A Unique Collaboration
Carly Sheppard found her choreographic partner in an unexpected place — a field at a golf course in Torquay. This meeting was part of an event celebrating the 100th Sidney Myer Fellowship, where past recipients were invited to apply for funding to create new works. It was during this gathering that Alisdair Macindoe approached Sheppard with a surprising proposition.
“Hey, we don’t really know each other, but do you want to apply for this thing together?” Macindoe asked.
Sheppard, who shares a family connection on her mother’s side, responded positively. “I’m a Sheppard too on my mum’s side,” she said. “Let’s explore that.”
Together, they created The Shepherds, a darkly comedic choreographic work about a pair of lost sheep in a slaughter paddock. The piece will premiere this week at the inaugural Australian Dance Biennale as part of Melbourne’s arts festival Rising.
Exploring Identity and Belonging
For Sheppard, a descendant of the Takalaka people of North Queensland, the collaboration was more than just artistic. It brought to mind the idea of being a visitor on someone else’s land — a feeling she often experiences while living in Melbourne. Having grown up off Country and without learning her language or dances, Sheppard feels like an “orphan of the colony.”
“I’m exploring that in this work,” she says. “Alisdair is also exploring his place, but there’s also the symbolism of us working together, both settlers in Melbourne, but him being a settler in Australia.”
Their dance work delves into the concept of being a “shepherd.” For Sheppard, this idea is deeply tied to the cult she grew up in.
“The concept of a shepherd to me is a Judaeo-Christian biblical concept that is connected to a bunch of trauma and some serious schisms in my upbringing,” she explains. “It is also reflective of what has happened to our people: the missions, missionaries, the idea there is a deity who has given one group of people dominion over others.”
Creating a Ceremony
Despite the heavy themes, The Shepherds avoids feeling overstuffed. Sheppard and Macindoe found an elegant solution by creating a cult and a ceremonial event for it.
“You can build this thing for the stage, but actually what you’re building is the ceremony. The work itself is the ceremony,” Sheppard says.
This approach allowed them to explore complex ideas through performance, blending storytelling with movement.
A Homecoming of Sorts
The Shepherds marks a return to dance for Sheppard. While she trained in dance and choreography at NAISDA Dance College and Victorian College of the Arts, her relationship with dance became “rocky” over the years. She shifted towards experimental performance and acting, which became her main focus.
“There’s a lot of craft that goes along with it. I like working with voice and sound design and I like to build my own sets. I like to do sculpture,” she says. “When I’ve got an idea, I’ve got so many different ways that I like to try, but it’s usually performing on stage that is the end result.”
The opportunity to co-choreograph and perform with Macindoe came at a time when Sheppard felt the urge to return to dance.
“What I am already getting out of it is an entrance back in and a way to build my skills up again after years,” she says. Having a collaborator to bounce ideas off has been invaluable.
“Macindoe has this mathematical brain,” she says. “I can really nerd out on his way of choreographing because it’s a similar way that I would think about choreography, especially for small, gestural things. Also, what I love about Alisdair is we have the same sense of humour, and that’s a really beautiful way to follow ideas through — through laughter.”
A Significant Moment
It feels significant that Sheppard has been programmed in the first Australian Dance Biennale as she returns to dance after several years.
“It’s amazing and awesome, and I feel really lucky,” she says. “There’s just a lot of gratitude that I’ve been able to get to a point where I’m being programmed.”
However, she is also aware of the sensitivity surrounding her position as a settler on Kulin Nations’ land.
“When you are on a program and your position is representing First Nations, it is a sensitive thing because you can’t help but look at the fact that you’re a settler in the Country that you live on,” she says. “It’s a strange thing to be that representative when I’m actually a settler.”
She hopes to see more First Nations artists in future biennales.
“I’m really looking forward to the future of the Dance Biennale’s relationship with the incredible diversity of Indigenous dance practitioners across the country,” she says. “I’m really, really excited for that.”
Event Details
The Shepherds will be performed at Arts House, Melbourne, as part of the Australian Dance Biennale, from June 5-7.
