A groundbreaking new dance performance is turning heads at Brisbane’s Thomas Dixon Centre, where Queensland Ballet is staging Newborn Giants, a bold and boundary-pushing piece that brings the lived experience of blindness into the heart of choreography.
Reimagining How Dance Can Be Felt
Newborn Giants, running from 31 July to 9 August at the Talbot Theatre, is a 25-minute ensemble work created by Canadian choreographer Robert Binet in collaboration with blind academic and theatre artist Devon Healey.
This unique piece explores the intersection of visual and non-visual experiences of movement. Healey contributed voice recordings called Immersive Descriptive Audio (IDA), guiding audiences through the dancers’ physical and emotional states, rather than explaining the steps.
The narration was integrated from the start, not just added later for accessibility, offering a fresh perspective for both blind and sighted viewers. The work challenges traditional notions of dance, providing a new sensory experience that emphasizes sound, emotion, and intention.
A Contemporary Program Built on Risk
Queensland Ballet’s Bespoke season has built a reputation for offering risk-taking, contemporary works that challenge expectations. This year’s lineup includes three world premieres, with Newborn Giants sitting alongside pieces by Amelia Waller and Yolande Brown.
Binet spent five weeks in Brisbane working with 13 dancers from the company. He chose performers across a wide range of ages and styles, aiming to create a sense of diversity in movement. The piece asks dancers to focus on how movement begins in the body, questions like where they feel tension or where a gesture starts, rather than how it looks from the outside.
West End at the Centre of Innovation
The Thomas Dixon Centre, located in Brisbane’s West End, has become a creative hub for Queensland Ballet’s evolving vision. Hosting the Bespoke season in the Talbot Theatre offers audiences an intimate setting to connect with the performers in new ways.
For local audiences, Newborn Giants offers something rarely seen in mainstream ballet: an invitation to slow down and listen closely. It encourages viewers to notice what can’t be seen, making it as much about awareness as it is about movement.
A Different Kind of Access
The show sets a new standard for inclusive art by embedding accessibility into its core, with Healey’s poetic and expressive audio contributions deeply intertwined with the choreography.
Queensland Ballet’s decision to present this project reflects its commitment to innovative, meaningful dance.
The performance offers a powerful reminder of how art can shift perspectives by telling stories from multiple viewpoints. It highlights the potential for dance to be experienced in new, inclusive ways.
Published 25-July-2025
