At the edge of the world, where the land holds its breath before slipping into sea, three girls dance. The cliffs of Coalcliff rise behind them—ancient, silent witnesses—while the salt wind threads through their hair like memory. This is their place. Not claimed, but known. Not owned, but felt in the soles of their feet, in the rhythm of their breath.

 

They move together in a kind of ritual, shaped by the tides and tempered by time. Each step is a conversation, a promise. There is strength in their union—not loud, but lasting. Like the sea that returns, again and again, carving history into stone.

 

They do not speak, yet everything is said in their motion. Friendship, fierce and weathered. Resilience, unshaken by time or tide. The dance is not performance—it is remembering. It is becoming.

 

This is the backshore. Not the glamorous edge, not the crashing surf, but the quiet in-between. The place that bears the weight of both ocean and earth. It holds the footprints of the ones who have come before, and it holds them too. The girls. The sisters. The storm and the stillness.

 

And though the waves will wash over again and again, some stories stay.

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a pice commission by AUSTI Dance & Physical Theatre

Dancers: Tara Rose Gilmour, Kate Arber, Sophie Nicole and Jenaya Gladman.

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Shows and Tour:

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-premier 30 & 31st May 2025 30th & 31st May 2025, in the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre’s Bruce Gordon Theatre. Wollongong, Australia.

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-11th April 2026 Duels That's Two Thank You Fest Eternity Playhouse, Darlinghurst, Sydney, Australia.