Faraway - Digital Program

Welcome to the Faraway digital program

Created by choreographer Jenni Large for ADT, Faraway sees fairytale and fetish collide in a thrilling dissection of the function of the fantastical.

Playful, subversive and dripping in desire, Faraway uses the erotic as a lens to dissect power, control and the gaze.

Read on to meet the artists behind the production, and gain an insight into the fabulous floral world of the work.

Faraway - Trailer

A note from Jenni Large

You’re welcome here, huddle beneath this cloak, and let’s swing into the void…
Slipping between narrative and conceptualisation, we are situated in a hybridity of landscapes and temporalities, of fairy tales and kinks.
Swinging, purging, humping and rupturing, both desperate and restrained. Faraway recontextualises familiar imagery, becoming self-referential and socially subversive.
A celebration of the ugly-horny-primal-beautiful-naive beasts within us all.

It feels critical to be provocative in a world that routinely censors.

Witnessing a dance performance can be incredibly voyeuristic. I encourage you to admit hunger.
The moving body has always been erotic for me. Both my experience of it and the way I view it. This influences me to create work that pulsates with cathartic sensuality, and dance is a superb medium to explore relational power dynamics. The introductory passage below from ‘KINK’, a collection of kinky short stories edited by R.O. Kwon & Garth Greenwell, really hit home for me. Defining with such accuracy, the politics and philosophies that I am curious about both personally and in my creative work.

“Kink is often pathologised in popular culture, the attendant desires flattened, simplified, and turned into a joke, a cause for only shame. In movies, television shows, and popular books, kinky people are often also serial killers, emotionally stunted plutocrats, and other stock villains or exaggerated figures of fun. Instead of pathologising kink, the stories in this anthology treat it as a complex, psychologically rich act of communication. Kink in these stories is a way of processing trauma, and also of processing joy, of expressing tenderness and cruelty and affection and play. The emotional dynamics of kink are as varied as those of any other human experience… Rejecting reductive ideas of normalcy and aberrance, these stories allow for investigations richer than etiology, treating kink as one of the tools we use to make sense of our lives..."

I believe that dance and live performance experiences share this illustrious ability to transform people and help us make sense of things; oftentimes, it’s only the internal collaborators who feel it, and sometimes it’s a few audience members. Regardless, the potential to re-script pre-disposed cultural narratives is real and motivating.

"Our cultural laws and regulations were created under a paradigm of religious fundamentalism. But more than that, unlike some other markers of difference - say, race - sex is easily hidden. The best way to destigmatise something is to show it to people. It’s only through “exposure” that things become normal. The human impulse to fit in is very powerful.” (Finding Normal: Sex, Love and Taboo in a Hyperconnected World by Alicia Tsoulis-Reay)

Faraway is an attempt to destigmatise (even desensitise) sexualisation by celebrating the sexualised body and by exposing raw and fantastical depictions of these experiences and forms. Kink is theatrical, Fairytales can be fetishistic… What is the erotic if not a way to deepen our quality of life? It’s all magic, really.

Fairytale archetypes, including mermaids, sirens and fairies alongside nostalgic films from my childhood, have also influenced the creation of Faraway. Reappropriating filmic devices in a live theatre setting is a delightfully impossible puzzle. I was particularly inspired by the innovative pre-CGI production design of 80s Jim Henson Films like The Dark Crystal. Films like this normalised a tangible and textural mythical strangeness for my generation, and I wanted to weave an element of nostalgia throughout Faraway as homage.

The incomparable design team behind Faraway are key superstars in providing suspension of disbelief. Huge thank you to Anna, Alex and Meg for your steadfast belief and indomitable talents. And thank you to our fairy godmother fabricators, Emma, Laz and Chelsea. Suspension of disbelief is a willing act of surrender, towards which the production elements escort us. There is a coalescence between the design and the dancing, and each element alternates between being the subject, creating the context and subverting the context.

The dancers lead us in and out of this otherworldly place, yet it’s easy to see there is nothing fictitious about dancing. It’s grit, discipline, abandon and skill. Dance can release us and bind us. A dancer is both free and restrained. Submitting to the will of the choreography and challenges of collaboration, they push to evolve their idea of self, perpetually adapting to demands and obstacles. Dancers are their own breed of fantasy creature. I cannot express with enough depth my respect for Zachary, Zoe, Karra, Yilin, Macon, Josh and Pat for their ineffable commitment to our creative process. Their bravery, kindness and willingness to adapt and support one another moved me every day.

Immense thank you to Brianna Kell for your unquestionable support, brilliant mind and overflowing kindness. You look after everyone, and none of this could glisten without you. Thank you to the ADT staff, Anthony, Andrew and Adrianne, for your passion, skill and understanding. Thank you to Dan, Viv, Nick and the ADT Board for taking a risk on me. This commission is a rare and unmatched experience that has already had a major impact on my creative process and politics. Thank you to Lachy, Oscar, Nam, Reece, Ben, Maddy, Liam, Aaron, Sascha and Ellen for your guardian angel production powers and technical wizardry.

And of course, thank you to the audience for your willing participation. I hope your experience of Faraway leaves you a little breathless. We’ll eventually swing into the next realm anyway, so why not suspend disbelief, remain curious and stay flirty with the unknown?

Jenni Large x

Jenni Large introduces Faraway

"We all face extremity every day; the whiplash of it is invigorating and exhausting. For Faraway, each design element (costume, set, lighting and sound) has equal importance, and the dancers, their bodies and the choreographic style will animate this familiar yet freaky little world."

Jenni Large, To Be Magazine

Costume design sketches by Meg Wilson

A note from Artistic Director, Daniel Riley

In the four years that I have been here as Artistic Director, it felt like the right moment to invite another choreographic voice into the company to develop and present work for our audiences, and for that work to go into the company's repertoire. Another privileged part of this role is being able to open the doors of ADT and share the resources in support of artists to realise creative work. Through a national commissioning process, we looked outward into the sector, in search of an artist who was on a trajectory of their own making and dreaming, one ready to present work at a major festival level. Jenni Large was and is that artist.

At ADT, we're proud of and committed to sharing a multiplicity of voices. We want to present diverse stories and experiences on the stage, and with our audiences. By inviting Jenni into the company, we don’t just bring a new aesthetic to the company, but continue to challenge audiences and broaden their understanding of the types of dance and choreographic work being made in this country.

Jenni has created a singular choreographic language throughout her time as an artist, and has developed a wonderful ability for world-building. It’s been a joy to watch our Company Artists step into the world of Faraway and meet the intense physicality at the core of her practice. I’m deeply proud of Zoe, Zachary, Yilin, Karra, Pat, Josh and Macon, who have all shape-shifted and risen to the full breadth of their power under Jenni’s guidance.

I send my thanks and congratulation to her creative team, Anna, Meg and Alex. And also extend that to our brilliant Artistic Associate Brianna Kell, who held the artistic space beside Jenni and the dancers, and ensured it was one of safety and care. Thanks to Matt Lutton and the Adelaide Festival team for co-commissioning this work and for continuing to respect the relationship between ADT and the festival. The relationship between us goes back to the very foundations of our two organisations, and I look forward to continuing this with respect, trust and care.

Finally, huge congratulations to Jenni on this achievement and for Faraway arriving on the Adelaide Festival stage. It’s not an easy process to step into a company and bring a vision to life whilst also juggling the life of an independent artist. But she has exceeded the expectations, made something to be incredibly proud of, and one we at ADT will be proud to hold in our repertoire for years to come.

I’m proud of ADT for wrapping around Jenni and supporting her to realise her vision, and thrilled to be sharing Jenni’s artistic voice with you all. Thank you for continuing to support ADT and our work here on Kaurna Yerta and across the country

Jenni Large speaks about the choreographic language of Faraway

Meet the Creatives

Director and Choreography - Jenni Large

Jenni is an independent dancer, teacher, and award-winning choreographer/director based in Kanamaluka/Launceston, Lutruwita/Tasmania.

Driven by the personal, political, and transformative forces of embodiment, Jenni’s multi-limbed practice spans 15 years of dynamic experiences. As a dancer, she has performed extensively throughout metropolitan, regional and remote Australia as well as Europe, the UK, NZ, the Americas, Japan and Singapore with artists and companies including Dancenorth, Tasdance, Dance Nucleus, Legs On The Wall, GUTS Dance, SA Opera/Leigh Warren, Ashleigh Musk and Pat Toh Ling.

Heavily influenced by aesthetics and cinematic tropes, Jenni’s choreographic work is both flamboyant and restrained, thematically analysing patriarchal systems, celebrating women and exposing societal assumptions of stigmatised subjects. She has presented her work both as an independent artist and through commissions Australia wide at festivals and institutions, including; Mona Foma, Ten Days On The Island, Ohm Festival, Brisbane Powerhouse, Dancehouse, Carriage Works, Desert Festival, ADT: Raw, Sound + Fury, Sydney Dance Company (New Breed & PPY), WAAPA, Stompin, Australasian Dance Collective, The Arts Centre Melbourne with DanceX The Australian Ballet, Tasdance, Cont.act Festival and Vector 5 Dance Nucleus in Singapore.

In 2022, Jenni won the Keir Choreographic People’s Choice Award for her work ‘Wet Hard’, which she then extended into ‘Wet Hard Long’, premiering to much acclaim, receiving a Green Room nomination for Most Outstanding Visual Design. Jenni has also been honoured to receive a Chloe Munro Fellowship through Lucy Guerin Inc. and is one of ten artists showcasing a new durational performance installation piece ‘Body Shells’ for the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery’s biennial exhibition, Hobart: Current across Summer of 2025-2026.

Brianna Kell - Choreography

Brianna Kell is a dancer, choreographer and educator. She is the Artistic Associate of Australian Dance Theatre.

She was a Company Artist with the company from 2022, performing in The Third, Savage, The Hum with the Australian Ballet and Marrow. Brianna Co-directed A Quiet Language for ADT's 60th anniversary, and was co-choreographer of the work Two Blood.

Brianna was commissioned to create her first full length work The Other Side, with powerhouse musical duo Party Dozen. Premiering February 2023 at Campbelltown Arts Centre.

Brianna’s commissions include NOW/AGAIN for ADT's Cultivate: One 2023, Narcifixion with director Anton for Dance Bites 2021, In Situ commissioned by Dance Makers Collective for Sydney Festival 2021, Rise co- choreographed on Wurundjeri Land with Daniel Riley 2020, Fly by Night with radio producer Mike Williams and The Wave Beneath Us for the VCA 2019.

Brianna spent 2020/21 as a specialist contemporary Dance Tutor at the University of Melbourne VCA coordinating subjects for choreography, contemporary technique, and major production whilst simultaneously completing her Honours.

Brianna has been granted research residencies at Campbelltown Arts Centre, TheFarm, Critical Path, Sydney University, Ready Made Studios and TRIP at Tasdance. Brianna has worked with Australian Dance Theatre, Dance Makers Collective, The Farm/Co3, Tasdance, DirtyFeet, and Murmuration. In 2024, she performed in Omar Rajeh’s Beytna.

She has worked with a variety of independent artists and choreographers. In 2024, she performed in Matthew Adey’s installation MASTRSLV at Praxis Artspace.

Brianna has taught nationally for universities, schools, and dance companies including Australian Dance Theatre, Chunky Move, Stephanie Lake Company, Tasdance, and The Australian Ballet School. Kell was lead facilitator of DirtyFeet’s inclusive workshops The RightFoot for 7 years.
A graduate of The VCA in Melbourne, Brianna was awarded the Orloff Family Trust for most Outstanding Talent.

Brianna’s practice investigates environments, connection, and the digestion of time, with a curiosity for theatrical/ situational observations. Brianna is a fan of whimsy and has a chronic health condition which she deems chronic yet iconic.

Meg Wilson - Designer

MEG WILSON is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist and designer whose practice spans installation, performance and set, lighting and costume design.

Recently she has designed set and costume with State Theatre Company of South Australia (Terrestrial 2018, Euphoria, 2021, Eureka Day 2021, Antigone 2022) and Windmill Theatre Co. (Amphibian, 2018/2021, RELLA 2022 and Moss Piglet 2025), Theatre Republic (How Not to Make it in America 2021, The Garden 2023 and The Almighty Sometimes 2024), and has worked extensively with Vitalstatistix (The Photo Box set design Adelaide Festival 2022, Bedroom (lighting design 2021) and Progress Report (set, costume and lighting designs 2021/2023) and Restless Dance Theatre, including designs for the Adelaide Festival productions of Intimate Space (2018) and Guttered (2021).

In 2016 Meg was Lead Artist Intern with experimental Victorian-based theatremakers, THE RABBLE.

Meg premiered performance work SQUASH! with Arts House during the Festival of Live Art (FOLA, 2018) and has exhibited independently with Contemporary Art Centre SA (2015), BLINDSIDE, VIC; Constance ARI, TAS; Nexus Arts and FELTspace. She has created public projects for FELTspace (2014), Open Space Contemporary Arts (OSCA) (2017), and curated a public program for ACE Open (2019). In 2018 she was a resident artist with Urban Theatre Projects (NSW), hand-weaving trampolines for production Right Here. Right Now. Meg was awarded the 2019 Green Room Award for Contemporary and Experimental Performance (Innovation in Durational Performance), for SQUASH! and a further Green Room Award in 2024 for Outstanding Lighting Design for Bridget Mackay’s Exact Dimensions of Hell.

Anna Whitaker - Composer

Anna Whitaker is a multi award-winning Queensland based sound designer and composer with a palate for experimental, acousmatic works and surround sound composition.

She graduated from Queensland Conservatorium of Music with a Bachelor of Music Technology, and has since worked with MONA FOMA, Australasian Dance Collective, Dancenorth, Bleach* Festival, The Farm, tasdance, Stompin’, La Boite Theatre Company, Brisbane Festival, HOTA Gold Coast Vulcana Circus and Playlab among many others.

Her vast background in classical music and technology-based sound art result in musical concoctions from the traditional and contemporary worlds. Anna received the 2020/2021 and 2019 Matilda Award for Best Sound Design for her work on Michael Smith’s Cowboy and The Farm’s Throttle respectively. Anna’s unique voice is also evident in her installation works which have exhibited at Bleach* Festival, HOTA, MetroArts and QPAC Museum.

Alex Berlage - Lighting Designer

Alexander Berlage is a multi-award-winning director and lighting designer.

His critically-acclaimed 2023 production of A Streetcar Named Desire won 4 Sydney Theatre Awards including Best Independent Production, Best Direction of an Independent Production, Best Performance in a Leading Role in an Independent Production, Best Performance in a Supporting Role in an Independent Production.

His smash-hit, sold-out production of American Psycho won 9 Sydney Theatre Awards including Best Direction of a Musical, Best Production of a Musical, Best Male Actor in a Musical, Best Set Design of an Independent Production, Best Costume Design of an Independent Production and Best Lighting Design of an Independent Production and more.

Alexander’s production of Cry-Baby received rave reviews, sold out and won 4 Sydney Theatre Awards including Best Direction of a Musical, Best Production of a Musical, Best Female Actor in a Musical and Best Set Design of an Independent Production. The same year, his productions of There Will Be a Climax, Home Invasion and Cry-Baby received a combined total of 12 Sydney Theatre Award nominations.

Working across theatre, dance and contemporary performance, Alexander has worked with ATYP, Belvoir, Circa, State Theatre Company South Australia, Sydney Dance Company, Sydney Chamber Opera, Pinchgut Opera, Ensemble Theatre, Hayes Theatre Co, Opera Queensland, Opera Australia and Birmingham Royal Ballet/Sadler’s Wells among many others.

Alexander holds a Bachelor of Dramatic Art (Production) and a Master of Fine Art (Directing) from the National Institute for Dramatic Art, Sydney. In 2019, Alexander was awarded a Mike Walsh Fellowship.

Zoe Wozniak - Company Artist

Zoe grew up in Perth and moved to Kaurna Yerta to join Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) as a Company Artist in 2021. Zoe is thrilled to be currently working with Artistic Director Daniel Riley and Artistic Associate Brianna Kell. Zoe has performed in The Third, Savage, THE HUM (in collaboration with The Australian Ballet), Cultivate:ONE, Marrow and A Quiet Language, and Two Blood. In these years she has also worked with Adrianne Semmens, Ghenoa Gela and Carly Sheppard.

Zoe is constantly drawn to the ocean and finds its strength and grace grounding. Nature holds a special place in her creative inspiration and the connection she finds with others.

Prior to ADT, Zoe was a founding Company Artist for Co3 (2015), with Artistic Director Raewyn Hill, as well as having a strong independent career with numerous independent choreographers. She worked closely with the Co3’s youth ensemble program and was a teaching artist on regional educational tours. She has a strong passion to share dance with young people and communities, to ignite a curiosity in creating and learning.

In collaboration with Co3 Zoe has worked with Antony Hamilton (2016), Garry Stewart and West Australian Ballet (2019), CIRCA (2020) and West Australian Opera (2020).

In 2016, Zoe worked with Ochre Contemporary Dance Company and performed in Ohad Naharin’s Decadance with STRUT Dance. Zoe first debuted with Australian Dance Theatre in the World Premiere Season of North/South(2019), choreographed by Garry Stewart and Norwegian choreographer Ina Christel Johannessen.

In 2021 with Garry Stewart at ADT Zoe performed in Stewart’s works; Supernature, South, Objekt and G.

Zoe graduated from WAAPA with a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Dance) in 2013 and was the recipient of the Hawaiian Award for Most Outstanding Graduate. She then completed her Honours with LINK Dance Company in 2014.

Zachary Lopez - Company Artist

Zachary Lopez, born on Meanjin and grew up in the northern suburbs of Brisbane, is an artist working with dance and choreography. An Australian of Filipino heritage, his practice attempts to reimagine the experience of the ‘other’ with focus on identity dualism and draws from the experiential, myth and archive.

In 2022, he joined Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) on Kaurna Yerta as a company artist under Artistic Director, Daniel Riley.

With ADT, he has performed and toured nationally with productions A Quiet Language, Marrow, The Hum in collaboration with The Australian Ballet, SAVAGE and The Third. In addition to performing in the work Two Blood, he also designed costumes for the production.

Previous to this role, he has worked on a diverse range of projects and main stage performances with independent practitioners and companies in contemporary dance, physical and immersive theatre and opera (2014-2022).

Lopez has worked with Marrugeku, The Farm, Co3, Opera Australia, West Australian Opera, Legs on the Wall, Sydney Dance Company and with Co-artistic director of Punchdrunk (UK) Maxine Doyle through Strut Dance. He has also worked with choreographers Amrita Hepi, Melanie Lane, Tra Mi Dinh, Ghenoa Gela among others.

Choreographically, he has been commissioned to make work for Sydney Dance Company (Pre-Professional Year) premiering Like a Salmon in the Sahara(Carriageworks, 2016), Dance Makers Collective (Sydney Festival, 2021), the Keir Choreographic Awards 2020 presenting Peril at Dancehouse (VIC) and ADT’s Cultivate:One season with Down Trodden Punk (Kaurna, 2023). He has also exhibited an installation work Roil Horizon at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (NSW), supported by Diversity Arts Australia.

He has received a Young Creative Leaders Fellowship from Create NSW (2019), Australia Council Artstart Grant (2015), the Sydney Dance Company (SDC) Mary Zuber scholarship (2014) and the Patricia Macdonald scholarship from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in 2013.

Lopez has trained with SDC as a Pre-Professional Year (2014) and began his dance training at QUT, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts (2013).

Outside his artistic endeavours, Zachary is striving towards regenerating bushland impacted by colonialism on Wiradjuri Country (Central Tablelands, NSW) and is on a lifetime search for an ultimate skincare serum to alleviate his dehydrated sub-tropical skin.

Karra Nam - Company Artist

Karra Nam is a movement artist of Kaurna, Narungga, and Chinese ancestry.

Through her ever-evolving practice, she aims to communicate knowledge and lived experiences drawn from the exploration of ancestral lineage and culture. Her work is anchored in a meditative engagement with space, time, soul, and healing – generating unique movement pathways that challenge and decolonise dominant narratives of the Blak body’s experience.

Graduating from Adelaide College of the Arts (2022), Karra joined Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) in 2023, debuting in THE HUM – a collaboration with The Australian Ballet (2023).

She has since performed in Marrow and Two Blood under Daniel Riley’s directorship, as well as in the company’s Cultivate:ONE season in works Down Trodden Punk (2023) by Zachary Lopez and NOW/AGAIN (2023) by Brianna Kell. She also developed the work A Quiet Language, which premiered as part of ADT's 60th anniversary.

Prior to joining ADT, Karra worked with Bangarra Dance Theatre under the direction of Stephen Page and Frances Rings, joining the company for productions of Sandsong (2022) and Terrain (2022).

Grateful for the experience to work alongside artists within multiple disciplines, Karra believes in a constant exploration within the depths of her practice – expanding and deepening connection to self, community, and a holistic approach to physicality.

Yilin Kong - Company Artist

Yilin is an Australian, Boorloo raised artist with roots from China and Malaysia joining Australian Dance Theatre as company artist in January 2025, debuting in their Adelaide Festival work A Quiet Language. Since joining the company, she has toured nationally with Marrow and performed in the world premiere of Two Blood.

She is thrilled to have returned home, reconnecting to Australian land after living overseas for 3 years. Yilin returned from London, performing in Punchdrunk International’s The Burnt City as part of the originating cast and creation in early 2022. Since the closure of The Burnt City at the end of 2023 she performed with physical theatre company, Temper Theatre, taking their work HOME on a tour across China and the UK. Prior to hear move, Yilin was a member of Co3 Contemporary Dance company debuting in their Perth Festival 2021 commissioned work, Archives of Humanity.

Yilin is a WAAPA graduate who pursued an extensive freelance career across Australia engaging with various independent choreographers and companies before moving overseas. She has worked and performed with STRUT Dance, Steamworks Arts, Marrugeku, Shaun Parker and Company, OCHRE and Buzz Dance Theatre, and has performed in theatre works with Barking Gecko Theatre Company and Renegade Productions. Independently she has worked and performed globally with multiple artists, including Rachel Ogle – Precipice (2023, 2019), Sally Richardson (Steamworks Arts) – Gui Shu (2019) and Zachary Lopez – Peril, for his 2020 Keir commissioned work.

Alongside The Burnt City, a highlight of Yilin’s performing career has been being part of the first Australian cast to perform Batsheva’s Decadance through STRUT.

Yilin is also an incredibly passionate and experienced teacher, having shared her teaching practice for over 10 years. Her teaching has seen her connect with people across community, with youth and professionals. She enjoys sharing experiences, fostering creativity, encouraging curiosity and creating safe spaces that harbour joy and spontaneity.

Joshua Doctor - Company Artist

Joshua is a Yuwaalaraay and Gamilaraay descendant from Lightning Ridge in North West NSW. Upon graduating with an Advanced Diploma from NAISDA Dance College, he was honoured with the prestigious Chairperson Award in recognition of his artistic excellence and leadership.

He engaged with Legs on the Wall, Sydney Dance Company (PPY), Karul Projects, Moorambilla, NIDA and ADT during his training.

In 2023, he was selected for Bangarra Dance Theatre’s Dance Clan, performing 5 Minute Call by Ryan Pearson. In 2024, he was a Legs on the Wall ‘Leg Up’ Mentee, which culminated in a performance of the site-specific work Now & Ever, which saw Joshua working alongside Artistic Directors Joshua Thomson and Frances Rings.

Josh is also a music composer in his storytelling, creating the soundscapes for Deadly Catch by Glory Tuohy-Daniell as part of the Telstra Emerging Choreographer with The Australian Ballet.

Patrick O'Luanaigh - Company Dancer

Patrick O’Luanaigh is a dance artist born and raised in Melbourne/Naarm. He joined Australian Dance Theatre in 2023 as a Guest Artist for THE HUM in collaboration with the Australian Ballet, before moving to Adelaide to join full-time in July of that year.

During his time with ADT he has performed and toured nationally other works by Daniel Riley, including Marrow and A Quiet Language. He also performed in Down Trodden Punk by Zachary Lopez and Now/Again by Brianna Kell for Cultivate: ONE.

Independently Patrick has worked with Helen Herbertson on the on-going archival project DIG and performed Signal Issues by Dasha Tolotchkov for MPavillion in 2021.

Pat’s choreographic highlights include Alight, commissioned by Banyule Council, Imbued for Deified (Melbourne Fringe Festival) and 3 Liminal Avenue (Mudfest), which won the Next Platform Award.

A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, Pat received the Paul and Donna Dainty Award for Excellence.

Pat loves extra-curricular activities, taking up martial arts, acting, screenwriting and showing off in his spare time.

Macon Escobal Riley - Company Artist

Macon, an Australian-Filipino dancer and multi-disciplinary performer, was raised in Garramilla with street styles like Break Dancing, Popping and Locking, and Waving. He then graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) with Honours, where he cultivated a rich foundation in contemporary dance and performance.

This has propelled him into a career both within Australia and internationally. In 2026, Macon joined the Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) on Kaurna Yerta as a company artist under Artistic Director Daniel Riley. His first performance with ADT will be Faraway in Adelaide Festival 2026. Before joining ADT, Macon has worked with Co3 Contemporary Dance (2021 - 2025) where he performed in numerous main stage productions that have toured within Australia and most recently in 2025 to Japan for the World Expo.

He toured with Marrugeku (2022 - 2023) across Australia and Europe in the powerful production Jurrungu Ngan-ga Straight Talk. Macon also performed in the company’s first ever production You Are for OFFBase Dance Company (2022 - 2025). As well as this, he played a principal role in Opera Australia’s critically acclaimed production, Watershed: The Death of Dr Duncan, premiering at Sydney Opera House. As a freelance artist, he has collaborated on diverse main stage productions with independent choreographers. These collaborations have allowed him to adapt his work across various artistic environments and genres.

Macon’s artistic practice is deeply rooted in exploring the spectrums of tension and release. He uses his foundation of Street Styles to complement and fuse his contemporary style. He draws inspiration from the interplay of spontaneity, duality, and evolution, reflecting an ongoing inquiry into the transformative power of movement.

Outside of dancing a big priority for him is being present for his family and community overseas, being connected to nature and wildlife, as well as reading his weekly manga every Monday morning with his little orange cat.

Anna Whitaker's sounds for Faraway

Anna Whitaker speaks about sound design

Introducing Studio Botanic

In the early stages of Faraway, we worked with the designers at Studio Botanic to build a floral world for the work.

Their care, precision and remarkable creativity were integral to the genesis of the work, with tendrils of their initial creative impulses blooming throughout the work. It was a total dream collaborating with them and having them step into the wild, fantastical world of Faraway.

To Studio Botanic and Bloombar, their retail studio, we say a huge thank you for helping us bring Faraway to life.

Learn more about Studio Botanic

About ADT

We make rebellious dance.

Since our inception, we’ve expanded the horizons of contemporary dance in this country. Our work asks big questions, unearth untold stories and shake the very core of our identity. We create cutting-edge choreographies where the ancient and the contemporary collide.

Led by Artistic Director Daniel Riley (Wiradjuri) and Executive Director Nick Hays, ADT is made up of an ensemble of professional dancers, supported by a dedicated team of staff, ADT centres artistry, care and collective creativity.

We are based on Kaurna Yerta and take our work across South Australia, Australia and the world.

Learn more