Dan Daw rose to prominence as a dancer who makes his distinctive body the centre of his work. Now, he takes to the stage as an actor, in a bold and witty play that was a Broadway hit. Cost of Living is about the complex relationships between those living with disability and their carers. But it also wrestles with other, sometimes overlooked, factor…

While some critics believe that plays like Othello and The Merchant of Venice are inherently racist, others argue that they simply portray, perhaps even criticise, the racist attitudes of the time. Wherefore, Shakespeare? is a series that explores the dilemmas, conflicts, and controversies in Shakespeare's major plays. In our fourth instalment, we …

Carina Norman and Jasmine Seymour share the Dharug word for Country, camp or nest.بقلم Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Bangarra alumna Deborah Brown joined forces with leading Māori choreographer and Arts Laureate Moss Te Ururangi Patterson have united to create 'The Light Inside' - a powerful homage to home. It’s the primary piece of Bangarra Dance Theatre’s latest show ‘Horizon’, which is the company’s first mainstage cross-cultural collaboration.…

The National Indigenous Art Fair will return to The Rocks on Gadigal land at the end of the month. Works from the Bula'bula weavers and Pupunya’s Western Desert artists will be among more than 50 stalls selling artwork, handmade jewellery, homewares and food from across the country. Pauline Clague and Peter Cooley discuss what makes the fair so imp…

It seems absolutely bonkers that an animal can muster ELECTRICITY, especially enough to send out a zap like a taser. But that's exactly what electric eels can do, and the world record holder more than doubles the voltage of the Australian electricity supply. More than that, electric eels inspired the design of Volta's first batteries, but (hold ont…

Pull up a chair to your lamp-lit table and enjoy cabaret performances from some of Australia's finest musical talent. Gathered around the piano at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, we're joined by artistic director Virginia Gay, musical theatre luminaries Swing on This (Luke Kennedy, Matt Lee, Ben Mingay and Bert LaBonté), performer and late-night sal…

Until recently, Dharug was considered a sleeping language, but grassroots activists like Carina Norman and Jasmine Seymour have set about having the language taught in schools. Today, they share a Dharug word which means ‘to look’ and discuss the different ways you might use that word.بقلم Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Ziggy Ramo's latest work, Human? A lie that has been killing us since 1788, attempts to bridge a nation-wide knowledge gap. One he says stems from the lie that 97 per cent of the population of so-called Australia are human, and the rest of us are ‘Indigenous’ - devoid of the same basic rights. He hopes being honest about the past might lead to more…

A superhero origin story would absolutely be 12 years in a cage and then set free by secretive criminals. That’s the story of Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle Owl, released from his vandalised cage in Central Park Zoo, New York City. He turned up in the middle of an intersection nearby, looking dazed and people in the know thought, ‘This is going to end b…

S. Shakthidharan's award-winning epic, Counting and Cracking, won seven Helpmann Awards and drew a huge audience to a story that many of them knew little about. Five years after its world premiere, Counting and Cracking is on in Melbourne as part of the RISING festival, after which it transfers to Sydney's Carriageworks and then New York. In 1972, …

Today Corina Norman and Jasmine Seymour share a Dharug word that can be used to scold, or to show love.بقلم Australian Broadcasting Corporation

First performed in 1998, Stolen by Jane Harrison follows the story of five members of the Stolen Generation, each navigating a world that has sought to erase their cultural identity. But what does that story say to an audience in 2024? Director Ian Michael is at the helm for the newest production of Stolen. Along with actress Kartanya Maynard and p…

Violinist and vocalist Eric Avery has shared the stage with artists like Tina Arena, Yo-Yo Ma, and the Black Arm Band. But how have these experiences shaped his composition work? Ahead of his performance at Monash University Performing Arts Centre's 2024 Sundays in the Sound Gallery, Eric shares his artistic journey and performs live in the ABC RN …

Usually, it's humans putting animals in cages, but sometimes the animals do it to themselves. Female platypus lock themselves in burrows to breed, great hornbill males lock females up in the hollow of a tree (they seal it up with fruit and poop) and potter wasps paralyse caterpillars for their babies to eat. Today on What The Duck?!, Dr Ann Jones i…

Former prime minister Paul Keating was one of the great parliamentary performers. His ruthless wit and self-confidence takes centre stage in Jonathan Biggins' hugely popular tribute to Keating, The Gospel According to Paul. The upcoming season at the Sydney Opera House may be Jonathan's final outing as the boy from Bankstown. Also, with her new sho…

Head to Dharug Country in the Sydney area to meet Carina Norman and Jasmine Seymour. They share a Dharug greeting.بقلم Australian Broadcasting Corporation

In the 1960s, a Gurindji boy was adopted under government policy by a white English family and taken to live in a remote hamlet in the UK. He spent the rest of his life there – struggling with displacement, identity and isolation until he died in police detention. ‘The Other Side of Me’ is a production by NT Dance Company based off 30 letters and p…

The Blak arts community recently said goodbye to a pioneer. Celebrate the late, great Destiny Deacon by listening back to her 2004 AWAYE! interview with Tess Allas.بقلم Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Electric Fields is the name of the electronic pop and soul duo Michael Ross and Zaachariaha Fielding. Michael Ross says the intention Electric Fields sets is the same now as it was when the duo first spoke to AWAYE! in 2016.بقلم Australian Broadcasting Corporation

At first, you might think it is a plot from a zombie movie: that undead animals are coming for you. But it turns out that Australia's animals aren't just dangerous when they're alive — they can be deadly even when they're dead. Ann Jones is joined by science reporter Belinda Smith to examine why snakes can still bite up to 45 minutes after death an…

Perhaps no dance company has done more to expand the horizons of Australian audiences than Bangarra Dance Theatre. Now they expand those horizons further, presenting their first mainstage cross-cultural collaboration. Horizon includes work choreographed by Deborah Brown, a descendent of the Wakaid Clan and Meriam people in the Torres Strait, with M…

William Shakespeare's plays feature witchcraft, murder, ghosts and bloody revenge. Are his displays of blood and gore simply meant to entertain us or do they have more to say about the human condition? Wherefore, Shakespeare? is a series that explores the dilemmas, conflicts, and controversies in Shakespeare's major plays. In our third instalment, …

The conwoman, the sociopathic girl-boss, the apathetic sad woman, and the femme avenger. When it comes to popular culture, we’re in the era of the female anti-hero. Finally, women are allowed to be bad. But in the real world, are some women given more grace than others?بقلم Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Word Up takes you back Ngemba Country in Far West NSW to meet Phil Sullivan who shares the word he uses to describe his home as well as some thoughts on recognising each other's humanity.بقلم Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Cassie and Claire have watched their parrot talk in its sleep... so is it dreaming? And, if animals DO dream... will we ever know what they’re dreaming about? Ann Jones tries to find out. Featuring: Cassie, Claire and Pidgey the Parrot. Associate Professor Nicole Lovato, Flinders University. Associate Professor John Lesku, La Trobe University. Prof…

A childhood love of dance and a challenging homelife drove Rafael Bonachela to leave his native Spain at just 17 years old and seek his fortune in the dance studios and theatres of London. The celebrated choreographer was then beckoned to Australia, where he has led the Sydney Dance Company since 2009. Also, in The Audition, we meet a group of asyl…

Elena MacDonald is a descendant of the Paredarerme Nation, and the sectary of the Parrdarrama Pungenna Aboriginal Corporation She and her community have been working to bring greater awareness of the diversity that exists in Aboriginal Tasmania; from language, to place names, to history and culture.بقلم Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Phil Sullivan is a Ngemba man from Bourke, and our language legend for this month. He explains the link between language and identity, and share a word he uses to address multiple people at once.بقلم Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Stone Motherless Cold and Cerulean are preparing to bring one of their biggest drag productions to life — ECLIPSE. Together they discuss the show, what sets First Nations drag apart and who is the real kween of Naarm.بقلم Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Birds can fly while half their brain is sleeping and some spiders sleep dangling on a silk thread, but what about worms. Do worms sleep? Featuring: Associate Professor John Lesku, La Trobe University. Dr Shauni Omond, @shauniomond.sleepsci on Instagram, La Trobe University. Professor Niels Rattenborg, Research leader on Avian Sleep, Max Planck Inst…

For decades, Australia's Back to Back Theatre has been delighting audiences with shows performed and devised by an ensemble of artists who are neurodivergent or living with a disability. Following their most recent major international award win, we visit the ensemble at their Geelong headquarters as they rehearse their new show: Multiple Bad Things…

Growing Up Torres Strait Islander in Australia explores the distinct identity of Torres Strait Islanders through their unique stories. Writers Lenora Thacker, Thomas Mayo and Donisha Duff, and the editor of the anthology Samantha Faulkner discuss the process of making Growing Up Torres Strait Islander in Australia, and the stories they contributed.…

Phil Sullivan explains how he became an Aboriginal heritage officer for the National Parks and Wildlife Service, and shares a Ngemba word he uses to greet people.بقلم Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Female sage-grouse birds have decided that they want to see a weird sexy dance when deciding on a mate. Ann Jones explores the creativity of female choice in the animal world in this episode of What the Duck?! Featuring: Lucy Cooke, Zoologist and author of Bitch A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal.Professor Gail L Patricel…

It's Tony season on Broadway and this week we have two major figures of American theatre who have won nine Tony Awards between them: Audra McDonald and Jason Robert Brown. Performer Audra McDonald is currently on a concert tour of Australia. Her first Tony Award came for her breakthrough role in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel and she's added five…

Garrmalang festival is returning to Darwin this year to celebrate some of the country’s best First Nations talents. With artists like Electric Fields playing alongside Darwin Symphony Orchestra, the program has an exciting mix of local talent and big names in Blak arts. Garrmalang’s creative director Ben Gratez explains how he's given the festival …

Phil Sullivan is our language legend this month. Phil was an Aboriginal heritage offer with the National Parks and Wildlife service for almost three decades. And he’s still doing repatriation and language revitalisation work in his community of Bourke, on Ngemba land. Today, Phil is sharing a Ngemba word he might use to welcome you to his Country.…

The word ‘Yirinda’ translates to ‘now’ in Butchulla language. It’s also the name of Fred Leone and Sam Pankhurst’s music project which sets out to capture what Butchulla life looks like right now. Their self-titled debut album is a crucial piece of documentation; re-imagining recordings and stories from across time and bringing them into the presen…

Female lab mice have been bred to be passive and breed with ease. But, in the wild they're feisty and even pugnacious. How much of our biological understanding of the world is based on misogyny? Featuring: Lucy Cooke, Zoologist and author of Bitch A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal.Professor Arthur Georges, University of …