A Footscray performance artist will take to the stage this month to share tales of falling in and out of love with Australia.
Ileini Kabalan will join a vast and eclectic range of performers for Melbourne Festival show Grand DiVisions, the third work in an Outer Urban Projects trilogy.
The Australian-born performer of Tongan and Lebanese heritage uses story-telling and poetry to explore notions of identity.
“I predominantly work with vocals, rap and spoken-word poetry,” she said. “All the stories in Grand DiVisions are about our experiences with divisions, such as class divisions.”
Grand DiVisions features beat boxing, Indian tabla, darabuka, gospel, a string orchestra, a harpist, hip-hop and classical vocalists, along with contemporary dancers, rappers and spoken-word artists.
The ‘urban cantata’ draws performers and musicians from across Melbourne and beyond, sharing tales of wealth and poverty, privilege and neglect.
Kabalan says the show is a quintessentially Melbourne creation, drawing on the bonds the city’s performers share.
“The stories vary and the settings vary, but as human beings we all experience these divisions,” she says.
For Kabalan, performance is a path to personal expression but also a means of exploring issues confronting people who don’t fit mainstream ideas of the norm.
“There can be a lot of difficulty accepting things that aren’t normal or mainstream and a lot of prejudice can come from this.
“I was born in Australia yet I’m constantly asked where I’m from. Occasionally people can’t accept a complex ethnic identity as just Australian. You have to fight for your right to be considered Australian.”
Grand DiVisions will be at Arts Centre Melbourne, October 14-17. Tickets $17-$35. Book at Arts Centre Melbourne, 1300 182 183.
