Glasshouse Dance Collective (Wollongong) presents their inaugural season of contemporary dance in Kindling; featuring three restaged works from choreographer Mara Glass. Thematically exploring loneliness and human connection in a range of ways, this show is fun, daring, complex, and fervent. The following are the works that make up Kindling:

My Battery is Low
Originally performed in 2019 with AUSTI. Dance & Physical Theatre, this work explores anthropomorphism; the act of prescribing human characteristics and purpose to non-human entities. We meet a mug, a cactus, a pillow, a balloon, and a rock, who serve as talismans, guardian angels, and best friends to their people. What happens when these connections are severed and the loneliness kicks in? This work also takes inspiration from the Mars Opportunity Rover and it's final communications with NASA before everything went dark.

Joy Box (excerpt)
This excerpt from Joy Box was developed in 2020 by exploring the prompt "tell us about the last time you cried?". It looks at how we manage our emotions and the effects that societal pressures have on how we cope. It delves into how bottling up your emotions eventuates in uncontrolled or unwanted release. Finally, it turns to discovering the power of community and joined expressions of emotion.

Sloprot 2.0 *
The original showing of Sloprot in 2025 focused on the intersection of generative AI and art. For this reworking, it looks a little deeper into our increased dependence on Large Language Models like ChatGPT and Gemini and what that means for our human interactions. Drawing on real life stories and interactions, Sloprot 2.0 pushes the satirical into something uncomfortable and challenging and asks us to remember the importance of human-made connections.

* no AI was used in the making or presentation of this work

Contents Warnings: Strong language, rude gestures, mention of suicidal ideation, sudden loud noises, and strobe lights.