When you’re an artist from the world’s oldest living culture, expectations crowd your work. With gleeful humour and sharp observation, plenty serious TALK TALK clears a personal path through this tangled territory. Whether she’s stomping Country in thongs on concrete or using rugby league to explore the thorny politics of kinship protocols, choreographer Vicki Van Hout tackles hard issues of art, culture and community with fast-paced wit and arresting honesty.

plenty serious TALK TALK puts front-and-centre the parts of Indigenous art making that usually remain behind the scenes. From the consultative process to intricate community obligations, Van Hout skilfully lays bare the complexities of negotiating culture across disciplines, genres and eras.

Taking dance theatre and weaving in threads of stand-up, visual art, multimedia and performance, this production has dazzled and charmed audiences since its 2018 premiere. Throughout, Van Hout’s droll narration is punctuated by the signature style of idiosyncratic Indigenous movement that has elevated her to one of the most respected tiers of Australian dance-making today.

“This is one brilliant show… I am left dazzled by the virtuosity of Van Hout’s performance, her unmatched skill as a dancer and the biting creativity of her writing.” The Conversation

“The opening sequence is outstanding, combining classical ballet and indigenous styles of dance in a mad mash-up of movement elevated by her very funny descriptions of what she is doing. I would have been happy to see it again immediately, it’s so good.” Sydney Morning Herald

“wickedly funny, existentially intimate, culturally complex, bitingly political and superbly danced” realtime