Review: TWO BLOOD – AUSTRALIAN DANCE THEATRE - OZASIA FESTIVAL 2025 at Odeon Theatre

Reviewed by Ray Smith, Tuesday 28th October 2025.

As I entered the crowded foyer of the Odeon Theatre in Norwood to witness Australian Dance Theatre's production of Two Blood, I was so warmly greeted by Philanthropy Manager, Ptiika Owen Shaw, and Artistic Director, Daniel Riley, that it felt as if I was returning home. Daniel introduced me to composer, James Howard, who had worked as co-composer for this production with Andy Qilong Chia, of SatheCollective and, though our conversation was brief we did manage to catch up after the show.

As has been common in recent works by this extraordinary company, this production was a collaborative one, and the Artistic Director describes his role as Co-Creator (Co-Director/Co-Choreographer) with Jasmin Sheppard, Co-Creator (Co-Choreographer/Co-Director/Tagalaka and Chinese Story Advisor), and S.Shakthidharan (Co-Creator/Co-Director/Writer). A formidable trio of artists and storytellers, indeed.

As we entered the performance space the set appeared deceptively simple. A large grey circle filled the stage floor and was bracketed by two large and movable screens that looked, for all the world, like enormous mobile telephones, and that, it seemed, was all there was to it. We were soon disavowed of that impression.

The story that was about to unfold before us was a complex one of forbidden love between a Tagalaka woman and Cantonese man, fire ravaged country, discrimination, racial tension, and yet a deep sense of belonging, and Australian Dance Theatre chose a multidisciplinary approach to telling it.

The dancers had microphones and narrated their parts in this tale as they danced, the screens blazed with footage of a burning landscape, or images of a star filled night sky, as they were moved around the performance space by the dancers themselves, framing the action, or communicating with each other in texts in different languages, as the dancers' movements blurred and finally destroyed the grey circle. Was the circle made of ash?

The soundscape crackled and roared like fire in treetops, bass notes shaking our very chairs, or whispered like the secrets of lovers, as the dancers threw themselves into this muscular work.

The seamless fusion of movement, music, film, image, and literal storytelling is yet another example of this company's fearless determination to break new ground and, once again, they accomplished their goal with superb artistry.

As Jasmin Sheppard puts it, “This is the story of my ancestral line, and the shared story of so many First Nations people, where Chinese and other cultures have collided with our communities leaving lasting imprints in our cultures, language, and our relationship to food, land, and each other. It’s a story that reflects so much of who we are as First Nations people, yet we rarely see this reflected back to us in our world.”

I really need to see this production again, and I urge everyone to witness it at least once.