Interviews: Ashtar Muallem and Na Djinang Circus

COSMOS, a one-woman show created by Palestinian dance/circus artist Ashtar Muallem, is a powerful, delicate, often humorous meditation on France and Jerusalem. As Muallem explains of the multidisciplinary performance, "When Clement Dazin [the director] invited me to develop the show, I had so much to say and many questions to share. I had also done significant work revisiting my past, analysing my memories and felt a strong urge to speak about my country, Palestine, as I always do. Clement and I shared the same desires to discuss both spirituality and Palestine. The alignment of our visions allowed the show to develop naturally and meaningfully."

Speaking about humour being a key factor in the show, Muallem elaborates: "I came to understand that humour is an excellent way to tackle complex ideas, especially when the audience has preconceived notions about certain topics. Laughing about these subjects allows the audience to release tension related to their thoughts and beliefs, making them more open and receptive to new ideas."

Muallem's time spent living between France and Palestine has definitely shaped her performance practice, as well as the show's dualism. As she explains, "I always say that whenever I go back to my home in Jerusalem, I recharge myself with new energy. It's where I feed my fire energy. In France, I nourish my water energy, where things are more fluid and structured, allowing my creativity to flow. This dynamic is evident in my performance, as I navigate between these elements, balancing passion and calm."

Melbourne's Na Djinang Circus weave lived experience and ancestral stories to vivid life with Of The Land On Which We Meet. Founder and Director Harley Mann describes the work as personal to all Australians and therefore, hopefully relatable to everyone. "It’s a show that fundamentally deals with the tension between opinions," he says. "We have used an Australian example, but I think this tension exists in all walks of life."

Of The Land On Which We Meet / Photo by Tiffany Garvie

Circus is woven together with a series of monologues in Of The Land On Which We Meet, with some personal accounts and contextual reflections. "This leaves the cast very vulnerable in the work," he adds. "There are no characters just three individuals with their own upbringings and political views tussling with this content."

Performer Manelaya Kaydos-Nitis also reflects on how personal the show is. "This piece is really personal to me for a few reasons – one being, growing up in Australia as a second generation immigrant, it was always said to me that we have to acknowledge not only our family's history and where we came from but also the history of the place and land our family now are on. As this show is very much about how we acknowledge country, it resonates deeply with me to respect the land and the people that have come before us and that allows us to continue to tell stories on it and pay respect to those who have been here before and support how we move ahead in the future."

Mann believes the body is a great conduit for storytelling, which is why the format of circus lends itself so well to Of The Land On Which We Meet. "Our brains have spent thousands of years adapting to interpret the miniscule shapes of the face and the subtle shifts in body language. So when you can tailor this with intention you end up telling a story that the audiences don’t just hear but they can feel on an instinctual level. Take that nuance and collide it with the thrill and prowess of the acrobatic body and you get something special, that is why I love circus."

For Kaydos-Nitis, it's important that the audience are able to speak of acknowledging without fear. "A lot of the time people feel scared to say the wrong thing," she says. "With fear of being reprimanded, they then don't take the time to learn or understand what they are saying. In Australia, an acknowledgment of a country can feel heartless and tokenistic sometimes because people feel they should say it because others do and not because they know why. We want people to feel this and to sit in the uncomfortable feelings that then lead to the hard conversations. Be able to learn and understand why it's important to acknowledge and to move forward with respect."