Acrobatics and Storytelling Unite in Powerful New Work

Published on 17 March 2026

Harley Mann is director of Aboriginal circus group, Na Djinang. The group creates beautifully nuanced, emotive and compelling work. It’s not only physical theatre, it’s storytelling in every sense of the word – body, mind and spirit. They performed their show, Arterial, at Frankston Arts Centre last year. The audience was utterly captivated.

In their latest work, Of The Land On Which We Meet, coming to the FAC on Friday, April 10th, the audience is asked to quietly consider what being on country means while watching and listening to the performers articulate their own experiences of country. It’s a sort of call and response between the performers and the audience as they breathe collectively within the theatre space.

Harley, a Waka Waka man, considers his own connection to country an evolving process, a relaxing into the knowledge. “Country is the intimate relationship we have with the whole ecosystem – the land, the people, the animals and how these elements interact. The more in tune you are, the more you’ll see – the more intimately you’ll understand the connections,” he says.

“Of The Land On Which We Meet was born out of a place of hope. The hope is that as a society, we don’t continue to make the same mistakes,” he says. The work investigates place, connection and intention. It asks the audience to be fully present in considering what it means to be on country.

The three circus performers are all from different places. They have to quickly learn about each other to build the bonds of trust needed to perform such physically demanding work. “This work and its form are very intimate. Trust comes from a sense of safety that it’s ok to make mistakes and learn from them. That’s when you start to see each other’s vulnerability,” he says.

“Circus is a savage art form. The performers have to hurt each other to make the work. They have to navigate that space together,” he says. While the skills look impossible, they are made possible by these three incredible acrobats. Harley’s hope is that this idea that the impossible can be made possible translates into the wider world so that the fraught space of belonging and making space for ‘other’ follows.

As the performers share their stories of country in words and motion, bonds are built with each other and with the audience. The circle is made smaller and everyone is drawn together as the breath and pace of the piece accelerates. It’s a very exciting space.

“Circus is visceral. It provides the audience with a felt experience – that gasp moment when the impossible is made possible, but this work also has a narrative. The text is a tool for where the circus fell short in its specificity and nuance. The circus is for when the text falls short in feelings and emotions,” he says.

Na Djinang circus is truly unlike anything else with its mix of Indigenous storytelling, contemporary dance and spellbinding circus. It’s a physical, oral and spiritual celebration of the land on which we meet. Don’t miss it! Book tickets online, or call 9784 1060 or visit the Box Office.

ANDREA LOUISE THOMAS