Australians unite through dance as ancient story told

At the site of the first corroboree with non-Indigenous people, Australians of all cultures will be invited to dance once again.

Wiradjuri choreographer Joel Bray is set to bring his work Garabari to the Sydney Opera House broadwalk, turning Bennelong Point into an open-air dance floor for the 50th Sydney Festival.

Garabari is the Wiradjuri word for corroboree, the ceremonial meeting of First Nations Australians involving dance and storytelling.

In Bray's work, audiences will be invited to join dancers as they pass on the story about the creation of the Murrumbidgee River, more than 200 years after Eora man Woollarawarre Bennelong held his own historic corroboree.

"Tubowgule, which is the Gadigal name for Bennelong Point, was always a place where mob would gather to do corroboree," Bray tells AAP.

"It was also a place where Bennelong convened the first ever corroboree where whitefellas were invited to dance.

"It feels really poetic to do a corroboree here where everyone from any cultural heritage is invited to be a part of it."

Though the ancient dreaming story was gifted to Bray by an elder from Wagga Wagga, its original dances and songs have been lost to time.

But by collaborating with elders and Wiradjuri language speakers including Letitia Harris and Bray's father Uncle Christopher Kirkbright, the choreographer has created a new corroboree that can be passed down to future generations.

It tells of a time when there was no water and all the plants and animals were dying of thirst.

The wildlife went to the goannas, the Wiradjuri's ancestors, and asked the women to help as the goanna men were hoarding the water.

The goanna women confronted the men and the story's heroine Balana climbed a mountain near Tumut and dug her stick into its side, forming the Murrumbidgee.

"It's a very powerful, feminist story," Bray says.

"It feels really pertinent to this time when we have our own versions of greedy goanna men hoarding natural and financial resources."

A theme of the 2026 Sydney Festival is finding common ground through events such as ceremonies and rituals.

"There's something about a festival that brings people together and makes new community," event director Kris Nelson tells AAP.

"This festival is absolutely integral to the city's DNA, to the city's personality."

Other program highlights include Mama Does Derby, a play about a single mum and teenage daughter navigating the world of roller derby, performances by Tibetan-Australian artist Tenzin Choegyal, and production Efectos Especiales, which transforms a Walsh Bay street into a live film set.

Sydney Festival runs from January 8 to 25.