired visuals with a powerhouse trio of performers, High Octane interrogates the price of success and the forces that shape our identities.

On the same night, see Jenni Large’s Wet Hard Long (“★★★★” The Age), where two dancers navigate exacting feats atop eight-inch heels, contending with obstacles and objects in a slippery endurance piece that challenges both performers and audiences. Wet Hard Long subverts narratives around sex, power, identity, and consent, delivering a provocative, jaw-clenching meditation on the demands and triumphs of the femme body.

In week two, we have 5 Arrows from Internationally acclaimed Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer Christopher Gurusamy. 5 Arrows oscillates between lyrical Bharatanatyam and abstract embodied gestures. The work explores love, lust, and longing while critically reimagining how ancient forms can be recontextualised in Australia. Premiered to sold-out audiences in 2025, 5 Arrows celebrates Christopher’s lived history; a performance that bridges classical technique with contemporary expression and is both deeply personal and universally resonant.

Finally, Oli Mathieson’s award-winning work The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave (“★★★★” The Guardian), is an electrifying endurance-based performance exploring rave culture, techno music and the limits of the human body, with a soundtrack of Suburban Knight’s booming Nocturbulous Behaviour album. Mathieson recasts the nightclub as high art, blending chaos, physical rigour and cathartic spectacle.

Supported by the Neilson Foundation, INDance has become a recognised fixture in the national dance calendar — a celebration of artistic excellence, risk-taking and creative exploration. INDance continues to introduce audiences to original voices and ideas shaping the future of Australian choreography.